Church Marketing Sucks

Ah! Advent is here. It’s almost Christmas.

Deep breath. It’s okay. You planned (somewhat). You have things done (mostly). You have time for last minute emergencies (not really). You could use a little something extra to engage people in the season itself (like all of us).

Social media is a great and easy way to help people delve deeper into the meaning of the season during this very busy time of year. Whether you only have a Facebook account (perfectly okay) or you have got ‘em all (congrats), you can pull off meaningful engagement with your audience with a few quick posts.

10 Social Media Ideas for the Christmas Season

Here are some ideas that can help:

1. Post your Sunday sermon: Post a short clip (no more than two minutes) of the sermon with a brief description and link to the full sermon. This requires editing software of taped services and a host site like Vimeo. If you don’t have editing software you can use a still image, with a brief description of a key message point and a link to the full sermon. And make sure you ask people to share the messages as people need reminders.
2. Helpful tips for family Advent time: Parents don’t always know the best way to bring the season of Advent into their homes, so provide them with some activities and readings that can be helpful. Work with your resourceful student ministry team or find online sources.
3. Showcase images from last year’s services and events: Show the vibrant worship, festive atmosphere, and engaged families. This will serve as a “warm welcome” to both newcomers and occasional attenders. It will help encourage them to come to church during this time of year because it paints a picture of community and seasonal activities that people crave. Use your text space to express the importance of community and the season. No photos that capture this? Make sure you grab the church camera, find a volunteer, or hire a low cost photographer for this year and post them each week leading up to Christmas.
4. Highlight a few key messaging points: What are you pointing people to in your Advent sermon? What takeaways are at the root of that messaging? How can they get closer to God and break through the distractions of commercial Christmas?
5. Advent devotionals: You can use Bible verses to set each one up and then pose questions and insights for further thought. This can be done with the help of a pastor, worship leader, or other ministry leader. House them on a page on your website and lead people there weekly via your social posts. You can also do this via texting if you have a program in place.
6. Highlight what you are doing as a church for the less fortunate: This is not to toot your own horn, but rather to inspire others to do more good for the sake of others. Giving some direction on worthwhile causes that you support gives bigger visibility to these groups and the people they serve.
7. Feature volunteers who do a lot for others: This is another inspiring way to encourage people to give back to their communities and it says “thank you” to the servant leader. It can be as simple as a nice photo (perhaps in their volunteer experience; around the church; or a nice head shot works too) with a short post highlighting their work. It could also link to a longer story housed on your website.
8. Highlight local resources, food banks, etc: You may have organizations you partner with to feature and/or you can feature some other great local organizations that provide resources, food, mental healthcare, and other services people especially need this time of year. This can not only connect people to the help they need, but can also inspire people to volunteer or contribute to the cause.
9. Try to tie together your social themes: Create art around each topic if possible so they have a unique look. Maybe it’s just a border around an image with a couple words such as “Volunteer Highlight,” “Advent Devotional,” or “Advent for Families.” This will start building recognition of each feature and people will start recognizing the branding.
10. Finally, promote your social channels: Don’t let this work go to waste, now or throughout the year. Encourage people to follow you on social in all your print materials, digital signage, email newsletters, and from the pulpit. Remind them that they can stay up-to-date on events, news, special messages, and use as a source for deeper engagement throughout the week.

Don’t let all the jingle jangle during this time of year stop you from helping people focus on what is really important (you’ve got this!).