So just joking about the whole “final sneak peak episode” thing. It was our intent to hold off on pushing out any new content until our first full length episode next month, but—as church communicators all know—things change.
This sneak peek episode is in response to a request made in the comment section of a previous episode requesting information on Facebook and Facebook Ads. Josh Burns and I discuss our experience with ads as well as some best practices for getting started and using ads in the church world.
Request for All Listeners:
We are preparing content for our May episode and I would like to ask that you share your ideas for communicating/promoting Mother’s Day on your church’s website and social media platforms. I will collect all the content you submit, reference some of the most unique ideas in the May episode and put together all the ideas in a PDF download for you to use as you prep for Mother’s Day. Don’t wait, post your ideas right now.
SUBSCRIBE THROUGH iTUNES – Please rate and leave a review. This helps us immensely!
Show Links
- The World’s Toughest Job Interview
- Dave’s “Share This” Post | Josh Burn’s “Share This” Post
- Create a Facebook Page for Your Organization
- Video highlighting the problem with paying for Facebook Ads – You decide if it’s propaganda
- Converting a Facebook Profile to a Facebook Fan Page
- Creating Facebook Ads Basic PDF
- Josh Burns on Twitter
- Josh Burns Blog
- Dave Shrein on Twitter
What’s In This Episode
- Why knowing where traffic is coming from is helpful in social media.
- Are you using any type of paid ads?
- Am I wasting my money on Facebook ads?
- Fake likes on Facebook.
- What’s the difference between a boosted post and a sponsored story?
- Why social media is important for the church.
Dave Shrein
April 23, 2014
I’ll get is started here: I spent 2 hours with my creative communication team yesterday surfing the internet for creative mom ideas. We tagged all the URLS in our task management software and are spending this week adding to that list. Anything and everything we find, no discrimination.
Next Tuesday we will begin sorting the items and try to use those which lineup with our Mission and values.
I’ll share what we actually come up with.
Diane Markins
April 23, 2014
Love this podcast. I produce and host a Christian radio lifestyle show so am not specifically involved in reaching out to a church congregation but I look at my entire audience as a church. I have found a lot of value in your podcasts for what I do. Social media is an ever-changing organism so I need all the help I can get. Thanks so much!
Josh Burns
April 23, 2014
That’s awesome Diane! So cool that you have an audience to share with, and like you said, social media is ever-changing, but that shouldn’t discourage us from using it.
Thanks for continuing to learn and use social media well!
Jim Edwards
April 24, 2014
For the past few years we’ve done a video asking our kids & students from our children’s/student’s ministry “what makes a great mom.” It gets the laugh factor and the aww factor. Planning on doing it again this year!
Here’s a link to last years video. https://vimeo.com/66095212
Looking forward to hearing what others are doing!
Courtney Engle Robertson
April 28, 2014
Thanks for going over this. One of the big concerns that I have is how we as a church are reaching non-believers. For some, they are open to messages from a church or mentioning Jesus. For others, seeing that a church is paying/sponsoring to get a post in front of them is a huge turn off. The tricky part is, if an ad is set to reach friends of fans who like this page.
In my case, I am very leery of some content reaching a close family member who is finally warming up to personal conversations but still highly opposed to having organized religion advertising to him. I want to not only steward the money, but be mindful of the best way people may receive the message. Paying to reach existing fans or even look-alike audiences is working so far.
Also, our local church is currently more focused on promoting the body as family and is not wanting to promote special events. It’s a tricky line to take off my typical small business marketing hat and handle the needs of the church differently.
Dave Shrein
May 16, 2014
Courtney, those are some real valid concerns. It seems to me that you are right on track with making the right decision… being intentional.
I also think that for me, when I sponsor a story to people who aren’t connected to MPCC I make sure it is not asking for money, not insider driven and not ‘family business’ but rather, that it reflects the values of our church that might appeal to someone who sees it.
Thanks for sharing.