The Practical Side of Social Media

Oct 20, 2011 // by doran.woods // Blog, Church, Ministry, Non-profit, School, Social Media // No Comments

Are you using Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube) to connect with others as well as to get your message out? People have many differing views on Social Media; some ignore it, some dislike it, others embrace it while still others can become addicted to it. Heres the reality: whether we use it or not, many of our family members, friends, church members and customers do. They not only use Social Media, but their day to day lives are heavily influenced by it.

We shouldn’t think of Social Media as a replacement to our normal avenues of communication (though this is a topic we will discuss in the future). Think of it rather as an enhancement to what we are already doing. It is about relationships. It allows us to connect to people in our community and beyond with very little effort and typically zero financial obligation.

Many companies, churches, and small businesses are embracing Social Media, allowing them to get their message out without having to rely solely on traditional and usually very expensive means of mass communicating, ala TV commercials, newspaper ads, billboards, etc.

One-on-one contact has always been one of the most successful ways of getting our messages out, but typically communicating in this manner is very slow. Now with Social Media, a small post or quick video about an event, sermon series, mission opportunity can reach hundreds or even millions in minutes. Communicating via Social Media can be very personal as well, for instance, 1 and 5 married couples today meet online through Social Media. Think today how you might better serve your members by harnessing the power of Social Media.