If you Google: “Internet Evangelism” you’ll see quite a large number of results. There are coalitions, groups, blogs, studies, news, pictures, websites…etc. all talking about this term “internet evangelism.”

In fact, there’s even a day dedicated to internet evangelism. You can read all about it at: http://www.internetevangelismday.com/   or you can “like” them on Facebook.

Internet Evangelism Day was created to have one day focused on communicating the potential the Internet can have on the Church. It was created to share tools, ideas and information on all things that can be used for digital evangelism.

This year, Internet Evangelism Day falls on April 29^th…it’s coming up! It’s a great time to think about how you’re using the internet to reach out to people.

What ways has your church used the internet to reach out or build relationships with people? Have you seen results you would like to share?

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5. Social Media Demographics

Airline KLM offers a social networking feature on selected flights which allows users to preview who they’ll be sitting next to on their flight.  Also, if you aren’t on one of the selected flights and you met someone you might be interested in, you can create a profile on “We Met on a Plane.”

Want your Tweet read by, “the golden voice?” Use hash tag #voiceoflove and you might just get your tweet read by Ted Williams, the voice of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, for the “Golden Voice of Love” campaign.

Women dominate Valentine’s day conversations on Twitter. Check out this infographic.

Social Media can both help and hurt real-life relationships: An article about using social networking sites wisely and to build your relationship, not hurt it.

Google always has fun little graphics for holidays like Valentine’s Day. See the history of these graphics below:

And Just for laughs…a little Social Media Valentine’s Video from Socialnomics.

Resolution 1:  Set one specific social media objective to begin with

Keep your social media efforts focused on your ministry and keep it mass-media oriented. Make a list of your priorities as a ministry and make sure your posts meet those criteria.  Most likely you’ll need to get familiar with social media and play around with it for a little while before you find the perfect way to use it for your ministry.  Make sure you keep your target demographic and your congregation in mind to ensure the best chance of establishing a real connection.

Resolution 2:  Find the right way to use social media for your church

This is what Mari Smith, the Pied Piper of Facebook, says: “The main reason people fail in social media is lack of a strategy. There’s so much confusing and conflicting advice out there, it’s easy to get lost in the social media jungle. By having a clear objective, developing a strategy to accomplish that objective, and measuring milestones along the way, you’re bound to have better results.”

• What can you say that will grab your community/congregation’s attention?
• What is the best way for you to say it?
• Where is the best place for you to start saying it?

If you’re unsure, the best place to start is by using your website or a page on your site like a blog as your “hub.”  It’s important to remember that your social media strategy needs to be custom fit for the unique message you want to communicate to your community.  Focus on your ROI, or Return On Investment (of time and resources).  When you have a specific objective and start using social media in the right way, it magnifies the effectiveness of your overall outreach efforts.

A good take-away is this:  Don’t waste time using other people’s social media tactics. Find a social media strategy that connects your business to your audience.

Resolution 3:  Keep your social media social

Once you’re able to keep to the above resolutions, you will be able to focus on keeping it social.  You have to remember to maintain a personable and relationship driven approach to any and all types of media.  Like I said, focus on your Time ROI.  The right message that aligns with your ministry goals in a social media marketing strategy can save your organization time and resources spent elsewhere on outreach efforts.  It also makes your more personal acts of outreach more effective.  Remember:  Don’t waste time sending messages that don’t work. Find the right message for your church and, above all, be social.

Resolution 4:  Maintain your focus on your overall outreach strategy

There are a couple of reasons that social media can waste your time:

• It is a social environment.
• Ministries need to create a social presence and it can be hard to find the balance between ministry/doctrine and community/relationship.

Don’t get stuck in the traps when adapting your outreach to social media. We’ve seen through research that building buzz and excitement in your virtual community can translate to real results in your physical community.  Focus on building relationships online and communicate that you can meet needs people feel or that you can answer questions they have.  Social media outreach creates stronger relationships with the people in your market.  It can be used to reduce apprehension and pique the curiosity of more people and in less time than with most other outreach venues.  This only helps and invigorates your in-person approaches for outreach.  Also, part of staying focused is avoiding getting sidetracked.  The world of social media is full of shiny objects waiting to grab your attention.  Try time-blocking an hour a week to knock out a few posts to be sent out later.  This will allow you to adapt social media to work for your church and your work flow.

Resolution 5:  Don’t bite off more than you can chew

I know this never happens with outreach, especially for vision-driven pastors and ministry leaders bent on conquering the world this year, but let’s pretend for a second like it does.  Experts say that trying to be everywhere on social media, especially right off the bat, is a big time waster. Social media is made up of numerous different places where people hang out, and these places all have different environments.  Please don’t try to be everywhere all at once because you won’t know what to say or the best way to say it.  You need to walk before you can run:

• Research to find out where your ministry can be effective
• Observe what people are saying and how they’re saying it
• Listen and adapt your message to fit in the conversation

Be sure to keep your message custom and personal.  You should communicate with a relevant voice and add your own social touch to all of your online outreach. As long as you can choose your posts wisely and make sure to add some social juice to them, you’ll reap much more than you sow.

Don’t try to jump into all social media platforms at once.  I suggest you start with a Facebook fan page and get good at driving people to your website.  Then take on Twitter and see how you can get all three working together with the fewest number of messages possible.  This can be a fun game.

So that’s what I recommend for 2012.  It’s true that social media can be a powerful tool when used properly by a church.  There’s no need to be scared of the conversation as long as we take it a little at a time.  Also, remember that being proactive and taking initiative, doesn’t mean biting off more than you can chew.  Keep your message social, inviting and relational to remind the masses why we do what we do.  And, above all, keep your eyes on the prize.  Don’t get caught up in the fads of the day.  Find the right site for you initially and achieve one small goal at a time.

I hope this has been helpful for you.  If you have any questions about this post or any of the tools faithHighway offers to help you in your social media efforts, you can reach us at 877.703.2484.  We’ll talk to you soon!

Photo By: webtreats

Internet marketing and church websites continue to serve as a powerful channel for communicating your vision to your communities and attracting first time visitors.  This is the time to sit down with your team and set realistic goals for the New Year.  Spending time now to develop your internet marketing strategy for next year will provide you with the appropriate baseline, timeline and milestones to ensure effective execution.

In setting your new goals here are some things to consider.

1. Plan in Advance – If you don’t want to plan out your marketing strategy for the whole 12 months, break it in half or in quarters.  Think about the times when churches really like to build momentum.  For example, Christmas, Easter and Back to school just to name a few.  How are you going to reach your community and bring in more first time guests?  Come up with a strategy.
2. Set Realistic Goals – Set goals that can be achieved.  When consulting with Pastors and asking them who God has called them to reach all too often I hear “The whole world!”  That is great, but not always realistic.  As much as Jesus has called us to reach the world he has given us a plan in Acts 1:8 on how to do it.  Start with your home town, then your city, then your state, then the world.
3. Evaluate Your Website – Why is this important? Because it is statistically your #1 outreach tool today.  Your Church Magazine reports that 85% of people will visit your website before they visit your church.  That’s a lot of people.  Your website needs to be your main hub for any marketing and advertising that you do; it has to be your main point of contact.  It’s so important to have something that reflects the heart and vision of your church and makes people actually want to visit your church, not just hurry up and click off because it’s something that was done 5 years ago or can’t be navigated through.  If you need help getting it current, call faithHighway.

I’m a firm believer that if you invest in your website and set goals at the beginning of the year you will see results.  There are millions of people out there that are just waiting for someone to reach out to them and share the love of Jesus. You can do that through many different avenues such as your website, door hangers, personal invite, billboards, TV Commercials, Internet marketing, and so on.  The people are there waiting, why shouldn’t it be your church who is doing the reaching out?

Photo By: tsuacctnt

Social media is one way that we can connect with people throughout the day, despite the hurried schedule our culture leads. See if any of these engagement activities tickle your tinsel (yes..I did just say that….I’m sorry?).

1. Repost and Comment on Natwivity Updates – An organization is going above and beyond to help people see into the lives of those from the Christmas story. Each day characters from the Christmas story tweet/share on Facebook  – add your commentary and engaging questions as you repost this information. Helping people see the humanity of the story allows real connection and makes the miracle of Immanuel even more impactful.
2. Create a “What if it’s true?” Campaign – We know how many amazing miracles, prophesies and stories surround Christ’s birth – but many in our culture (and even some in our churches) struggle with believing these truths.  Try posting a statement from the Christmas story on your Facebook/Twitter page and leave it open with the question “What if it’s true?” Let people comment and pose follow up questions, opening the door to conversations that would have never happened in the first place. But – be ready for the hard questions! They will come…
3. Have a Church-Wide Tweet Up (or ministry-wide depending on church size) – It’s the holidays! Who doesn’t love to gather together for coffee, hot chocolate or cider.  Create a welcoming environment for guests and members alike by inviting people to spontaneously meet up at a coffee shop, café or mall. Allow people to build those important, intentional relationships to strengthen the body of Christ.
4. Use Social Media to Empower Community Cause – Check your community calendar for fun Christmas festivities and join in the fun.  When you use the power of your social media reach to publicize community events, it will be noticed!  Plus, it’s an amazing way to connect with unbelievers to create new relationships.
5. Make Up Your Own 12 Days of Christmas- Never hurt to get a little creative, right? You can choose to incorporate the real Christmas story…or just do something off the wall and fun to get attention and start conversations with your followers.

Let us know which one you try…or if you have a plan of your own!

Photo by JollyUK.

My favorites from their list are:

WorshipHouse Media- 12 Days of Christmas.- Visit their site on the days marked with a bow on their calendar and unwrap your free gift.

Igniter Media-  Giving away a free Holly Branch Loop

Muddy River Media- All their stuff is free. They’ve got Christmas Trivia slides, music videos and more!

My additions:

Amazon.com- 25 Days of free Holiday Music- visit this site each day for a new Christmas song.

CreativeNerds.co.uk- Give your website a splash of holiday with these Social Media Christmas Icons

“Try to make a site that is so fantastic you become an authority in your niche.” – Matt Cutts, Head of Google Web’s SPAM Team.

As a church, what is your niche? By now, most established churches can accurately define what they offer to the community and who it is they are trying to reach (niche).

A lot of churches think that if they have a website that looks good to their audience, that it’s enough. The truth is, if we as the body of Christ truly want to be the source of hope to our communities, we have to be the authority in our niche.

If your church is absolutely excellent at something, like feeding the hungry, helping addicts, offering financial management classes, etc., your community needs to know about it. How will they know to turn to you for that need if they don’t know you offer it.

This will take more than just great graphics to let your audience know.  The truth is, you need several elements for your site to be an authority of anything.  Consider content for a minute, if your content is stale and hasn’t been changed in the past six months, it’s no longer helpful in your Google SEO.  With the recent surge of social media activity, Google and other search engines are placing more weight on current content to ensure its formula is pulling the most relevant, up-to-date websites.

The 5 Keys to a Great Site require these elements:

• Visual Design
• Structure & Navigation
• Functionality
• Interactivity
• Content

We have a free video library with tons of research for the 5 Keys to a Great Site to empower you in the area that interests you. Let’s not be left in the dust, but rather pave the way in our community, utilizing technology to not only get the word out, but spread the greatest Truth the world will ever know.

Photo by KidProQuo

The research concludes that you should , “communicate your value proposition within 10 seconds.”

So take the test. The good news is that it shouldn’t take too long…

Poll 10 different people (not all at once).  People who don’t know you, your business or your vision.  Go to a library, Starbucks or any place with WiFi and ask 10 different passer-bys to please give you some feedback on your website.  Offer a $5 giftcard for participation if need be…

Grab a stopwatch and give them 10-20 seconds to view your website.  Here are some good questions to throw after they glance through your site.

-Do you like the graphics?

-What stands out the most?

-Would you continue looking through the site after the first glance?

-What do you think the main goal of the website is?

-Who do you think we’re trying to reach?

Share what you’ve learned below! We want to grow together. Look forward to hearing from you.

Photo by: raumoberbayern

A recent study shows that social media does work as a means to increase your brand, but that “you shouldn’t put all your eggs into one basket.”

While this study was specifically for fast food chains, the data is very telling of our culture’s consumer mindset.

Found on Entrepreneur.com, we can learn a lot about the idea that our marketing needs to be spread across multiple channels.  While we don’t want to engage in channels we aren’t going to excel in, make sure that social media is a complement to your other efforts, suchas your website, mailouts, website banner ads, event marketing, etc.

While 24% of those in this study reported customer purchases based on social media, 69% responded when exposed to TV as well.  According to the survey results by Ogivly & Mather, “Those who experienced social media exposure along with a TV ad were two times more likely to purchase more that they did the week before.”

Here’s what Ogivly & Mather concluded their research with:

5 Things You Should Know

1. Social media exposure is directly linked with increase in sales.
2. Integration matters.
3. Social media is a top driver of impact.
4. Social media exposure is directly linked with changes in brand perception.
5. Brand exposure in social media is low.

So what does this mean for you?  While social media should definitely play a role in your marketing and reach, be sure that it is only one piece of the puzzle. One healthy exercise is to place yourself in the shoes of your audience.

What are all the ways they can encounter your brand?

Are you easy to find?

What channels are you investing the most in?

Photo by HeyRocker.