It’s no secret that we live in a world that is communicates digitally. According to Statista.com, 77% of Americans have at least one social media account. We live our lives online, using social media for recreation, communication, and information. The same is true for churches and it is important for your church to have a presence on social media that reflects who you are. This will extend your reach and allow you to impact people in a way that they can relate to. If you’re feeling lost, here are some simple ways to make your social media graphics stand out among the rest.
#1. Have a Strategy in Place
When you decide to commit to building your presence on social media, it is important to develop a plan.
This will make it much easier to make your posts on time, know when your graphics need to be in place, and give you a clear vision of your goal.
When strategizing your social media, take into account holidays and events happening within your church and community. For recurring events, consider creating templates that can easily be edited when slight changes need to be made, such as dates and locations.
Use a calendar to plan out each month and set your posts to go live in advance. Doing all of this preparation on the front end will make managing your social media accounts much less stressful, and give you more room to be thoughtful and creative about each of your posts.
#2. Use High Quality Photos
Using high quality images and graphics will give your feed a much cleaner, more professional appearance. If your church has a photographer on staff, or someone in your congregation who enjoys photography, use them as a resource. There are also many resources for images such as iStock.com and Unsplash.com. Make sure you are choosing photos that fit your church’s style, not just your own personal taste.
#3. Engage Your Followers
In order to engage your followers, create posts that invite them to action. This will provide a way to get to know your followers and give you some simple ideas for posts. Include a question for them to reply to or provide a link to a video for them to watch. This will make them feel involved in a community rather than just being another meaningless like on a post.
#4. Keep It Simple
Don’t overwhelm viewers with too much information. Some accounts are filled with long paragraphs and confusing visuals. Keep things from getting cluttered so that your message isn’t lost in all a lot of unnecessary stuff. People will see your post when scrolling through hundreds of others; the easier it is to understand, the more likely they are to remember yours.
#5. Be consistent
Choose your fonts, colors, and logo arrangements and stick to them. Establish this from the very beginning, and don’t allow anything but the standard you have put in place.
If your church has recently gone through a process of rebranding, it can be difficult to convince everyone to get on board with the new logo or stop using the old colors. Explain that this is a process that touches every element across your church and it will be helpful in the long run, even if it seems inconsequential right now. Use your brand colors in the graphics you post, but don’t think that everything always has to be one color, because this will get a little boring after a while. Use these standards across all of your platforms and create a consistent flow within your theme.
Conclusion
These are just a few simple ways to improve your church’s social media accounts, but you will be surprised what a difference they can make. Social media is a tool that can simplify your job and broaden your church’s reach. Take some time to develop your new social media strategy. Turn to Pinterest for ideas and Instagram for inspiration, write down your ideas, and keep an open mind. Allow yourself time and space to be creative and don’t get frustrated if it doesn’t happen overnight. Creating graphics is a process, but have fun and don’t let it intimidate you.
P.S. PLEASE do not use Comic Sans, under any circumstances, whatsoever, at all, ever.
