Churches often wish to jump on bandwagons as a means to reach people and to tell the story of Jesus Christ, to share the good news and how peoples lives can be transformed. The church’s desire to jump onto the social media bandwagon is no different.

To be clear, there is absolutely nothing wrong with jumping on bandwagons, or being a little late to the game so to speak, unless that is cheering for the Leafs. That is always wrong. But I digress.

Yet before getting onto the social media bandwagon, there are a few things that you should consider before jumping into the social media world. First of all, this is not a once off campaign, but a new form communication. In reality a new relationship with people, and it does not stop once we “get” what we want.

As well, once the train has left station, it is very hard to turn it around and start over again. And there is a process of letting go of the message. Social media by its nature is public and once your message is out there, it is out there. You will not be able to control it. Therefore I offer a few things for your consideration when planning your social media endeavours and for the people tasked with being church community managers.

1) Do you have the resources for such a campaign?

Resources must be allocated to the endeavour, and these consist not only of financial resources, but also technical and human resources. Who will be responsible for updates and engage with your audience? Do you have the right technology and the right platforms? Who will maintain the technology? Does the person in charge know how to use the platform properly and understand the etiquette involved?

2) Who is your target audience? What platforms are you going to use to reach them?

Any job to be done right needs the proper tools. Therefore, knowing not only your target audience, but also where your target audience is, as in on what platform, is key.

For instance, being aware that the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is 55-65 year old women is crucial if that is the demographic that you are targeting. It is also then important to know NOT to waste time, energy and resources on other platforms like Twitter if few or none of your audience is active there.

3) Engage, engage, engage.

Seems self-explanatory, but far too often this is overlooked. If someone leaves a comment on a blog or Facebook page, make sure to answer it. Even if that is just to acknowledge that you have seen it. In the case of negative comments, one must exercise caution in not appearing to ignore the dissenter, but also not in engaging in an escalating turf war. Also there is a difference between disagreements and trolling. Learn it, and never feed the trolls.

It just looks bad if you are broadcasting without engaging. A good analogy for engagement is a priest or pastor who only ever talks, talks and talks and never listens to his/her parishioners. Nothing looks worse for social engagement then talking without listening and responding.

4) Be an expert. You are the evangelist. Know the ins and outs.

Having the answer on the tip of your tongue or the tips of your fingers is important. Knowing your church or program is key. You need to be able to answer any question or direct people to those that can in a timely manner. It is okay to say, “I don’t know but I will find out for you”.

Knowing also shows you care. And nothing is more authentic in relationship building than personally caring. So study hard.

5) Have goals and measurements in mind to judge success.

Define your goals. Set targets. If your goal is to grow the church, then know by how much you want to grow your church. Set benchmarks along the way. Meeting the benchmarks will give your community excitement along the way, but also make those who come because of your campaign feel part of the success. Which, of course, will cycle that energy back into your project or campaign.

Of course there are many other nuances to keep in mind, and this is not an exhaustive list. It has, however, some basics to keep in mind when constructing a social media campaign and preparing to launch a new program.

As with the success of all ventures, the success is in the planning. So take some time and analyze the ways in which you will answer the above list, and with some careful planning and a little luck, social media will indeed help you achieve the goals of your church, its campaign and the effectiveness of your new program.