THE 4 PILLARS OF ENGAGEMENT
Social Media Ministry is ultimately about people. People who are hurting, frustrated, lost, confused, and in pain. People who need the good news of Jesus to help heal, direct, clarify, and give them hope in their broken lives and this broken world. The need for us to engage well with people has never been more important. In a world that so quickly looks past people, we need to be those who leverage social media to see the people that God loves and that Jesus died to save.
The currency of social media is engagement. Without engagement your posts don’t get viewed, your audience doesn’t see you, and the message doesn’t get shared. And if the best news ever isn’t getting shared, then we’re all losing. This means that the goal of every post is to spark engagement. Every story, every reel, every post, every repost, every comment, is building engagement. The people you hope to reach must be engaged with you through social media.
How do you engage with these people in the best way? What are some of the pillars to build consistent engagement in your social media ministry? Consider these 4 pillars of engagement to help you build your ministry and reach people that you’ve never reached before.
Activity: Consistency has definitive reward in social media. The people that Jesus wants to reach see a barrage of posts each day. The organizations that post on a regular basis have consistent engagement more because they are available and active on a consistent basis. They don't just post when they want to, instead they prioritize their activity and are seen on a more regular basis. They also don’t see you when you don’t stay active. You must prioritize your social media reach and you must stay active in the spaces that you desire to see an impact. Consider a weekly or a monthly habit of scheduling all of your social media activity and stay consistent.
Authenticity: Everyone suffers when authenticity isn’t practiced. Your audience needs to hear your real voice. They have to know that you really care about them and their needs and concerns. They also desire to have someone connect with them on a highly personal level. Authenticity breaks through preconceived notions and reveals that you are simply a person who wants to connect with another person. Know your voice. Embrace your flaws. Have a typo every onc in a while. Be real in a space that is often defined by inauthentic filters.
Curiosity: The art of asking good questions is becoming a lost art. Staying curious about your audience is key to them engaging with your content. Ask them questions. Ask them follow up questions. Post simple 1 sentence questions that you actually want to know what they think about. For example, a simple question asking your audience, “what do you think of Jesus” will reveal to you real, felt needs that you may have never thought of before. Curiosity shows that we actually care about our audience, that we love our audience. Jesus modeled this for us with everyone from Peter, to the woman at the well, to you. Follow his example and stay curious.
Responsiveness: Nothing slows down progress on social media more than a lack of response. Conversely, nothing can add more value to engagement and to the message than responding both well and in a timely manner to your audience. When your audience likes, comments, and shares your content, respond to this quickly and with genuine interest in what they have done. Their responses are the absolute key to engagement. You set your social media culture largely by what you celebrate. Respond and celebrate your audience.
These 4 pillars of engagement will be the catalyst for your social media ministry reach. Try these out and see what results are returned. Ultimately, we want to leverage social media to reach people. Jesus wants to engage with people in their point of need and you have the opportunity to help meet that need. Fully engaged with your audience for the Kingdom and for his glory.
