This week we are going to look at three easy to implement ideas for increasing the engagement with your people through your church’s facebook page.  In the last 18 months our facebook presence has grown 500% and now exceeds our Sunday morning attendance by 1,000 people! Our goal is to not only increase your “fans” but also to increase the amount that that interact with you online!

When was the last time you were at a carnival and had a barker yell at you? “HURRY! HURRY! HURRY! Step right up and see  the bearded lady perform today!” It is an effective way to drive immediate response and fits well if you’re on Coney Island.

Often our facebook status updates feel more like a barker and less like a social interaction. Let’s put the social back into social media.

Rather than always looking for an immediate call to action in our status updates we need to be inviting dialogue and interaction and then participate in the conversation!

Some a quick and easy tips for crafting status update that engage:

• Ask open ended questions that beg discussion. Like in any other conversation where you were trying to get the other person to talk make sure you ask questions that can’t be answered with a simple yes or no answer. [Example // What did you like about Christmas eve?]
• Take prayer requests through your status updates! This will encourage your people to share amongst themselves online about what’s happening in their lives. Make sure you set aside some time to actually pray for them!  (Bonus: Respond to your people with a private facebook message about their prayer request.) [Example // How can we pray for you?]
• Don’t be afraid of controversy. When you begin to stir public conversation it will bring out some interesting perspectives in some of your people. Don’t shy away from talking about sensitive subjects online.  However, make sure that you moderate the conversation so that no one is being attacked personally. It’s okay for people to get heated about ideas, but it crosses the line when the conversation goes personal. [Example // Son of Hamas at Liquid]
• Have Fun! Let’s face it . . . a lot of people think church is boring.  Let’s not meet this expecation on facebook!  What can you do today with your status that is fun? [Example // Where have you seen a Liquid pen?]

The point of the social web is to drive engagement.  Our job is to draw people into the conversation . . . it’s not a channel for us to just blast our messages through.

Have you noticed a trend with the status updates that you have interacted with?  What makes you want to either “like” something or to jump into the conversation!  [We’d love to hear your thoughts! Leave some comments below!]

On Friday we’re going to look at how we treat first time guests to our facebook page . . . and see the parallels to how we do that at our services!