These days, not only do businesses see the relevance of staying visible on social media, even religious institutions are not missing out on the trend. Because of the porous nature of the social media world, it can be very difficult to manage conservative institutions that are centred on religious orientations. It is for this reason, that individuals hired are required to understand the delicate sensibilities of adherents belonging to the different religious groups. This is in order to prevent a spark of strive from differing faithful. The truth is, strategies utilized are not different from those in the secular world. The only difference is in the approach and most times, content. Here are some of the ways social media managers from a religious institution can reach their target effectively.
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Determine your goal
As widely advised, your goals should be specific. Be straightforward about what you want to achieve. Don’t say “The church wants to have a large online presence”, rather say, “We want to have at least 50% of our members actively involved on our YouTube channel”. The clearer the specificity, the easier it is to keep track and meet goals.
According to moonclerk.com, “Goals should also be geared toward solving some problem that you see within your current communication scheme. Goals aren’t effective if they don’t improve the current status of the institution”. Ensure that the goals set are also aligned with the mission and vision of the church itself or else you might really be misdirected in executing your plans
Create a strategy
After drafting out a specific goal that tallies with the overall expectation of the institution. Create a strategy that also suits the plan. Sometimes, it is best to carry out a pretest on a sample population away from the institution in question. You may also look at the reliable strategy adopted by other institutions, then modify and adapt. This will help you determine which strategy works best.
Know your target audience
Understand what your target audience stands for, their demographic information and tendencies. This will help you picture their reactions to your envisioned social media strategy. For example, in a church with more mothers and children than males, you can make word choices and design that appeals more to the innocence of children and the warmth of mothers.
Set up a Team
Identify individuals with the flair and experience for managing the institution’s various social media platforms. You do not need to get too many people on deck as this will slow your performance level. It is best to get at least four individuals with good writing skills, multimedia and creativity.
Draft a Calendar
Content calendars serve as the framework of what you plan to share and promote across all marketing channels at intervals. The best way to ensure that your goals are in line with the church’s goal is to draft create content around. For example, you can reveal content plans for the Easter season.
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Create a Schedule
Many tools for content scheduling abound these days. You can set your schedule and automatically upload content to keep the institution in the mind of its members. However, keep up with daily breaking news. This is important to prevent your recipients from perceiving a non-sympathetic image supposing a crisis breaks out.
The efforts involved in managing a religious institution’s social media platform can be stressful, however, it pays off well in the end. You can now communicate with more individuals easily and faster than before. By following the listed times, your strategy is bound to be a success.
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