Five Key Social Media Strategy Points

The 2011 Echo conference in Dallas was a great one based on the articles and notes that I have seen come from there. I have no excuse for not being there since I am located in Dallas, but I will be there next year and the following years.

A great article I found from the Echo Conference came from Scott McClellan and it was about Social Media Content and Strategy (http://churchjuice.com/blog/more-than-a-profile-social-media-strategy-ech0-2011-notes/). Here are a few key points from the article:

Five verbs that should be a part of your social media strategy.

Listen. People are talking, but what if we started with listening? What if we used it like a grandma who just likes to look at pictures of the grandkids? As a church, you could follow people in your church to get a feel for what they care about. If there's a community you're trying to serve, follow and listen to them.

Converse. Social in social media implies that it's two way. Churches are good broadcasters and trying to port that to social media fails. It doesn't send the message you want. It says, "I'm important and you're only as important as the stuff of mine you click on." As organizations we love to broadcast. Conversing is different than what we do lots of time as a church.

Share. It sounds a lot like broadcasting, but it's different in mindset. Sharing is about giving gifts to people. Broadcasting is drawing eyeballs. Sharing is about saying here's something you might like even though we didn't create it. Or if you did make it, tell why you created something for someone.

Tell stories. This is difficult in 140 characters. short blog formats or short videos. Committing to telling stories commits you to observing stories. You start listening as you walk through the church, or as you follow people on twitter, in a different way because you're looking for a story to tell.

Invite. Social media gives us the power to invite people into the work God is doing and the stories God is telling. It allows the stories we tell to spread (when we're telling good stories).

These Five Verbs sum up social media strategy very well. There is much more to this article, check it out - http://churchjuice.com/blog/more-than-a-profile-social-media-strategy-ech0-2011-notes/