8 Church Social Media Strategy Trends for 2024
In today's digital age, your church’s social media strategy needs to stay ahead in the game to connect effectively with your congregation and reach a broader audience online. Here are 8 social media strategy trends that can help your church engage and make a significant impact online.
8 New Church Social Media Strategy Trends for Churches or Online Ministries
1. Less is More With Text-Only Posts
Even in our visually driven world, simple, text-based posts stand out. They offer a direct, clear voice amidst the noise. These posts can be scripture verses, thought-provoking questions, or inspirational messages that resonate with your community. Data shows that the latest Facebook algorythms are often favoring text only posts and they typically lead to higher post engagement.
2. Social Media is the Next Best Search Engine
Your church website is no longer the only thing that needs Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Social media, including Tik Tok, Instagram, and Facebook, are making it easier for users to find posts related to exactly what they’re looking for. Make sure your church's social media content can be found easily. You can do this by making sure you’re using the best keywords thoughtfully in your posts and profiles to connect with those searching for guidance, community, or spiritual growth online.
I actually created this “SEO Hack” ebook for churches that will help you find the best keywords to use in your social media posts as well as provide more tips on how to optimize your church website to be discovered better in search engines like Google.
Read more: How to optimize your church social media strategy for search (Social media SEO tips)
3. Leverage Long-Form Video Content
Surprisingly, in the recent world of trendy reels, shorts, and Tik Toks, longer form video content is expected to make a comeback already.
When I say longer videos, I don’t mean long videos. I’m talking a length of two to five minutes per video instead of less than a minute.
There are 3 primary reasons for this:
The big social platforms keep increasing their max video lengths. (This usually means they are adapting to trends, OR, they are setting them.)
Users now frequently turn to social networks to answer questions they might normally pose to Google or other web search engines. Content creators on social need to be able to answer questions in-depth in their videos, which takes more time.
People are heading to social media to kill time now more than ever. This means that users are likely to spend more time watching longer video content as long as it’s engageing and meeting their needs.
FREE RESOURCE: 30 Engaging Social Media Post Ideas for Churches (that don’t stink)
4. Direct Messaging is On the Rise
Direct messages offer a unique space for personal interaction. Overall data trends are revealing that people are posting and engaging less “publicly” on social media and spending more time communicating and sharing in direct messages or group chats.
This means you can expect a growing number of people to start contacting you via direct message on Facebook, Instagram, or other platforms with their questions and feedback. Make sure you have someone or a volunteer team dedicated to answering these messages and getting back quickly. DMs are quickly becoming the new email or text message… at least, that’s what the current trends are showing!
You might also want to consider setting up an automated DM response using a tool like ManyChat to help respond to messages faster. (ManyChat is free for up to 1000 contacts).
5. Use ‘Photo Dumps’ Instead of Single Graphics
Photo dumps can capture the spontaneous joy, the community spirit, or the serene moments of church life, offering a multifaceted view of your congregation that invites engagement and a sense of real connection. People love trying to find their face (or faces of people they know) in a Facebook post with multiple images or an Instagram carousel type post.
The latest social algorythms are also favoring posts with multiple photos (aka “photo dump”) over posts that display a single image or graphic. Keep this in mind when creating your social post strategy!
6. Adapt to New Video Trends
Make sure you’re keeping up with the latest video trends. This is especially true right now for vertical video content (reels, Tik Tok, YouTube Shorts, etc.) Embrace these trends to share your messages in a way that's relatable and accessible, particularly to younger audiences who favor these platforms.
Tik Tok is the primary platform where trends are originating, so it’s good to keep an eye on what’s trending there. Typically, trends from Tik Tok eventually trickle down to Instagram and Facebook.
7. Utilize AI for Creative and Strategic Insights
AI isn't just for tech companies. Churches can use these tools to analyze engagement, generate content ideas, and manage their social media presence more efficiently, keeping your message relevant and resonant. Of course, you don’t want AI (Like ChatGPT) writing all of your content. It’s not at that level yet. It’s best to use AI for idea generation and then write the content from there. It’s still a super useful tool that will help save you time when it comes to content ideas, video script ideas, etc.
8. Broaden Your Reach with YouTube Shorts
According to Google Trends, American interest in YouTube Shorts (generally a reliable indicator of business interest in the platform) has increased by more than 500% since 2021.
YouTube Shorts could be a huge opportunity to connect with a new audience. If you don’t already have a Youtube channel for your church, I highly recommend creating one! Youtube is actually the #1 most popular social media platform among the younger generations like Gen Z (yes, surpassing Facebook and Instagram in popularity). Youtube is an easy social platform to upload your sermons, podcasts, and other video content. Basically, any video content you have should also be uploaded to Youtube!
Better yet, utilizing Youtube Shorts will help broaded your reach and help you reach younger audiences. Short sermon clips, interviews, behind-the-scenes content, etc. make great YouTube shorts! I recommend 1 minute or less YouTube shorts.
Get 30 Engaging Social Media Post Ideas for Your Church
Now that you know how to post on social media, the question is what do you post? Well, you can leave all the thinking to me! Access my free social media plan, 30 engaging social media post ideas that have been proven effective for churches.
