Church Social Media: 3 Ways to Use Social for Christmas 2020

Church social media managers, it feels unlikely, but it is possible. 

Thinking about how Christmas 2020 could be anything but mediocre or less can seem overwhelming, impossible even.

Maybe you’re all out of creativity.

Maybe you’re asking yourself, “how do we communicate the importance of our Christmas gathering?”

Whatever your challenge may be:

We believe the Church is up to the challenge. Whether you’re online, in person, or both, thousands of ministry leaders worldwide remain undaunted, and are ready to reach more people and change lives through the story of Christmas.

Here are 3 ways you can reach people through your church social media to draw them into the intersection of the Christmas story & your ministry including:

• 7 free posts you can download and use for your Christmas content
• Using a Facebook frame your community can use on their own profile photos
• An easy to execute Facebook Ad that will get people to your Christmas services
• How to use your Christmas service content to reach 10k+ people after services are over
• 1 safety precaution for photo booths most churches aren’t thinking of for 2020

Church Social Media Tip #1: Post Relevant Christmas Content

People are ready to feel comfort and joy at the end of any year (especially 2020). Let your posts reflect that.

Have some fun with your staff. Ask an easy to answer question. Unwrap some presents with your lead communicators that will prompt them to tell stories. DO ministry online.

Not sure where to start? We have 7 graphics for you to download here that are ready to use, or you can customize to reflect your own branding.

When you go to create your own content, make sure you optimize your content so people will actually look at it.

Bonus:

Create a frame that you can upload to Facebook that anyone can then use as a frame on their profile picture. This empowers your community to be advocates for your church or ministry.

People like posting what they identify with, not what your ‘brand’ identifies with. This can be an easy intersection where your community posts about something they’re excited for while still highlighting the profile picture they’ve already chosen.

Here’s an example of a holiday frame in action:

Make sure you’re mindful of the frame allowing the user’s picture to be seen clearly, otherwise they may opt to forego using it.

Here are Facebook’s guidelines on creating a frame for Facebook profile photos.

Once created, upload to Facebook’s Frame Studio and let people know on social that your frame is available for use! This is a great opportunity to empower some volunteers & staff to set the example and have them be the first to use your frame.

Church Social Media Tip #2: Running Facebook Ads for Your Christmas Service

Christmas is a great time to reach more people than your regularly engaged community.

Whether disengaged attenders or people brand new to your church, Christmas is an opportunity to bring joy, connection, and comfort to those who are not normally a part of your experiences.

An easy, efficient, and effective way to do this is through Facebook Ads. 

Many are confused by the Facebook Ads platform.

Should you boost an existing post? If you manage to make it to the create button, what objective do you choose? What should you even use for your ads?

Here are a few pointers:

• Select the traffic objective if you’re new to ads and don’t know how to use a Facebook pixel. If you have a pixel on your site, select the conversion objective.
• For your ad’s copy, focus on the broad value that your Christmas experience offers. Maybe that’s free cocoa, a candle lighting ceremony, a family photo booth, or a relevant sharing of the Christmas story. Keep it 1-3 lines, highlight this, and include a reference to your call to action of “learn more.”
• For the creative, use a selfie video from your pastor using the guidelines found in our Facebook ads downloadable.
• Choose “Learn more” as the call to action, and drive traffic to a landing page that’s all about your Christmas service: times, locations, what will be happening, etc.
• Make sure your website is optimized so if people want to learn more about your church, they’re able to easily find your website and learn more about you.

Need some more help? Check out our “Quick Start Guide to Facebook Ads for Ministry.”

Church Social Media Tip #3: Leverage a Family Photo Booth

If you’re doing a family photo booth, there is an easy way to leverage the photos you take to easily reach 10k+ people who are connected to people who already attend your church.

Here is the step by step process on how to do so:

• • Have a photographer who will take family photos, ideally using a nice DSLR camera or something similar. If not, use the nicest cell phone you can get your hands on!
  • Let attendees know their photos will be uploaded to your church’s Facebook account. Have a sign to do this, and coach either your photographer or a secondary volunteer who can help manage the line to share this info as well.
  • Edit the photos as soon as possible. If you can do this the same night as your Christmas services, you can have them ready for or before Christmas day – when families are ready to share photos of themselves with others.
  • On Christmas Eve (if your closest experience is the Sunday before Christmas) or Christmas Day (if your Christmas experience is on Christmas Eve), upload all of the photos into one album on Facebook.
  • Have the caption for the upload share how you loved seeing all the smiling faces of these families celebrate the story of Christmas, and have a call to action to tag friends and family.
  • This will cause the album photos to show up in the news feeds of the attendees’ Facebook friends. Go ahead and tag everyone you already know to get people started!

Now you are providing value for your community in 2 ways:

1. You’re giving free family photos which shows how much your ministry values families.
2. You’re organically reaching people who care about those people, and are now learning about your church in a natural, unforced way.

This is frequently one of the highest performing posts for churches we speak with. Don’t miss this opportunity to champion families and reach more people!

Christmas Photo Booth Safety Precaution for 2020:

Whenever you do a photo booth, one factor many are not sure how to manage is families asking for your photographer to use their cell phones in addition to the photo the photographer is taking. 

Normally, we recommend taking the cell phone photo in addition to the nice camera photo, and encouraging your photographer/volunteers to then say something like “make sure you tag us [say your church’s handle if it’s easy to say] so we can show you some love online!”

However, in 2020, if you’re doing a photo booth, we recommend having a sign that states this is not available and coaching volunteers to not use attendee cell phones. Cell phones are one of the germiest objects we own, and touching someone else’s device is an easy way to pick up their germs.

Use language that encourages attendees to take their own photos, and also use it as an opportunity to encourage attendees to have their photos taken by the photographer, which they can then view on your church’s Facebook page.