4 Ways Churches Should Use Content To Reach Their Community

If you have spent any amount of time around marketers, you might have heard the phrase, “Content is King.” What does that mean for churches?

In a Google-run world where people turn to their smart phones for answers on just about everything, content provides the answers.

How can your church help provide the answers people are looking for online?

Here are four ideas. 

1. Podcast your sermons.

Churches create content every week, most prominently through the weekend sermons. Podcast your church’s sermons.

I heard of a church in Dallas that was doing a series on the existence of God. They received an email from a guy in Russia who was googling questions about God, came across the podcast, and started following Jesus because of what he heard. This is a perfect example of a church using the internet to share the Gospel in a way that is relevant to people who are searching.

2. Blog your community’s stories.

Sandals Church in Riverside, CA does a wonderful job at this. Check out their stories page where they tell the stories of the men and women in their congregation. Their church mission is, “Real with ourselves, God & others.” Their stories blog perfectly aligns with their mission because they are telling the real stories of their congregation.

3. Video your church announcements.

There are many ways you can use video to share content. Similar to the point above, you can use video to share your church’s story. I’m amazed at the amount of people that head to the church parking lot between the end of the sermon and announcements. What if you created video announcements that you sent your church community throughout the week instead of rattling off a list of announcements from stage? Video is an engaging and interactive way to share content that your church community might have missed on Sunday.

4. Use social media.

Social media is one of the most underutilized (and free!) tools that churches have at their fingertips.

I was reading through my feed on my Next Door App recently. Next Door is a private social network for your neighborhood. As I was scrolling through it, I noticed someone wrote, “My husband and I just moved to Houston and are looking for a church. I was raised Presbyterian, and my husband was raised Catholic. Any suggestions?” I read through the comments and was amazed at how passionate and upfront people were about their opinions on local churches. The woman received over twenty responses from people sharing their opinions on the churches in our neighborhood.

What if a church was monitoring social media for people asking about local churches, a need, or a question about faith? What if they responded with a resource that their church can provide?

Can you imagine how you would feel if you tweeted, “Please pray for me. Tough week and I’m feeling down,” and received a response from a local church that said something encouraging like, “Our church staff just stopped and prayed for you! We’re here for you & would love to have you join us on Sunday.”

These are a few ways that churches can share content online to reach and engage their communities.

How is your church reaching your community online?

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