How to use Social Media in the Church

This blog post is in response to @JohnUpChurch request. I hope this blog post is a springboard to the conversation around Social Median in the church.

Creating a Social Media plan for a church wanting to reach thier twenty somethings. So fun to work with a church willing to lead the way!

@sheepishdesign I hope you'll blog about that. I'd love to see some of the thought that comes out (whatever can be shared).

Currently, we are developing a plan to create the strategy for reaching "Twenty Somethings" at a church in Minnesota.  To start I am very excited to work with a group that is aggressive in their thinking when it comes to leveraging Social Media.  Many churches are overwhelmed with the idea of Social Media or do not see the value in it.  Both of these areas can be addressed if the right questions are asked and metrics put in place to measure success. 

In asking the right questions you can create a clear picture of what Social Media engagement looks like for your organization or church.  It is important to take the time on the front end and bring clarity to your objectives and definition of success. 

The following is a list of areas you should think through when using Social Media in your Church or organization. We have multiple subsets of questions for each group that can take up to 37 hours in meetings and research, but even two hours of developing these areas will help you go the distance. 

Social Media Strategy Development

1. Set and Understand your Objectives.
2. Do Market Research and Surveys to get a better picture. 
3. Create a Campaign Strategy. 
4. Establish your Listening and Monitoring guidelines. 
5. Develop Response and Engagement Strategy. 
6. Architect the Campaign Delivery and Workflow. 
7. Create a Social Media Policy and Guidelines document for your team. 

These are a few of the areas you should focus on when creating a plan for using Social Media in your church.  Each of these areas has multiple approaches for developing strategy and action items.  Try not to get overwhelmed by the process but allow it to develop your focus.  PS- We recommend having someone walk you through this process.  If you need help contact us. 

Leo Laporte mentioned one of our website designs on Twit.tv

We are excited to have Leo Laporte mention www.praisefm.org on twit.tv as he plugged our favorite CMS, Squarespace.  Take a second to enjoy the moment with Leo and us! 

Thanks for the Mention Squarespace! Much Love!

We at Sheepish Design wanted to thank Squarespace for featuring our new website design on their site.  THE LINK.  We absolutely love Squarespace and what it offers all our clients.  We chose it as our primary Content Management System because of its intuitive backend, powerful platform, great SEO, security and amazing support from their team over at Squarespace.  We also love how the platform allows for creative freedom with site structure and design.  If you haven't checked out the features on Squarespace take some time and do so!  Thanks again so much Squarespace!  Much Love!

How to make Church Website Banners

Website banners can make your Church Website stand out to your users. The key is finding the right photo and placing the correct font type in spacial symmetry.  Here are some pointers to creating great website banners for your church website. 

Quick Tips to Creating Church Website Banners

1. Choose photos that match the tone of your church website.  If your site is bright and aggressive find photos that feel comfortable in the design.  
2. Use photos with people in them.  Make sure that the photos are organic and capture the emotion well.  If the people are posing it can come across insincere. 
3. Make sure the photo quality is good.  There is nothing worse a pixelated photo.  When creating the banner in Photoshop make sure it is set at 72dpi and actual size for the web. 
4. The type font should feel apart of the photo.  This means it should not feel awkward.  If you are not sure, ask someones opinion who has fashion sense. 
5. Use a contrasting color for the type font against the photo.  This does not mean contrasting primary colors, rather a color that fits the tone of the photo but allows it to pop. 
6. When all else fails look through some examples to get ideas. 

Remember a bad church website banner can do more damage than no website banner.  Take the time to create quality designed banners.  If you are not comfortable you can always contact us to help you out.

Top Ten Signs Your Church Website is Ugly

Top Ten Signs Your Church Website Is Ugly

1. When you ask people if they like the church website they say, "It works... I guess."
2. When you look at your website it reminds you of the late 90's.
3. There are clip art images on your website.
4. You use multiple colors in your content to emphasize importance.
5. Your church website banners are pixelated (and not in the cool way).
6. You don't want to use it either!
7. Every time you mention your website as a reference you are hesitant.
8. You actually forget the URL to your church website!
9. There are kittens and sparkles on your landing page.
10. The word Cyberspace is in your titles!

There was a recent study that showed how 52% of users would not return to a website because of its ascetics! That means if your church website is ugly you are guaranteed half of the people who visit will not return. Are you ready to let this happen? Sometimes the design of your church website is left in the hands of the wrong person. I have heard story after story of church websites being done by the brother, cousin or friend of the pastor. This usually leads to poor design and lack of time committed to making the church website intuitive because the volunteer is not a real designer. When you bring in a friend or brother in to design your website it's hard to say NO to their work, which can cause the website to suffer. Are you willing to let 52% of your users go because you want to still use your cousin or brother? The investment in your church website design will make the difference with keeping the traffic to your website. My guess is that 52% is only going to grow as users become accustom to great design on the web. Investing in your church website design is investing in the future of your church!