As part of my job, I come in contact with a lot of new ministries/church plants that are looking for ways to get their feet wet in the online world. I often refer them to some of the excellent (and affordable!) template sites that are available today, but recently I began kicking around another idea…
What if they just pointed their URL to a Facebook fan page?
As I’ve mentioned in detail in a previous post, our Facebook fan page has been explosively successful. It’s free. It’s an incredibly effective/viral communications tool. You can post audio, video, photos and discussions. It meets your audience right where they’re already gathering. Simply put, its one of the best tools to have come along in years.
The only downsides that come to mind are the limited branding options and the inability to post a lot of great static content. Can today’s church plant survive online through Facebook alone?
What do you guys think?
I disagree with your downsides, as I don’t think that Facebook limits your branding options or ability to add static content. I recently worked on the Chick-Fil-A Facebook page adding a lot of static HTML content to push the Cow Appreciation Day.
There was ample room to brand the page for Chick-Fil-A and add plenty of our own content.
Let me clarify:
By branding, I mean having control over the look and feel of the entire page through a Style Sheet to control colors, imagery, etc.
I have to admit that I was not aware of the ability to expand the static content so much; I’m going to have to do that for us! What’s the best way to get started?
The only major downside that we’ve found to our facebook page is that admins can’t post as themselves - they always appear as the fan page’s name (ie. “Hillside Church says…”).
While this doesn’t seem all that bad at first, when you get two pastors/staff wanting to join a discussion as themselves and not as “hillside church” it gets really confusing. Aside from figuring out a way to identify one’s self within the admin “title” it also really changes the tone.
Otherwise, we’ve found fbook another great piece in our growing ventures online.
Hi Eric,
I think this is generally a good idea - for a church to think soberly about how they will use the site, and whether they want to create their own site, that will soon become static, stale and dead, or utilize a limited but dynamic feature set of FaceBook (or other similar application). For some churches this may be the best way, I think.
We were considering this in brainstorming approach to “Alpha and Omega” site, but eventually rejected due to lacking branding options (the only changeable thing I could find was that picture in the upper-right corner), and general lack of control. This was last summer, though, so may be FB improved that since then.
Another direction, though very different, is using FB API on the site, to allow easy access for FB users, and possibility to post their news, updates and statuses on the church site. I haven’t tried it yet, but may be a good thing to do. Not easy, though, so not directly relevant to your question
yes, you have lost your mind. i would never recommend a church to establish themselves on a limited and relatively-uncontrollable platform (especially from content ownership, sustainability, data, and more) alone, even if for just a short term. Terrible SEO and you’d close to door on so much organic and contextual traffic it would be tragedy.
i could probably spend more time, but it’s generally a waste of time to speak reason and logic to the insane.
John:
I agree with you on a long term basis, but in the short term, it’s hard to convince me that the church with a microscopic budget/no tech staff could get more value out there these days (starting out) than through a Facebook page.
I’m aware of the content ownership issues, but I think the explosive nature of online community building through Facebook outweighs those downsides. It will only prove to the church body and leadership that a strong online presence is valuable, and expedite the need for a more official web presence.
And, for the record, I just googled the church I serve at (Long Hollow Baptist), and our Facebook page is #3 on the list.
But then again, maybe I’m just losing my grip on reality
I think some of us should approach Facebook about the possibility of developing a fan page of sorts that is more church and non-profit friendly. One that has all of the neccessities of a church website. I would even pay for something like that.
It would be a mutual benefit. Churches would have a solid tool for community, communication, and web presence. Facebook would get more followers as a result of more folks wanting to join the conversation (because pages are public but commenting requires FB membersip).
For churches not wanting to go that route, what about the possibility of a Facebook-powered online campus?
Who do we need to talk to?
I’ve just begun a slow implementation of a Facebook page for my church while we nut out long term strategy. I personally think that it is well worth directing our domain to the facebook page for the time being.
I don’t think it will be a long term strategy though. Although facebook will be a part of the strategy into the long term.
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