“Why in the hell would I follow their tweets?” was the airline passenger’s question to his flying companion upon noticing the airport’s poster plastered next him with a plea for follow-ship.
Obviously, there are too many micro messages by big, uninteresting corporations spewing about twibble (twitter dribble). So why would anyone want to follow your church master twitter account?
The answer = they probably don’t. So try a different angle…
Personalize It
Perhaps it might be seen as ‘risky’ for some larger churches, but try promoting the personal accounts of your worship pastor, a fun personality on staff, or the senior pastor (not his admin or staff behind the scenes). Look for people that already have a good rhythm and sweet style to their tweets. Don’t promote the account with a power point slide or a mass email, but rather allow the individual to do it from stage in the normal course of conversation and community engagement.
Tweet Previews
Think of your twitter like a movie preview. Get people excited before they come. Include upcoming video clips, special song rehearsals, topic summary, challenging quote to be included, a reading that is impacting the development of the sermon.
Give Content, Not Just Crap
Stay away from lame updates about meals, your current location, or most recent abstract thought. Consider:
- A follow up on the challenge from Sunday.
- A reminder of the main Bible verse.
- Recapping the main point in 140 characters.
- Challenging people to invite their friends.
- Encouraging a specific action of service.
- Mixing in some humor.
Ryan Russell is co-owner of Factor1Studios, leading in business and creative development.
Great list of suggestions. You can also ask your followers what they’re interested in. For @stcharleschurch, we post a daily Scripture verse and reflection, the weekend celebrant’s schedule (also a very popular feature on our site) and occasional coverage of a live church event.
I appreciate your thoughts on making the ‘channel” more personal. With any of these types of social media platforms, the more of a personal voice there is the more value people will place in them. Thanks for the reminder!