You have become increasingly aware of the value of a presence on social media. Your next question most likely revolves around – What do I have to post?
Over the last few months, I have had more conversations about leaders and pastors engaging in social media. The majority of these conversations include hesitation towards jumping into this environment: fear, time-commitment, consistency, uncertainty, etc.
Recently, I wrote a post on Six Insights on Leading and Pastoring Through Digital. Now that you have buy-in to the value of digital and social media, I want to help you become aware of what you can post that serve others.
Two guiding principles focus my attention on what I post on social media. First, tell the story. Your platform becomes an opportunity to lift others. It also allows people to see your story and how they relate to you.
Secondly, prompt the conversation. A valuable post has just as much value to an in-person conversation as it would in a digital conversation. You influence the people you serve by engaging in meaningful dialogue for connection and maturity.
Now, as you delve into the process of becoming more consistent online, here six ideas for posts that you can start engaging on social media:
Thank People
You have a valuable opportunity to thank the people who serve the church or organization you lead. Sharing your gratitude helps people know you cherish them. It also encourages others to get involved as a part of the mission. Andy Stanley says it this way, “What’s celebrated is repeated.”
Sermon/Teaching Material
How long do you prepare for a sermon or teaching a workshop? Let’s hypothetically say for every one hour of teaching; you have six hours of content. Where does that five hours of content go? Save your notes and use them as posts on social media. People need repetition, so utilize the work you have.
Books, Podcasts, and Articles
You help the people you serve know what you process or think by sharing the content you engage. Consider this. Twenty years ago, if you read an influential book, you could only bring it up at a meeting. Now, you can share a quote from the book or how it impacted you. Then have that same conversation in person. Believe it or not, people want to engage the content you engage.
Fun Questions
You may not like small talk, but if you find yourself in an in-person conversation, it happens. Over the past few weeks, I have shared a daily sports question. I have loved seeing the conversations that happen. Fun questions allow people to dialogue around your interests and hobbies. You have now created a deeper connection. Here a few examples you can use as fun questions:
- Elimination posts – Share four items while eliminating one of them in some fashion.
- Would you rather questions – Picking between two options.
- Start, Bench, Cut – Works with sports athletes but could work in other areas. Think of it as a ranking of first, second, and third place.
- Illustration help – You might have a question for an upcoming talk that could help illustrate a point.
Reshare Posts from the Team You Serve
I have loved watching Connection Church out of Pottstown, PA, on social media. They have shared regular blog posts, and five-six people repost it on social media. That values the work of the person writing the content. My friend Sherwin works for a mechanical engineering organization. I love watching him share the updates on LinkedIn. Resharing posts from others builds camaraderie with others and unifies people together.
Life Events – Get Personal
You might wonder why you would share anything about your family. Now more than ever, I believe people want to relate to you as a human. Yes, I share pictures of my daughter and wife smiling. Yes, we have our moments, and the images are not as perfect as people seem. But these personal posts invite people to make connections to you. They have families and relationships. There’s an opportunity to have a healthy vulnerability and allow you to get to know the people you serve in a meaningful way.
What other ideas for posts do you have as a leader or pastor? Share them in the comment section below.
Photo by Kristina Paparo on Unsplash