As Mingo, Angie, and Robert continue their discussion on giving your church a social media makeover, Angie shares three key factors to consider when thinking about your church’s social media.

First, understand the relationship-building purpose your social media serves. “It’s where people connect to the who of your church and not the what… the faces, the voice, your pastor, your ministry leaders, your volunteers.”

Second, be intentional. Every post should intentionally support your church’s goal. Of course, all churches share a common goal of bringing people to Jesus, “but the way churches do it looks differently,” she says. “How is your social media supporting the uniqueness of who your church is?”

Third, be strategic in the overall design of your social media, including photography and videography.

One of these strategies is to do what Angie calls “social media outreach.” Reach out to individuals in the community, or even local businesses, through your church’s social media. Don’t wait for people to reach out to you first; make the first move through your social media and engage with people through positive, genuine comments. “Comment like you’re a person,” Angie says, not something generic that could have just as easily been written by a bot. As you build relational equity, people will naturally grow curious and start checking out what you’re all about.

This is a great way for someone in your church to get involved even if they don’t have much experience with social media: ask them to manage engagement by leaving nice comments for others. “That’s something that instantly I think any church can add to their toolbox of social media engagement, just having people help engage outward,” Mingo says.

What about when it comes to reviews? Robert says the three dominant platforms to manage here are Yelp, Facebook, and Google. They provide another great opportunity to engage people by responding to the reviews, whether positive or negative.

Some churches immediately remove all negative comments they receive, but in fact, negative reviews “are the biggest opportunities you can ever have,” Robert says. Of course, some comments are left by trolls and can’t really be addressed, but you should try to discern where there may be serious problems that require a response.

Angie agrees. “I try to take criticism in the perspective of they just want to help, and it helps [me] respond a little bit differently.” Rather than blocking and deleting, she thinks it’s crucial for churches to be open about different points of view. “Why are you deleting? Are you trying to protect our followers? That’s not protecting them. That’s living in this Christian theology bubble.”

When people challenge the theology of her church, she leaves the comments up so people can recognize the variety of beliefs that exist. “If someone’s voicing their opinion and challenging what we’re doing as a church, I think it’s important for people to see that,” she says.

“Scripture would say always be ready with an answer,” Mingo adds.