Video is an essential tool for many churches and ministries.
Whether it’s on Zoom, Google Hangouts, or YouTube Live, video makes it easier for churches and ministries to connect and engage with their members.
But video should go beyond that to create even more meaningful connections.
Did you know that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the volume of video content online has been growing rapidly as more people prefer to consume video content over text content?
So what does this mean for churches and ministries? Video must go beyond online meetings and live-streamed worship services.
If you want to connect with your church members and potential church members, you must implement some video marketing strategies on your social media channels.
Don’t know where to start? We’ve got you covered!
Here are four social media video tips you can use at your church.
1. Don’t overthink video marketing
Did you know that 41% of marketers don’t make videos because they think it’s too complicated?
First off, don’t think too much about making your video content high-production. Creating video content for social media should not be a daunting or complicated task.
The more you want your video content to look like the video content of the bigger church down the street from you, the more likely it is that you will never start video marketing or have a consistent flow of video content.
You can create quality video content literally in the palm of your hands. All you need to do is open the camera app on your smartphone to get started.
You do not have to wait for the “right” equipment to get started with creating video content for your church. You do not need to have a high-production video for it to be effective online.
You just need to start creating video content.
Don’t get me wrong, high production definitely has a time and place, especially if you have a video professional on staff who can handle those aspects. But when it comes to social media, high-production value should not come first in your priorities list. Your main focus is to create authentic, valuable, and quality content (more on that in the next section).
Here’s something HubSpot said:
“For most videos, the more simple and raw it is, the more authentic the content seems…and that's what really matters to your audience.”
At the end of the day, quality content trumps high-production content on most social media platforms.
Pro-tip: If you do want to take your video content to the next level, consider using online video platforms like Animoto, Biteable, or Promo. These online video platforms make it easier to create polished videos using pre-made templates.
2. Create quality video content
When you’re scrolling through your Instagram or Facebook feed, sometimes there are pieces of video content that you see where you not only stop scrolling, but watch the entire video.
Why does this happen? You deemed that video as a valuable piece of content.
When it comes to creating videos for churches, you must focus on creating quality content. And remember, quantity does not mean quality.
Here are some quality video content ideas that you can implement in your church’s video strategy:
- Bi-weekly fun video to meet the church staff
- Video that highlights different ministries in your church
- Testimony videos from members of your church
- Weekly midweek devotional videos from a church leader
- Weekly prayer topic videos from members of your church
- Sermon recap videos
- Video of your church’s worship band
- GIFs/text videos for new sermon series announcements, notable quotes from the pastor’s sermon, bible verses, or general announcements
These types of content are valuable, and may even bring some new visitors to your church!
I actually talked to a friend this past week and he told me that a few people visited his church because they saw his church’s Instagram posts and liked them. How cool is that?
3. Build your church community with video marketing
One of the main goals you must have when it comes to creating video content on social media is to build community, not get a quick bump in numbers.
What do I mean by that?
Sure, sharing funny videos or memes may garner some more likes on social media, but if most of the content on your church’s social media accounts are memes, you are missing the main point.
Remember, you must play the long game. You are not just creating video content just to rack up a lot of likes on social media.
Churches and ministries should use social media to foster relationships, communicate their ministry vision and values, and minister to both church-goers and first-time social media visitors.
There are creative ways you can build a community on social media with video content. For example, you can celebrate special church moments from the week like sermon highlights, baptisms, or testimonies from church members.
Here’s the bottom line: Be intentional with the video content you post online. Aim to foster relationships with church members and build relationships with potential church members that will last years.
4. Create shareable video content on social media
Create video content that people would want to share on social media.
With social video generating 1,200% more shares than text and image content combined, people will share your church’s video content if they like it!
You can accomplish this by making sure your video doesn’t drag on by getting to the point quickly, and making sure you include some sort of call to action to share the video.
Why is this important? Creating shareable video content can be beneficial in two ways.
First, this can help spread the word when your church places funding/effort into promoting a key event, or a church fundraiser.
Whether it’s an Easter service, Christmas service, outreach event, or a conference, shareable video content on social media can help promote the event by reaching more people online.
So, feel free to get creative! Find a method that encourages your online community to get involved by sharing and liking your video content.
Secondly, creating shareable video content helps spread the gospel message.
If you create a piece of shareable video content that communicates the message of hope, there’s a chance that someone who really needed to see that message sees it in their social media feed because their friend who attends your church shared that video.
(Check out Binmin to see a ministry doing great social media content.)
Closing thoughts
I hope these four tips will help jumpstart your church’s social media video strategy!
And with that, I hope you will continue to build meaningful relationships online and effectively use social media to minister to many people.
If you have adopted any of these tips in your social media video content, share your posts with us by tagging us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter with @anedot!
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