In today’s digital age, your church’s social media accounts are often the first impression people get of your church. Often before people even find your website, they see what you’re posting on your Instagram and Facebook pages. With that in mind, it’s important that you have a solid social media strategy in order to give the best first impression online.

To help you do that, here are a few things to keep in mind.

Secure Quality Photos
If the pictures you’re posting aren’t captivating and high quality, no one is going to bother reading your captions. Therefore, it’s super important that you have access to great photos from your church. If there is no one on your church’s staff that has the equipment needed to take high-quality pictures, it might be worth looking into hiring an independent contractor to come on a Sunday or Wednesday night to take pictures.

Remember Your Audience
The first thing you learn when it comes to developing content is to identify a clear audience. So make sure that as you’re writing captions and selecting pictures to post, you’re keeping your target audience in mind. If your church is mainly made up of young families, then you want to curate your content to appeal to that demographic. If your church is in a college town and college students make up a big percentage of your congregation, post content that appeals to that group.

Be Consistent
One key aspect of an effective social media strategy is consistency. You want to make sure you’re posting regularly and often so that your content stays in front of your audience. Now it’s important to find a happy medium here. You don’t want to spam your followers, but you also don’t want people to forget that you’re even on social media. So just find a schedule that works for you and stick to it so your followers come to rely on you and your church’s social media presence.

Engage With Your Followers
It’s not enough to just hit the post button and walk away until the next time you post. You need to make sure that you’re engaging with your followers as they engage with your content. That means following members of your church and liking their photos, replying to comments on your own posts, and replying to DMs promptly. The more personal you can make your account feel, the more likely your engagement will increase from your followers.

Remember, social media is often the true front door of your church for those looking for a place to worship. What they see and read online will create the first impressions of your church. Hopefully, these four tips will help improve your online presence and expand your reach in your community.