With Easter almost here, churches are strategizing ways to maximize their reach in the community. For many people, Easter is one of the times they are most willing to step inside a church. This is an incredible opportunity for churches to connect with guests and share the greatest story ever told: the story of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
One of the most affordable and accessible outreach tools available to each church is its website and social media platforms. Regardless of how someone hears about your church, it’s inevitable that they will peruse your online presence before deciding to visit. Is your church ready?
Here are four ways you can use and bolster online strategies to reach your community this Easter season:
- Make sure your church’s Google listing and website are up to date.
Have you ever Googled your church? Most church members haven’t. But for visitors, this is the doorway to their knowledge of your congregation. It’s worth checking to make sure your service times, location and contact information are all correct, especially if something has recently changed or if you’re offering special Easter services.
The same goes for your website. You’d be surprised how many churches have out-of-date events and even former staff members listed on their site. Maybe your website needs an upgrade or redesign to make it easier for visitors to find the information they are looking for. Now is a great time to make these changes.
- Include a section on your website for visitor information.
Visitors to your church likely have lots of questions when they visit: Where do I park? What should I wear? What programs do they have for my kids? How do I find a Sunday School class? Breaking down these uncertainties can help visitors feel cared for and also create more points of connection with church members once they arrive. This can be done easily by creating an “I’m New” or “Visitor Information” section on your website.
- Create custom Easter graphics for social media.
Many churches conduct large Easter outreach initiatives with printed cards, door hangers and matching slides and bulletin covers. These have proven to create consistent and effective promotion, but many churches don’t have the time and budget to do so. This is where Canva and your online presence comes in. Anyone can create a free account on Canva.com (churches can even get a free Canva Pro subscription as a non-profit) and search through templates to find a set of Easter graphics to customize with your church name, service times and locations. Posting these to social media is free promotion, but you could also print and distribute them in the community.
- Try “boosting” a post on Facebook for wider targeted reach.
If you’ve ever helped manage a Facebook business page, you’ve seen a blue button beside each published post with the word “boost.” Maybe you thought it was a scam or wondered if giving Facebook and Instagram (together they make Meta) more money would really do anything. However, advertising through “boosting” posts through Meta has proven highly effective for churches. Regardless of your budget (some churches start with $20), you can reach thousands of people in your community with one post. After clicking “boost post,” simply follow the prompts and make sure your audience targets only those in the 5-20 miles around your church to be most effective.
Easter Sunday is coming. Your online presence plays a role in who walks through the church doors to hear a message of salvation. Will you maximize its potential this year?
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Marina Shelton and originally published by Kentucky Today.
