Being able to connect with and generate engagement online can stand you out in a very crowded environment where everyone is seeking for the attention of your audience. As we know there are many outfits online looking to engage the 2 billion (and counting) people that sign on every day.
In this post, we look at five challenges that people face when it comes to engaging online and how to overcome them.
Building and engaging the right audience:
Whilst we are sent to GO to the world, as an individual we are not sent to the whole world, it’s almost impossible to reach everyone and inevitably some will hate you, I mean they even hated Jesus, right? The first step to building the right audience is to identify the group or community of people that you have been sent to and then tailor your message accordingly.
Of course, there is a chance that you were sent to more than one group of people and that therefore means you have double the work to do. Each post must speak to an audience or group of people and if that’s more than one, then you must make sure that you pay more attention to one group over the other.
Getting more people onboard:
Firstly you need to get onboard and ensure that you are on the right platform to reach your target audience. Secondly, the key to getting more people onboard is by first engaging with them. Here are some things that you can do to attract more people to your social media platform:
- Use every opportunity to invite more people to your social media platforms including adopting offline strategies.
- Invite your friends online and ask them to invite their friends too.
- Connect with related platforms, like their pages and share their content (you reap what you sow).
- Listen to your audience, not just what they are telling you directly but what they are telling others, what they are sharing, and take note of what they are concerned about. Then tailor your message accordingly.
- Finally, make sure that you post valuable content that attracts your audience. While quality can work in your favour (in terms of how many times you post) quality always trumps. Test different types of content and posting times and go with what works.
Use to evangelise:
As an evangelism tool, you need to be mindful of the types of content that you are sharing and the purpose. If the message is confusing then the people are less likely to engage. Whilst it is easy to share messages which proclaim the gospel, your life speaks more than the “message of the gospel” that you share – we often say this and the same is true online. You can not preach what you don’t live, virtually. So if your other posts don’t reflect your Christian lifestyle, you’re unlikely to keep your target audience engaged. This can be managed by separating personal life from ministry, utilising a personal profile and a business page, but ultimately they should compliment one another. Ministers Desk conducted a webinar last month which expounded on How to win more souls for Christ virtually; if you would like to gain access please get in touch.
Follow Up:
If you invite people to your online space and then ignore them it follows that they will either leave or be less engaged. In fact, social platforms like Facebook will hide your posts from your audience if you do not stay active and engage with them regularly. Follow up is vital. When people engage with you, welcome them and check on them from time to time. This might not be easy when you have a large following and by then you need to think of other creative ways to follow up but for starters one of the first things you can do is greet your audience when they are celebrating something (like birthdays or anniversary), set a poll and tailor your posts around the result of the poll, thank those who leave comments on your page and so on.
An unknown language:
Now, this might make you laugh as I did but some posts have so much “Christianese” (that is Christian lingo) that by the time the unchurched people you are trying to reach feel like they are at the tower of Babel. The gospel of Jesus is one of simplicity and not complex and therefore our message should reflect this. We should not scare people away with big “Christian words” like “redemption” or words like “rapture”. Make it simple online and as they grow in Christ we can introduce other words.
That’s it, what did you think? Are there changes you can make? Share with us in the comments section below.
