Most churches are missing out on a simple and powerful tool to connect with and communicate with their congregation. If you are interested in using social media effectively, you need to consider adding at least one Facebook Group, and ideally more.
Why do you need a group?
Nearly one third of the world’s population has a Facebook account, and nearly eight out of ten Americans are active on Facebook. Back in 2018, Facebook effectively changed how organizations and businesses use Facebook by changing their algorithm. Facebook de-emphasized posts from Facebook Pages, and increased the visibility of posts from friends and Facebook Groups.
Many churches have become frustrated because of the low organic reach of their Facebook Page posts. While you can increase the effectiveness of your posts by generating better content (see my course on developing a Facebook Posting Strategy), typically you will need to spend money on boosting posts and creating Facebook ads for important posts. But what if I told you that you can post the same information in a Facebook Group and get better results?
Facebook Groups are a great way to build community for your church. A Group can be an extension of your church’s ministry online. It’s an online campus for your church, and it’s free. Here are a few possible uses for your Groups in your church.
- A Single Churchwide Facebook Group for Your Attendees – This can be used to stay connected throughout the week. You can create a safe place to share news, information, encouragement, and devotions throughout the week. And the best part is that your members are already on Facebook so they will stay connected.
- Multiple Smaller Groups for Your Church Ministries – Groups are a great way for your ministries to actually do ministry throughout the week. You can share updates, have conversations, and build relationships online.
- Private Hidden Groups for Your Leadership Teams – Groups work great to share prayer requests, do online meetings using video rooms, and to share documents with your leadership teams.
Learning More About Facebook Groups
Nona Jones’ book, From Social Media to Social Ministry (my affiliate link) is a great place to start to learn more about the importance of a Facebook Group. But if you want to go in-depth, then I encourage you to check out my course Facebook Groups Made Simple, A Complete Guide for Churches. In my six-lesson course with over 3 hours of teaching, here’s what you will learn.
- Learn the difference between Facebook Pages and Groups and why Groups are necessary to build community within your church.
- Learn the different options for groups and how many groups your church should have.
- Discover the 3 secrets that will help you launch your group successfully.
- Learn how to set up a Facebook Group to build community and develop relationships online.
- Develop a plan to get everyone in the group engaged and sharing throughout the week.
- Explore rooms to see how your church can use them for online meetings and groups.
- Learn how you can use guides to share important information and even walk people through a discipleship pathway.
- See how you can use announcements and post topics to guide the discussion in the group.
- Learn why private groups create a safer environment for people to share in your church than public groups
- Discover how Group insights can teach you what is working and effective
- Learn how Group Rules and Membership Questions can help you create an active group.
Interested? If so, then click this link to learn more and signup. And for a limited time, you’ll also get access to my other course on Developing a Facebook Posting Strategy. It’s two courses for price of one.
