Social Media - Twitter and Facebook the new favs at NRB

After a week in the US attending the National Religious Broadcasters Conference in Nashville, TN and 14 days in Cambodia prior to that, its good to be home. Nothing like getting on that Qantas aircraft at LA and being greeted in an Aussie accent by the crew. (The pic has nothing to do with the NRB, but it was in the mall next door.)

Social Media was king at the NRB. Everyone was Facebooking, tweeting and blogging. Over the four main days of the NRB, there were educational sessions that covered radio, television, some print and then internet and social media.

What is Social Media?
A group of internet based applications that build on the ideological foundations of Web 2.0 that allow the creation and exchange of user generated content. Over 70% of US adults now participate in social media. One out of four US churches have a social media presence. (like this blog)

Here's some stats from one of the sessions led by Nathan Tabor, CEO, TCVMedia.com.

• Social media is how people discover, read and share news and information in the 21st Century.
• It's not the next BIG thing - it is THE THING.
• Social media is redefining how people interact. 1 in 8 in 2008 decided to marry after meeting on line.
• There are 45 million updates a day on Facebook
• Twitter grew by 1328% in the last year

On Facebook, you can find your perfect audience. During the seminar, Nathan demonstrated how easy it was to target an ad to a particular demographic. This meant that Christian ministries who wanted to reach say, single, Christian college educated women aged between 21 and 39 who lived within 20 miles of Nashville could easily do so. (BTW, there are 330 people on Facebook who fit this demographic).

Social media gives you the chance to witness because its easy and free. However your social media strategy should complement your overall plan.

Lee Raney, President, Christian Web Network led another session called 'Prepare to Get Connected'. He commented that its not Facebook people are addicted to, its their friends.
He quoted Mark McCormack, founder of the IMG Management group who said; 'All things being equal, people will do business with their friends; all things being unequal, people will still do business with their friends.'

One session was a practical demonstration on how to get a Facebook page, a Twitter account and a YouTube page up and running inside an hour - all branded and looking the same for your ministry. This session was led by Ian Utile, of Take No Glory Ministries.

The other thing that impressed me was the quality of the music at the evening sessions. It ranged from the traditional Gospel sounds of the Gaither Vocal Band through to contemporary bands like Austin's Bridge and 1000 Generations. (Check out their web sites).

The integration of Social Media into any communication plan was key to continuing to connect with your audience, was my take home message. But a warning from many of the presenters was that you needed to make sure you updated and read your Facebook and Twitter postings every day. Your audience expects almost instant response.

Back to the den of vipers ....

I last attended the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention in 1988 - so a lot has changed since then. Many of the high-profile ministries of the 80's have long gone, some remain and probably should have gone and there's a whole heap of new ones. The NRB runs in three main streams.

1. The exhibition hall downstairs, called by some the 'den of vipers';
2. The educational and information sessions run throughout each day where you can focus on three main streams, television, radio and the internet, and;
   
3. The NRB committee and official sessions of the organisation

Like most people, I went mainly for (1) and (2). The exhibition hall has stands promoting the whole range of Christian organisations from the far right to the right. Whilst some are known in Australia such as the Billy Graham organisation and Samaritan's Purse - the majority are not. The remarkable thing is that most of the ministries in the hall are over 30 and 40 years old - with the images of the founders and hosts needing to undergo more and more photoshopping as the years have gone by. There are younger Christian broadcasters around - but not many, it seems, make it to the NRB.
The educational sessions are well run. The stream I focused on was how best to use the internet and social media in Christian outreach. These guys are well ahead of what I have seen in Australia - and that's to be expected.
The quality of the music at the various events was outstanding. Given the profile of the conference, I can imagine only the best of the best are chosen. Great to see some younger bands also on stage, together with the Gospel quartets. (Yes, they still exist here).
Tonight Chuck Colson from Prison Fellowship is the keynote speaker at the closing banquet.
Great to see a heap of Australians here also - next year we reckon we should have an Australia stand. Wonder if we can get export funds to help put it together?