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?

A cheating song, ten wives left home and 8 dogs died …

This is probably an exaggeration, but when you attend the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, Tennessee - the home of country music - you do go expecting to hear songs about at least two of the above.
The Grand Old Opry is really a radio show with a live audience - around 2,000 of them. The show is complete with live radio commercials and breaks every 30 mins while the station shifts into a new round of sponsors.
The performers are mainly unknown to Australian audiences, but there was some good talent among them tonight, names like Miranda Lambert, Vince Gill and Blake Shelton in particular.
Some of the performers seem to have been doing the Grand Old Opry for most of its nearly 90 year history. That's probably a bit unfair, but many of them are over seventy and are still welcomed and cheered as they sing a song from their latest album - released in 1963! The voice may not be what it was, but they're still welcomed to the stage.
The audience sits in pew like seats. They're all numbered as individual seats, which can make it difficult to know if you're in the right spot. There are families with children, young couples and the older fans. Between (or sometimes during) songs the men duck out for a beer or a hot dog and bring it back to their seat.
The show itself is pretty slow and plodding between performances. The live announcer is in the style sent up by the Laugh In TV show in the 70's. His reading of the 'live copy' seems to be locked into the format used when the show first started.
But it was a great night - family friendly, no loud rock-n-roll decibels and lots of respect for those who had gone before to build the American County Music genre.
Highly recommended as a 'must' if you're ever in Nashville.

Communications strategy for Church Mission trips

Just back from two weeks in Cambodia with our Church Mission team and seems that the communications strategy we put together delivered on maintaining connection between the team and family and supporters back home. Click to read the story.
Pictured are the team gathered around my laptop as the made a Skype call back to church.
A post trip survey showed that 90% of those who received the daily e-mails, with links to photos and videos, said they felt strongly connected to the team. For more, check out the reports on the trip web site: http://www.cambodia2010.com

Why it pays to invest in Social Media

(This is from www.philcooke.com. He said it all so well, so here's a reprint.)
There's a great deal of skepticism out there about social media from both businesses and non-profits. Does it really add to the bottom line? Does it generate more customers or donors? Does it have an ROI? Admittedly, it's hard to define, but some new research by social media platform Wetpaint and digital media consultant Altimeter Group shows that companies with the most involvement in social media increased revenues by 18% in the last 12 months, while those with the least involvement decreased 6% during that same time. Here's a few interesting things to note from the study:

1. Social media tends to build on itself. Conversations started on Twitter move to Facebook or Myspace. Email discussions are generated. The brand is extended into more and more channels.

2. Companies that scored well had small but dedicated teams working on social media initiatives. It's not enough to have one employee working on social media in his or her spare time. Your webmaster starting a Facebook page isn't the model. It takes a small, but dedicated group to keep the conversations moving forward.

3. Some of the companies reviewed, started their social media initiatives in response to bad PR. Perhaps a computer company was criticized for bad customer service and used social media to address the issue. This is a really strong point because social media is an excellent way to respond to complaints and criticism.

In light of more and more information like this study, it's good to remember that before you can win a gold medal, you have to at least jump into the pool.

Church marketing taken to extremes?

RENTON, Mich. USA - A Michigan church is enlisting Satan in a bid to drum up attendance at services. Metro South Church in the Detroit suburb of Trenton is posting signs saying the non-denominational Christian congregation "sucks" and "makes me sick." (see http://is.gd/2TtLd)
The ads are signed by Satan.
The campaign even has a Web site explaining why Satan hates the church.
Youth Pastor Adam Dorband told WJBK-TV the church is trying to reach out to people and cut through the "noise." Dorband said Jesus "wants us to be creative and he wants us to ... use whatever it takes to reach people."
Pastor Jeremy Schossau said the campaign is meant to be whimsical and isn't intended to upset anyone.
Compare this with the interdenominational campaign, 'Jesus. All about life' about to kick off in NSW and WA in Australia - at least the name of Jesus is prominent.

Jesus. All about life - coming to a church near you

After nearly seven years of planning, the 'Jesus. All about life' (JAAL) campaign is coming to NSW and Western Australia. Developed is response to the question, "what would the church do to promote Christian faith in the media if money was no object," JAAL has already run in Adelaide, Canberra/ACT and Tasmania.
There are over 1,500 supporting churches in NSW and over 250 in WA - the most number of churches who have supported any cross-denominational outreach ever. I was privileged to be involved in the development of the campaign and its great to see it finally coming to 'the big smoke'. You can check it out here: www.jesusallaboutlife.com.au.
There's also a number of promotional videos that take you through the creative changes that will be seen in the NSW and WA campaign. http://www.vimeo.com/5616352; http://www.vimeo.com/5992575; http://www.vimeo.com/6296429
Check them out.