Digital Parish: Elevating Your Church's Digital Strategy

Ryan Dunn [00:00:00]:
Hi, welcome to Pastoring in the Digital Parish, your podcast for building your digital ministry toolkit and bringing your congregation into the digital age. I'm your host, Ryan Dunn. And in today's episode, we have the privilege of sitting down with social media consultant, Online Johansson. Colin comes to us with a wealth of experience as the senior social media specialist for United Methodist Communications. He's the digital evangelist helping churches navigate the ever evolving world of social media and online engagement. As we witness our physical and digital lives becoming increasingly intertwined, Colin provides some invaluable insights into how churches can successfully carve out their own space in the online community. So in this session with Colin, we'll learn why live video should be a cornerstone of your digital ministry and how you can craft social media content that not only connects but resonates deeply with your congregation. From creating engaging sermon clips to schedule a post for optimal impact, we dive deep into strategies that will help retain newcomers, especially around high traffic times like Easter, which is coming up.

Ryan Dunn [00:01:14]:
If you've ever struggled with keeping your church's social media fresh and effective, stick around. This is an episode overflowing with some practical tips that could transform your digital ministry game. So let's welcome Dunn Johansson to pastoring in the digital parish. Well, Online, thanks so much for joining us on pastoring in the digital parish. We're gonna talk about all Dunn of all things social media for churches and digital footprints and all that Dunn of interesting stuff for people in our realm. But but first, Online, just how goes it with your soul today?

Collin Johansson [00:01:48]:
It goes well. It goes well. It's one of those days where things are feeling good, things are feeling productive, and things are feeling just nice. The weather's nice and can't can't complain about too much.

Ryan Dunn [00:02:00]:
Wonderful. Well, tell me about your role at United Methodist Communications. What does a Wednesday look like for Colin Johansen?

Collin Johansson [00:02:08]:
Yeah. So I am the senior social media specialist for the local church services team at United Methodist Communications. Basically, a Wednesday for me will look like, working with churches to basically expand their digital presence through social media. What that means is meeting with churches, coaching, looking at the back end analytics, and really going diving deep with churches to see, hey, you're doing really great at these things, and here's where we can improve, going forward. So that's what a normal Wednesday looks like for me, and very excited, that this role exists, and we're here.

Ryan Dunn [00:02:48]:
Well, I get asked all the time, like, what kind of numbers should we be paying attention to? So as you're diving in on those initial steps with the church to look at where they need to kinda up their game, what are some of the back end analytics that you're looking at?

Collin Johansson [00:03:00]:
Yeah. We're looking at a lot of things. The main one I like to look at is, like, engagements on posts. Methodist seeing, like, how many people not only saw the post, but how many people clicked on the post? How many people liked it? How many people shared it? Because sometimes, like, those numbers look wildly different. The engagement post or is their engagement number is usually a lot smaller than the, actual people who've seen it. And so then comes the questions of, okay, how do we get that up? How do we get that higher? How do we get that? And I think that's where churches are asking, like, the best questions about, their social media and how they can improve.

Ryan Dunn [00:03:40]:
Yeah. Well, I definitely wanna talk about the questions that churches are asking Dunn the even the questions that they're not asking, specific kinds of posts that, at least for churches, tend to garner more engagement than others?

Collin Johansson [00:03:59]:
Yeah. There's there's so many different ways that you can, like, really up the engagement. One of the things right now that's a big trend is video content. Video content is kind of everywhere, on the social media apps, especially with, like, TikTok emerging as such a huge social media platform overall. But that short form video content, even though it's, like, not the easiest to produce in some ways, is what is working a lot right now. And I've seen a lot of churches find success with, minute devotionals, just you and a person, like, talking at a camera, and just going through that even, like, keeping it really short to, like, under a ministry, and then the other being sermon clips. So having, like, cutting a small little bit from a sermon on Sunday, posting it online, and people love that. People, if they miss church on Sunday and don't wanna watch the full service, they can go back and watch that little clip and be, like, cool.

Collin Johansson [00:04:58]:
That was a great little piece of information that I can think of throughout the week. That's one of the ones that I find to be a little more it's definitely a little more, like, bandwidth heavy. Like, it's definitely more, like, video clips are not the easiest things to work with. Yeah. But but, there are some other ways that I've seen that, like, churches are that are kind of emerging, in easier ways, to, go further. And I think, I'll talk about it a little bit, more later when churches are asking, like, about the question piece.

Ryan Dunn [00:05:29]:
Mhmm.

Collin Johansson [00:05:31]:
But I think a great way to show off, like, the best engagement on churches is, like, post about who you are as a church.

Ryan Dunn [00:05:40]:
Yeah.

Collin Johansson [00:05:41]:
Where I think we live so much right now in this era where, we're using social media, churches specifically, as bulletin boards.

Ryan Dunn [00:05:51]:
Yeah.

Collin Johansson [00:05:52]:
And, like, let's post here's our, like, Sunday service livestream, and here's the events going on this week. And And that's about all the posts you have, whereas, like, I'm not gonna gain anything from that if I'm walking in, or, like, clicking on your page for the first time. But if you're posting about who you are, like, what you believe, your mission statements, like, pictures of you and the community doing work, pictures of your congregation on a Sunday morning, and then, like, pinning those posts to the top of your profile. So the first thing people see is Mhmm. Welcome. Like, this is who we are, is such a great way to boost engagement right now. Then it's just very simple post like that that I think can really take a church's social media from, like, a bulletin board 0 to a community hub, like, area where people can gather and, like, have conversation. There

Ryan Dunn [00:06:47]:
There was a strategy that I just started to test out within my local church context where, I'm almost taking, like, a weekly theme and trying to play that out through the week. And this helps us get off the mindset of just being the bulletin board. Right? Where we're just looking for content of, like, oh, well, this event's coming up, so we're gonna post about that. And now I can post about this other thing happening where really so for example, this past week, the the theme that we were trying to take on was overcoming feelings of defeat, and what to do with that. So, you know, Monday, we kinda posed the question, is there any life any part of your life in which you're feeling defeated? And by the way, if you're a super John Wesley Methodist nerd, you know, that's one of John Wesley's 22 self examination questions.

Collin Johansson [00:07:34]:
So Mhmm.

Ryan Dunn [00:07:36]:
Pulled out of the tradition there. And then just coming up with some ways to to to revisit that theme throughout the week. Almost like answering a problem. So posing a problem at the beginning of the week

Collin Johansson [00:07:48]:
Yeah.

Ryan Dunn [00:07:49]:
And then trying to lead towards an answer. And and sermon clips come into that. And you noted that sermon clips can be, in short form video can be a little bit more production intensive. Mhmm.

Collin Johansson [00:08:00]:
But we're

Ryan Dunn [00:08:00]:
at this weird point in social media production right now where, we can use Dunn piece of content that has meaning on all these different platforms. Right?

Collin Johansson [00:08:13]:
Yeah.

Ryan Dunn [00:08:13]:
And it used to be Yeah. That they they talked about you had to match your your medium to the to the space in which you were doing it. So Facebook would be one kind of post. Instagram would be another. TikTok, something else. Well, now TikTok is kind of run over everybody else. It's Yeah. Yeah.

Ryan Dunn [00:08:31]:
You can produce that TikTok video Dunn then put it on all your other platforms, and it's still relevant. Right?

Collin Johansson [00:08:36]:
Yeah. A 100%. Oh, yeah. TikTok is such a huge catch all right now. Like, it's, like, word post and, like, photo posts and, like, video Dunn. And you can do that with Instagram. You can do that with Facebook. You can do that just about anywhere.

Collin Johansson [00:08:51]:
And it's awesome. Like, it's awesome. I love how easy it is to access social media right now even though it feels sometimes inaccessible, in the ways that it is. But one thing I liked about what you're saying about your church setting, online, having those, online, tie ins, those, like, theme weeks, is awesome. I think one way a church can, like, really up its game on social media is tying in post to the sermon series that's happening. Mhmm. And being, like, here's how we're connecting to Sunday online. Here's how we're, like, looking forward to the end of the week.

Collin Johansson [00:09:26]:
And whether that's through, like, a quick little photo devotional post or the through, like, a little scripture post here and there, that's a great way to, like, keep up, like, the themes. Theme weeks are such a fun time to, like, have. So

Ryan Dunn [00:09:41]:
do you have some churches approaching you about TikTok and strategies there? Are they looking to launch channels?

Collin Johansson [00:09:49]:
Yeah. So there are some that are looking to launch channels for sure. It's definitely been I I think a lot of where a lot of churches I think should start are is actually more focused on, like, sprucing up their Instagram, because Instagram Reels is a great place to, if they are looking for that, like, younger congregation, like, how to get that younger crowd Dunn. Ministry, TikTok's a great place, but Instagram also has a really good, feature with its reels function, to, post there. So I recommend churches start there, but if they've already gotten on TikTok and are, like, doing that, I I've had Dunn church who I was talking to the other day, and they have a TikTok, and they were saying, yeah. Some of our best posts are, like, just silly little dances that we've thrown together, like, what's, like, been trending. And it's it was really funny to, like, hear them say that, but also, like, good on them for, like, exploring that content, like, and making it relative to their church life. Like, that's awesome.

Collin Johansson [00:10:45]:
Like, that's great. Like, I love that. TikTok is such a fascinating, social media platform that I know so much about and also so little

Ryan Dunn [00:11:01]:
about it. Right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's at the phase right now where it's still very much open ended and people are willing to just kinda toss stuff out there and see what sticks. So and that can be

Collin Johansson [00:11:11]:
a lot

Ryan Dunn [00:11:12]:
of fun. It can also be pretty cringey. Like, even in the ways that I've tried it on on building a TikTok presence. I look at some of the things that we were executing a year ago. I'm like, I I might just wanna pull this off because I'm not proud.

Collin Johansson [00:11:24]:
Yeah. Yeah. And that's that's fair. Yeah. I don't think I don't think I honestly don't think it hurts sometimes to, like I did this a number of years ago with my Instagram, like, my personal Instagram where I just did, like, a cleanse of, like, a bunch of old photos and things and, like, kinda gave it a fresh start, church is kinda fun and refreshing. And, like, didn't know I needed that at the time, but it it worked for what I wanted it to do. So

Ryan Dunn [00:11:52]:
Well, churches might be looking for TikTok, but it it's more likely that they're probably looking to engage in other ways. So what are churches asking for when they are coming to you for consults on social media.

Collin Johansson [00:12:05]:
Yeah. Yeah. The biggest Dunn, and I've kind of already named it, is how do we get the younger generation?

Ryan Dunn [00:12:11]:
Okay.

Collin Johansson [00:12:13]:
It's such a huge question. Right? Like, what is

Ryan Dunn [00:12:16]:
Yeah. How are we We've been asking this question for a long time.

Collin Johansson [00:12:20]:
We've been asking it for such a long time, you know. But, like, how are you doing it in a digital presence? Because I think if, a lot of churches have been talking to me is we've been told to go on social media. We've been told that we need to use this platform, but it's never been taught to them. It's never been, like, how do we do this? How are we effectively reaching out? How are we supposed to, get this younger generation? And it's such a tough question, overall, but I think I think the best way to do it right now is just being honest about who you are. I mean, the like, the world is such a, like, place, like, full of quick information nowadays. And so the quicker you can get your information about who you are, the better right now. And so, like, that's why I say, like, utilize that pin post feature on, like, Instagram and Facebook because the if you pin your post to the top and, like, the first thing people are seeing are you are welcome. Like, they're most likely gonna, like, look deeper into what what the church is all about, the events Dunn everything else that's happening.

Collin Johansson [00:13:28]:
Yeah. I think that's probably the biggest question I get most of the time. For sure.

Ryan Dunn [00:13:33]:
So for folks who are building out their presence then, or maybe they already have a presence, but it's very much the kind of the billboard presence or bulletin board presence that you were talking about, whether, you know, just kind of like, hey. We have this Bible study on Wednesday night. Would love to see you there. Or here's what last Wednesday's bible study looked like here with our 5 smiling faces. Mhmm. What kind of content would you recommend that they invest into next?

Collin Johansson [00:14:02]:
Yeah. That's a good question. I think the content I would I would personally recommend, like, next is, the work online, the the work that the church is doing in the community, investing really heavily in that content, like naming the nonprofits that you're you're working with, What volunteer opportunities are out there? People are always at least, I know myself, and several of the friends I talk to up here, but we're always looking for, like, different volunteers up here, like, opportunities up here. Like, how do we get involved? How do we how do I, like, on a weekend, like, get, you know, help someone out that I can't help during the week? Like, how am I, like, how do I find that? How do I do that? And churches are a great way to, like, connect people with nonprofit organizations and connect people with, ways to do ministry Dunn a variety of ways. It and it doesn't all have to involve worship. It doesn't all have to involve bible study. It can, like, we are called as people of God to go out into the community. I mean, that was one of Wesley's big things, was to go out into the community.

Collin Johansson [00:15:13]:
They preached in a field because he wanted to be out in the community doing the work. Dunn, you know, that's that's where I think a lot of people, where we need to be at. Really looking deeper into those, volunteer opportunities and posts.

Ryan Dunn [00:15:29]:
Well, and I appreciate you saying that because not only are you offering this perspective as somebody who works in the the world of the church Dunn social media, but from church perspective, you're also a young person, Online. So, like,

Collin Johansson [00:15:41]:
this is true.

Ryan Dunn [00:15:42]:
Yeah. And that connection of, like, oh, how do we connect with the young people? You know, sometimes it yeah. That yeah. It pays to lean into the

Collin Johansson [00:15:50]:
young people. It does pay to it does pay to lean into us sometimes and, like, really evaluate that. And I think another thing too is, like, we're we're looking if I'm online, I'm looking for, like, this fastest content I can see. Mhmm. And, Dunn a good way to actually do that is through stories, story posts on Instagram and Facebook.

Ryan Dunn [00:16:09]:
Oh, okay. Alright.

Collin Johansson [00:16:11]:
Yeah. So posting, like, up in the very top, like, the first thing you log in, see those stories at the top? You just tap it and click through. But, like, even if it's a repost of something you posted earlier, great. Like, that's that's still Okay. Quicker information. The quicker the information, quicker we're here for it. I don't know why, but we like the quick information.

Ryan Dunn [00:16:30]:
So what are some of the secrets to stories? Because I have to admit, I've been a little bit disappointed in in the stories that I have invested into posting, in terms of of reach. And maybe it's online, I you know, I try it. 2 people see it, and I'm like, well, forget that. I'm going back to the, you know, Sunday's scripture meme because everybody wants to see that.

Collin Johansson [00:16:53]:
Yeah. Yeah. No. I yeah. That's for sure. So for story post, I think there's a number of different ways, I think. And one of the ways is, like, universal social media thing as win win to post your stuff.

Ryan Dunn [00:17:09]:
Okay.

Collin Johansson [00:17:10]:
Timing is such a weird Dunn facto element of social media that not a lot of people realize Dunn the best times usually to post for a lot of churches and a lot of pages online is 12, which is like noon, 5 Dunn and 7 PM. So interesting times. So 12 is usually when people are taking their lunch at jobs. That's perfect time where, like, I don't wanna, you know, Dunn don't wanna be focused on my work, so I'm just gonna get on my phone and start scrolling, through my social media. So first thing that comes up is your post. Great. 5 PM is a very similar thing. People are getting off the clock.

Collin Johansson [00:17:53]:
It's about that time where people will start scrolling again. Dunn is the flexible one. 7 is the one where, like, it's kind of after dinner time or maybe right about dinner Dunn. And people are kind of settling down for the day. People are kind of ending for the day. And that's about the time to online post. You can post later after 7. I actually sometimes recommend posting later after Dunn.

Collin Johansson [00:18:16]:
Mhmm. Just because people start to get in bed and they don't wanna read. They don't wanna, do any of that. They just wanna scroll on their phone. And so that's a good time to do that as well. But I think that's that's the first way. I think the the second way with story post is to make it, attention grabbing. So one of the things that, like, I always see and always fall for is if you've just made a post and you wanna post it to your story, post it to your link it to your story, but then put a sticker over it that says, like, new post and, like, where they can't see what the actual post is until they have to click on it, which is really it's such an annoying tactic, but it works every time.

Ryan Dunn [00:18:59]:
I'm trying this week. I will be that guinea pig.

Collin Johansson [00:19:02]:
Yeah. It's a weird little thing that works I found that works a lot for me. And then the last way that I found that, like, is helpful is like posting more, like, live content on stories. Online, some of my favorites that I've seen that churches do are, like, posting a picture or, like, a video of the congregation during worship on Sunday mornings. Mhmm. Being, like, hey, like, we're here on Sunday mornings, like, come join us, or they're even you post a video Dunn it's, like, a link to the ministry. So it'll automatically take you directly there. Like, having something that, like, stops the video or, like, is clickable for engagement is that's the best ways I found, stories to work because I do know people just, like, tend to, like, click through stories really quick just to, like, clear notifications on their phone, for sure.

Ryan Dunn [00:19:54]:
Does does does frequency matter?

Collin Johansson [00:19:57]:
Frequency would help. Frequency helps for sure. Yeah. I actually think one of the ways too that helps is not necessarily frequency, but, like, a multitude of posts on a story. Because stories last for 24 hours. Yeah. But, like, don't just post, like, one thing, like, follow-up a little bit too on it. That way you're having like, you're making them, go through the content that you've, just posted.

Collin Johansson [00:20:23]:
So, Marlon. Yeah.

Ryan Dunn [00:20:26]:
We're talking with United Methodist Communications senior social media Methodist, Colin Johansson, And we'll get back to that conversation after this word from ResourceUMC. Are you a church leader, clergy, or someone passionate about making a difference in your community? If you're searching for an easy one stop shop for all outreach content and tools to reach local communities of The United Methodist Church, ResourceUMC is the answer. It's like a department store, but for your ministry needs. Resourceumc.org has aisles and aisles of downloadable graphics, stories, marketing tips, and more, all designed to help you promote your local church and connect with your community. Resource UMC is your central hub for timely content, promotional resources, and services from across the United Methodist Church's global connection. Looking for resources tailored to specific topics like worship, mission, diversity, welcoming Dunn digital ministry? Look no further. Resource UMC UmC has got you covered. Whether you're brainstorming ideas for children's ministry, planning a giving campaign, launching a church website, or diving into any other ministry area, resourceumc.org is your go to source for practical information and inspiration.

Ryan Dunn [00:21:45]:
So what are you waiting for? Click find lead with resource umc.org. Alright. Now back to the conversation with social media Methodist, Colin Johannessy. And when churches are coming to you at umcom asking for help with their stuff, are are they are they looking for recommendations on they should be posting? Or are they actually asking you to create some of the the content?

Collin Johansson [00:22:12]:
It's a mix. Okay. A lot of the work that I do with Calm is, coaching. So a lot of it is, my my initial the way I start off with the church is I'll sit down with an initial meeting with them and talk about their church, talk about what's going on, in the life of their church because they know the church better than I'm ever gonna know from just looking at their Facebook or looking at their Instagram. And because of that, like, I get to know more about who they are as a church, where they wanna go with their social media, and it usually leads into the week after having a coaching conversation, where I sit down with them and be online, alright. Here's what I think you're doing really well. Let's expand on this. Let's like, here's how we can improve on this.

Collin Johansson [00:22:58]:
But it's also showing them online, hey, like, here's some posts in the past that online, I think did really well, but not in the ways that you think they did well Dunn they've kind of influenced some, not bad behavior going forward, but, like, you've developed habits from it going forward, to just kinda fill some space on your page. And so, let's change up, like, why why some of this content works Dunn, do that. And so, I really enjoy those coaching meetings. They're so much fun just because I I really love sitting down with churches and, like, talking about, hey, I wanna help you out in the best ways I can. Like, I wanna help you, really spruce up your social medias. And it's just a lot of fun, getting those, coaching opportunities. But there are times when I do create the content. There's a number of churches right now I'm working with that are focused on Easter.

Collin Johansson [00:23:53]:
That's coming right around the corner. I probably just time stamp this episode, but

Ryan Dunn [00:23:58]:
I think this is still released prior Easter. Prior? Prior Easter.

Collin Johansson [00:24:02]:
Prior Easter. That's good. But a lot of churches are focused on that, and so they're trying to figure out ad campaigns. A church asked me the other day, like, you know, we're about to see this large influx of people come in to our church for the first time during Easter. How do we retain them afterwards? How do we, like, keep them here afterwards? And I think that's a huge question. Right? Like, that's a huge question I think a lot of church leaders, face every year. But it I mean, the best way to do it is keep up with those social media posts to say who you are. Don't be shy about it.

Collin Johansson [00:24:40]:
Like, really, like, lean into it and be, like, hey, we're here. We are this is our presence here. We're not just a physical space. We're also a community hub online.

Ryan Dunn [00:24:50]:
Dunn good. Yeah. Well, you've mentioned churches come to you asking, okay, how do we we connect with the young people? It's the young people, by the way.

Collin Johansson [00:24:59]:
The young people. Yeah.

Ryan Dunn [00:25:00]:
The youngs. What kind of stuff should we be posting? How do we keep people here? What are some questions that you wish that they were asking when they were coming?

Collin Johansson [00:25:10]:
Yeah. Yeah. I the biggest one that I heard for the first time a couple days ago was the question that I think I said it earlier. How do we say we are here? How do we say we're, like, we are here in this online space as well. We're not just a church on the side of the road. How do we say that in online? And I was like, that is a great question. It's because I think a lot of people and a lot of churches just see themselves as the physical building. I don't think a lot of that they see the potential that they have online, to, like, grow, to reach out to new people.

Collin Johansson [00:25:54]:
We live in such a cool time right now on social media where, like, zooming into a church or, like, live streaming into a church, halfway across the country is not uncommon Yeah. Which is really cool. And so I think, you know, the more that you can kind of boost your digital presence with kind of what we were talking about earlier with just the post that you, were like, you're sharing what you believe, you're sharing who you are online Dunn, like, really raising up, that community hub, I think is a great way for people to state, like, hey, we are here. We are this church, and we are leaning into these really deep theological, thoughts and problems that we're dealing with in our lives right now. That's definitely one of the things that I think, churches I I wish they asked me more was, like, how do we say that we're here?

Ryan Dunn [00:26:48]:
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Do you does live video really then give that kind of message? Is that something that you would recommend then? If you were asked that question, would you then encourage people to really leave in lean into the live video? That's what I

Collin Johansson [00:27:03]:
was thinking about as well. I love yes. I I highly recommend leaning into the live video. Okay. Live video, in churches, I think, is really important. Actually, I'm gonna shout out the church I, like, go to right now. But Dunn Church here in Boston, we do a very interesting way of worship. We have a live stream on the website and on our Facebook page, but it's also a Zoom.

Collin Johansson [00:27:32]:
And so what happens is you see, like, 60 or 50 to 60 people live on Zoom on the big projector in church, with you. I know. And we all log in on Zoom to, like they say texting in church is just fine here, because they want to have that interaction online. We wanna have that, like, congregational setting online Dunn, like, really leaning into that, like, hybrid system. And having that is such a cool experience every Sunday, because, like, I get to chat with people and see people that I don't usually see come into the service, like, and if I'm at home, I get to see people and, like, have a time to, like, chat on Zoom and be, like, hey, how are you doing? Like, how's your life been recently? And check-in with people and still have that, live space, that live video space, but also, like, exist in, like, a community space as well, which is really fascinating.

Ryan Dunn [00:28:32]:
Well, what a cool idea. I mean, just to remind the people who were quote, unquote in the room that the room is so much bigger than what you see before you. You know? In in our church, we we acknowledge that people are walking watching online, participating online. But, you know, the people who are sitting in the pews have no idea, you know, who that is

Collin Johansson [00:28:56]:
or Right.

Ryan Dunn [00:28:57]:
How many there are joining them in the spirit of worship that morning. So that's just a cool way of, like, offering an added presence to what you're doing there.

Collin Johansson [00:29:05]:
Yeah. It's it's a really cool thing that we've been doing for a while Dunn I love how much we've leaned into it. It's definitely got some logistical challenges from time to time, but I bet. Yeah. That's as

Ryan Dunn [00:29:18]:
you were talking about, I'm like, I wonder how they make that happen. There's gotta be all kinds of, like, redirects that they're doing through

Collin Johansson [00:29:24]:
It's so trick it's so tricky. I could go into depth on it, but it's very it's very tricky.

Ryan Dunn [00:29:32]:
I bet. Yeah. Mhmm.

Collin Johansson [00:29:34]:
Yeah. But I think another question that I would love churches to ask more, is is what we're posting engaging? Because I think we, you know, I think we default to this, like, idea, like I said earlier, like, the bulletin board church of, like, of the bulletin board social media page Dunn, how how do we move away from that? Like, what what is engaging content look like? What is, are we just posting to fill up our page? Or are we, like, posting to, like, really reach out and engage our community, engage our thinking processes Dunn all of all of that because I think I don't think a lot of churches ask that when posting online, just because I think they wanna get people involved in this space as much as possible, like, in the physical space as much as possible. Mhmm. Yeah.

Ryan Dunn [00:30:37]:
Yeah. Well or they're also trying to kind of fill some felt quota of, well, we've heard that we need to post 3 to 4 times a week. So Yeah. You know, volunteer social social media manager. And I'm speaking for other people. Not not wink wink. He looks around and just like, wow. What kind of content can I put up there that, yeah, might fill my quota for the week? Yeah.

Collin Johansson [00:31:00]:
Right. Yeah. No. There's definitely there's Dunn of the practices that I've always loved in social media management, but it it is kind of that, like, quota filling thing is having a social media calendar and, like, planning it out through either a weekly calendar or, like, a full, monthly calendar. But having that access to that, like, does hold you kind of accountable to, oh, yeah. I do need to be posting that this week. But it's also, like, there's also, like, a creative aspect to it too. Like, you can start to tie in those theme ideas, those sermon, like, the sermon series ideas, the different ways we can really live into, what it means to be, like, a community space online, and come up with fun different ways to, like, tie in different posts.

Collin Johansson [00:31:49]:
But yeah.

Ryan Dunn [00:31:51]:
Have you been given free range enough where a church comes to you and says, well, here's our Instagram account. Will you help us create a calendar for the the next year Mhmm. Or next month?

Collin Johansson [00:32:04]:
Yeah. I haven't been given that yet. Yeah. But that being said, in a lot of my coaching, I do offer, like, a template, for churches to,

Ryan Dunn [00:32:15]:
like Okay.

Collin Johansson [00:32:15]:
Like, take hold and, like, run with. Another great feature I talk about in my coaching that I think is so helpful that a lot of churches don't use is in the, Meta Business Suite. Oh, in Facebook and Instagram, there is a planner function where you can post and, like, basically schedule posts weeks out in advance. Yeah. And, that way, it just takes so much off your plate. You're not having to, like, really think about it. Like, you can, I recommend checking in on it, obviously, when it goes online, but, outside of that, like, it kinda just does the job for you? You don't have to really worry about about too much about, like, whether something is gonna go live, whether something is gonna work or not, and it's gonna give you the numbers, back as well, like, after a couple days to be, like, hey, here's here's how many engagements came up. Here's how many ideas, and, like, it'll give you an idea through, the rest of it, the time that it's up.

Ryan Dunn [00:33:15]:
With the template that you were talking about, do you have a kind of a rhythm to a a week or a flow?

Collin Johansson [00:33:23]:
Yeah. So the yeah. So the what my ideal my ideal this is not everybody's ideal. I I would say, like, do it in your own church context, but the way that I've always seen that works, Sundays always have that, like, worship live stream ready. If you have anything else you wanna post on Sunday, great. Post it. I usually don't recommend a lot of churches post on Sunday just because the live stream is so effective in what it does, and a lot of people are not gonna be logging in to their Facebook to look at the church afterwards, on, Sundays. Mondays are the day I would post any events in the week, that are happening, just to get it out early in the week.

Collin Johansson [00:34:10]:
Have let people put it on their calendars whether it's weeks away or whether it's, like, that week. I think it's important Mondays are such a good day to, like, alright, everybody, let's reset for the week and let's, chat about this. Tuesdays are kind of a free floating day. Post whatever you want. I the way I have it set up right now, the template I have set up is old template of mine, but it still works. Wednesdays, I had a, like, tie in scripture post to the sermon series that was happening. So take a line from the scripture Dunn be, like, hey, this is our scripture for this upcoming week. Talk about it in the comments, like, what do you think about this overall? Thursday is another kind of free floating day, so if that's where you wanna toss in a sermon clip or a minute devotional or something like that, Even, one thing that I find really effective for churches right now is to do, like, a devotional on some form of, like, pop culture piece.

Collin Johansson [00:35:12]:
Online talking about a show, talking about, a different, online, a book they've read or anything like that that's in popular culture at the time. I know I used to do, one with Ted Lasso that I really loved and I that was a lot of fun because that was church a topically relevant piece at the Dunn. And then Fridays doing another devotional post, but this time just being a question, that ties into the sermon series. So talking with the, pastor or if you are the pastor, coming up just with a question, for the sermon series that you have on Dunn, and just saying, hey, like, this is our scripture, like, what, like, really get people's minds thinking, for Dunn. So that when they come in Sunday, they can be online, hey, like, I had this Thank you for that question on social media on Friday, like, my mind's been thinking about it all week. Now, like, I've heard your sermon. It was great, and, like, it's a great way to talk to people, in the church, but it's also a great way to talk with people outside the church. Like, I've been really wrestling with this question that our pastor asked us, and that could introduce new people into the church as well.

Collin Johansson [00:36:27]:
Talking about it on, like, a social setting on Friday night or Saturday, overall. Saturdays are kind of another free day. Post whenever you want on Saturdays. Alright. Because Saturdays are Saturdays are such a weird day for social media. Like, I feel like everybody posts on Saturdays just because it's the one day everybody has off. Everybody's free Dunn everybody gets to do what they want. So, yeah.

Collin Johansson [00:36:53]:
Another day like that. But that's kind of online the template I've always had that's, I found that has worked in the past. And I think a lot of churches, could implement it in their own setting, for what it is.

Ryan Dunn [00:37:06]:
Cool. Well, are there any resources that, you kinda lean into to help inform your social media journeys, so to speak? Like podcasts, YouTube channels, anything like that?

Collin Johansson [00:37:18]:
Oh, jeez. There's I would have to look into that overall. Man, let me think about this for a second because that's a good question. Because that's something, like, a lot of the resources, like, I've given myself over the years are, like, the pieces, like, piece pieces of software that have helped me create things.

Ryan Dunn [00:37:38]:
Mhmm.

Collin Johansson [00:37:38]:
So because I'm such a, like, creator. I like, Canva is such a great option for churches. Oh, my gosh. There is a free version, but it's a very simple software to use. It can be a little finicky at times, but it is such a great, software to like, go through Dunn talk about and use. Another great example, if you ever, need a great example to look at a church that is doing social media really well, look up Reverend Jim Keat, keeet, k e a t. He's a good friend of mine, but his church, Riverside, does a fantastic job of, content online. He's done a lot of great content.

Collin Johansson [00:38:28]:
I think he has a podcast and, a I don't remember if he has a podcast or Dunn, but he Dunn does

Ryan Dunn [00:38:35]:
so plenty. He was one of our first guests.

Collin Johansson [00:38:37]:
He does so he does so much. He's such a great guy. He's such a great resource, overall online. And if you need, like, a prime example of how to do ministry well in the digital space and on social media, great resource. Great great resource.

Ryan Dunn [00:38:54]:
Well, I Dunn mind plugging for them. He works with the Convergence Group that offers all kinds of trainings. A lot of them are free. So yeah.

Collin Johansson [00:39:01]:
Yeah. Definitely definitely recommend them. Dunn, obviously, recommend our resources here at UMcom. So Oh, yeah. Yeah. You know, those things. But, yeah. I've, like, I've been really enjoying, like, just coaching through through these tough scenarios with church, talking through these random ideas, about social media Dunn how to do stuff effectively, because I don't think we it's not that we necessarily don't know how.

Collin Johansson [00:39:30]:
It's that we are still learning Dunn that we're always learning to go forward, with it. And let's try and not put ourselves Dunn, but also just, like, keep building ourselves up in the social media realm.

Ryan Dunn [00:39:43]:
Yeah. So there are available trainings and resources available at resource unc.org. Church ching. And, and in, is local church services, are they linked through through that page

Collin Johansson [00:39:57]:
as well? We're we're linked through that page as well. Yep. Cool.

Ryan Dunn [00:40:01]:
So you can find it there. Hook up with Colin. Thank you so much

Collin Johansson [00:40:04]:
for, Yeah.

Ryan Dunn [00:40:05]:
Give him the time, offering the insight.

Collin Johansson [00:40:07]:
Yeah. Of course. It's been a pleasure. I've really enjoyed this Dunn, happy to answer any questions, but also happy to chat about social media anytime.

Ryan Dunn [00:40:19]:
Awesome. Thanks, Colin.

Collin Johansson [00:40:20]:
Yeah. Of course.

Ryan Dunn [00:40:21]:
Thanks for being a part of our digital That episode is called how social media transformed a fading congregation. It's with pastor Caleb Online. Definitely worth checking out. Another good episode related to this topic would be season 6's thriving strategies for engaging online communities. I'm Reverend Ryan Dunn. I'd like to thank resourceumc.org, online destination for leaders throughout the United Methodist Church to make this podcast possible. And of course, they host our website where you can find more episodes, show notes, relevant links and a whole lot more. That's resource.

Ryan Dunn [00:41:04]:
Umc.org/digitalparish. I'll speak with you again in a new episode next week. In the meantime, peace to you.