No matter where people are in the world or even locally, I see constantly on their phone absorbing content of some kind. So much of it is content marketing. Some are walking, sitting, commuting to work.
Access to the internet via smart phone means that we are more hyper-connected like no other time in history.
It also means that there are literally thousands of competing voices vying for our attention. Business, online newspapers, podcasts, our online friends to name a few.
For the most part churches are inactive or at best sporadically active making announcements.
Or they start creating content with an almighty sprint then run out of energy. Read my post which talks about that issue The No.1 Problem I See On Many Church Social Media Accounts (And Four Strategies To Solve It) ( I also created some social media graphics your church can use as content).
Can Gary Vaynerchuk’s Content Marketing Methodology Help Your Church?
If you are familiar with Gary Vaynerchuk (or Gary Vee) he creates an incredible amount of content through his various channels. By no means does he have a big team. But he has a very focused methodology to be consistently documenting, creating and distributing his content.
Some of you are like, wait Steve, have you literally jumped the shark here? Isn’t Gary Vee the ‘hustle’ dude who swears a lot and seems like he is a workaholic? Yes he swears,. Don’t know about the other stuff. but I think his methodology to create content is a model that churches could absolutely adapt.
Why the approach helps your church
Different kinds of content reaches different kinds of people. Your church will cover a wide landscape of topical content and you have the ability to reach people who need to get the help they need. To be able to do that you need to be consistently creating content.
Gary’s Content Marketing Methodology
1. Document
Have your team shoot video, audio or copy of everything you do. Sunday services, ministry events, devotional times, staff meetings. Basically content for every moment.
2. Create
Edit. Edit. Edit. Narrow down the content to a short length clip. Or a medium length clip that makes sense.
For example. If your pastor is preaching on parenting.
Create a blog post out of the sermon. If they cover different topics, split the blog post up into a series.
Video – Most churches create long-form audio or video of their sermons which is definitely one method. Another is to create shorter stackable lengths that cover a point they are making. It may be 30 seconds, or 3 minutes long. For more examples read 10 Types Of Facebook Posts That Will Massively Increase Your Reach.
If you have a channel on Instagram read 21 Of The Best Ways To Use Instagram Stories For Your Church.
Picture posts – Use a short, sticky parenting phrase along with a photo of them speaking and resize the image for the different social channels.
It doesn’t just have to be a speaker. You have the bible! Check out ’16 Of The Best Scripture Social Media Graphics For Churches.
3. Distribute
Use a calendar that your whole team has access to plan out when the content is published, or posted on a social channel.
I created a calendar in google docs a while ago which you are free to use. 6 Reasons Why Your Church Needs A Social Media Calendar [with a free template]
I stumbled across this useful graphic the other day and for the visual learners amongst you, here’s how he does it.
Your turn
Got questions about content marketing and different types your church could create? Or do you have content ideas you can pass onto others. Leave a comment below.
