Seven principles for an effective social media presence.
How being a Christian should impact how you build your platform
Christian content creators can face many struggles: internal struggles like self-doubt and burnout, and external struggles like disapproval from people close to them.
I attended a conference recently where Sean McDowell covered several strategies for Christian content creators, regardless of platform, to build an effective social media presence to share the Gospel. This included social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as well as YouTube channels or blogs.
In the workshop, we covered seven principles that are crucial to both social media success and maintaining personal integrity.
To build a following takes consistency and time. It’s unrealistic to expect any content, no matter how good it is, to go viral and attract large numbers of followers right off the bat. Instead, curate a reputation for regularly putting out good content and grow your following organically (aka slowly)- build from the bottom up, not the top down. Pace yourself, start on the lower end of what you think you’re capable of and increase your workload gradually to avoid burnout.
Watch people who do social media well and learn from (not copy) them. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.
Understand the platform(s) you are on and the “lane” you are in. Your lane consists of your focus, your mission, and your audience, sometimes called a niche. Use the appropriate strategies for your lane, and don’t veer from your lane so people know what to expect from you.
Talk with people who see the world differently with charity and grace. Ask questions and tell stories to engage with people who think differently than you.
Engage those with a smaller following. The individual people behind the keyboard are more than the number of followers they have.
Don’t compare yourself to other people’s success… because that’s when you start compromising your principles. Instead celebrate how far you have come from where you started.
Your content should bring value to people. As Christians, our content should help, encourage and show love to others. We are serving those to consume our content, we are not online to be served.
That’s all for today’s post. Thank you so much for reading, and please, share your thoughts in the comments below!