A year ago I would have told you that one of the easiest and best things to do for your Church is to get a Facebook page. It would allow you to reach your community where they are already meeting. This was such an obvious and easy step. It made it easy to communicate and inform your most important people.
Then it happened. Facebook changed something and in the last few months the reach of your page dropped. Some estimations put the current reach of Facebook pages between 7-10%. You might have noticed the view counts on your posts dropping off. We did here at Fresh Vine. Many pages like the one you have for your church has around 100 fans, meaning less then a dozen people see your posts. So what should we do?
The answer is simple. Ensure your most important messages go out through email. The average open rate of emails from Fresh Vine is around 40%. This is almost double the industry average for campaign style emails (messages to lists of people). Many of our customers have near 50% open rates on their important messages. Email is still the best way to inform and stay connected with your community.
Don’t delete your Facebook page, but be aware that it is not the great tool it once was. If you want to stay engaged in social media, consider platforms that present posts in a chronological order. The Facebook default is to present content based on a hidden algorithm letting them hide your posts and content. Some examples that show content in order are twitter, google plus, Instagram, amongst others.
Photo: Nan Palmero
