Going On To Perfection

Today’s “Top 12 Tuesday” comes courtesy of Ryan Smith.  Ryan is a social media expert working in search engine optimization.  His experience and advice is a goldmine for churches looking to find new ways to reach out to an increasingly tech-savvy congregation and community.

Twitter is a simple text based micro-blogging tool. The median age was 31 as of 2/09, this is skewing older as it is rapidly becoming more widely used. Learn more about who used twitter here. http://www.comscore.com/blog/2009/04/twitter_traffic_explodes.html

1. Build your local base! Twitter is a great way to reinforce and expand the people that support your organization.  People who follow your feed are people who are interested in hearing more and possibly becoming more involved.
2. Thank Supporters. Thank people by letting your base know about anything from a major donation to someone bringing cookies by the office.  Great way to show everyone that volunteers are appreciated!
3. Event Reminders. Easy and instant communications of when weekly or one-off events are taking place. Helps reinforce with regulars and might encourage first timers.
4. Live Event Broadcasting. Let people know what is happening at a fund raiser as it happens. Expand the event to people who aren’t inside the four walls. Use twitpic.com to post pics of the event as it happens.
5. Prayer Requests. If you believe in the powers of prayer the idea of having thousands of instant, actionable prayer requests is self explanatory.
6. Build a Global Network. Twitter allows you to connect with similar organizations from all over and stay informed about trends you would miss in the mainstream media or trades.
7. Gain Shared Experience. As with all social media, Twitter is about creating a relationship with people interested in your particular space. You’ve spent a little time everyday to save tons of time when a need arises. Ask open questions to your space before you try something new to learn from the experiences of a much wider more diverse group than you could call on the phone.
8. Information Gathering. Twitter is a gold mine of unfiltered thoughts about current events and issues in your area. Keep on top of how your supports or congregation is feeling. Check out search.twitter.com/advanced and twitterfall.com
9. Ask for Help. Ever have last minute or sudden urgent needs? Many problems are easily and quickly solved when the right person is asked at the right time. Know you can communicate with your base and beyond to fill these needs.
10. Help Others. It goes both ways with help and sharing experience. An organization you follow on twitter might about to be making a mistake your organization made last year, or a smaller organization might need meeting space you have sitting un-used.
11. Reduce Your Marketing Budget! That got your attention. Maybe those direct mail postcards aren’t the most effective way to communicate. Twitter helps you reach people who are interested in what you are doing.
12. Devotionals/readings. Anticipated communication is the most powerful form. Regular, consistent posting (either weekly or daily) will create an eager group of readers.  Also a great way to build readership on a blog by linking to posts.

* BONUS #13. Tweet-up. Attend and hold get togethers of your friends and followers to create real-life connections from your twitter connections.

Ryan Paul Smith can be followed at twitter.com/ryanpaulsmith and socialdisobedience.wordpress.com