COMPEL
- When advertising and inviting guests to your events, provide more than just logistical details. Pique interest and compel attendees by sharing powerful stories from past events. This can be done through pictures and videos shown in service, on your website, and on social media.
- Make explicit the value your event can bring to potential visitors through testimonies and stories. Can they expect to be spiritually refreshed? Meet new friends? Receive parenting resources? Give real evidence of what people have gained from this event in the past.
- Emphasize the “why” of the event, as in, why should someone take time out of their busy schedule to attend your event? Make the benefits obvious. For example: rather than simply advertising your event as a “Marriage and Family Class,” explain that your event helps strengthen marital bonds and gives practical advice for struggling parents.
INVITE
- Once you have all the information readily available and organized on a Facebook event, encourage your church members to mark themselves as “going” to the event, then to share and repost it on their own personal Facebook pages. This will help spread the word to a larger audience (and help combat the pesky Facebook algorithm we all love so much)!
- Encourage engagement on social media from church leaders and those with influence in your community. Are you partnering with another organization on this event? Purchasing food from a local catering business? Include them in your posts to enhance visibility for all parties involved.
- Spread the word beyond just social media. Make announcements when appropriate, but first and foremost, get out into your community and share. Invite people face-to-face and make an effort to reduce any barriers to them attending your event.
At the end of the day, remember that while social media can bring people in, genuine community and connection will keep them coming back. And after you’ve had a successful event, don’t forget to follow up!
This article on social media outreach originally appeared here.
