The ROI of Social Media for the Church

The ROI of Social Media for the Church is a topic that not many have dared to touch within Church Communications. Perhaps, this is because of its difficulty to define, but ROI in social media needs to be discussed and discovered. It needs to be discussed on a strategic level, before you even establish your presence in social media. The Objectives of your strategy also need to be discovered before your ROI can be established.

The ROI of social media for the church is going to be a bit more unique than that of a business, such as, Dell or Ford. There’s not exactly a tangible product being sold through the church and there are not many opportunities for customer service support.

So, how exactly do you define the ROI of social media for the church?

It’s important to understand that you must first set measurable goals. I would say the majority of most churches are guilty when it comes to setting measurable goals and tracking the results of those goals. A good place to start is by defining the overall objectives of the church (I usually like to know at least 3 main objectives/priorities of the church I’m working with) and then discover the approach of transcribing those into the appropriate social media spaces. Define what you will be measuring, so that, you can discover if you are successul or not. By knowing the objectives of the church, this will allow you to begin to define the ROI of your presence and efforts.

What exactly are key performance indicators to measure ROI for your church?

Increase of Visitors to a Worship Experience – Through your social media efforts you can effectively grow your weekly amount of visitors. How? Run searches. Look for the people who are asking about churches in your area. Follow influencers in your community and engage in conversation with them. Host social events. As the Social Media Manager attend some tweetups or meetups in your area. I have seen people start to attend a church simply because I was engaging with them on Twitter.

Measure along these lines: The amount of visitors that begin attending should increase 20% with an increase of 8% coming from social media.

Increase in Membership - Social Media can cause a visitor to feel loyal within the  first week or two of a visit, rather than after months of visiting. By following and reaching out to them you’re showing you truly care about them. By simply asking a question or saying “thanks for visiting” you are making an extra, unexpected contact, that could possibly boost their feelings and loyalty towards you. They no longer have to visit for a month before feeling engaged or connected. This can happen within the first week – thanks to social media, emails, etc.

Measure along these lines: We want to see a 12% increase in membership in the 3rd Quarter, of that 12%, 5% should state Social Media was influential in their decision.

Increase Online Giving – This is the part of ROI the executive team really gets into. If you are the social strategist and you start increasing the online giving, I guarantee you will get instant buy-in from the leadership, as well as, credibility! This is one of the few opportunities you have to measure ROI just like any business would – by the money that is coming in as a result of your efforts. The same could be said for increasing Campaign Funding.

Measure along these lines: 20% increase in giving online, with 12% increase coming from Social Media traffic.

Increased Volunteering - A large part of a church’s success is dependent upon its volunteers. The thriving churches have masses of volunteers activated to carry out the church’s mission every week. Those same churches are always looking to increase volunteers on a weekly basis. Once again, you start to increase volunteering and you get credibility.

Measure along these lines: Through traffic driven to your volunteer sign-up page, you should see an increase of 5% new volunteers obtained in upcoming quarter.

Increase Reach in Your Community: The great thing about social media is that, your church can now extend its reach beyond the stage. You now have the ability to reach into your surrounding city. Your message is one that your community wants to help spread. They are waiting for content to share. Remember, thousands of enthusiastic members can cover far more ground in a much quicker time.

Measure along these lines: Our facebook presence which currently has 4, 336 Likes, should grow to a total of 6, 200 with an average of 23 comments per post within 6 months.

Develop Deeper Relationships: Churches are emotional organizations that require a buy-in of your demographic’s emotions. No member wants to feel like just another number. People want to fall in love with your church. By helping your members develop deeper relationship you will ultimate increase trust, mindshare, and loyalty to the brand. Yielding an increase in positive public sentiment. and empowering them to make a difference.

Measure along these lines: The positive mentions about Your Church should increase by 35% through Twitter alone. The positive mentions should out weigh the negative by a ratio of 10:1. RT’s of the churches and/or Pastors posts should increase by 18%.

How has your church measured the ROI of your social media efforts? What else could be added to this list?