Church Social Media Marketing 101

March 15, 2021

A dog kisses a baby. The tearful, joyful moment right before a dad walks his daughter down the aisle. Grandpa can dance…and dips Grandma to prove it.

Candid photos don’t have to be technically perfect to capture some of the most perfectly treasured moments because they show something real, something genuine. There’s no posing or pretense. This is authentic. This is us.

 So, when it comes to expressing the real deal mission, values and spirit of your community through church social media marketing, candid works. It works to engage your congregation, reignite lapsed congregants and exhibit the sense of togetherness that will encourage the curious to join you.

Let’s say it together, because it’s fun: candid works. And we’ve got an easy, orderly and effective way for it to work to the benefit of your church.

FUN FACT: Social media can nearly DOUBLE your church’s exposure. DOU.BLE.

So, what is it?

WaldoChurch is a photo management platform, powered by facial recognition and mobile, branded photo delivery.

That’s from our website, you probably saw that already. But what does it MEAN?

Ok, look at your phone. It’s one of 260 million in the country. Humans snapped over 1.4 trillion photos with their phones in 2020. How many did you take? How many photos are in your phone right now? (Don’t worry, I won’t judge.) Multiply that by your number of congregants and you might have a ballpark idea of the number of funny, warm, silly and profound candid photos from church events that are ripe for sharing via social media. You may also have a mild headache from thinking of all those numbers, but fear not: once a member is added, the WaldoChurch Photo Manager sifts, sorts, organizes, uses facial recognition software and sends photos of that member directly to their phone. 

When you invite members, staff and volunteers to contribute their candid photos to your event albums, every last laugh, every potluck, every christening and every gathering will be shareable from that gallery within minutes – and every single photo includes your church’s logo and hashtag. Every time a member shares a photo, your church expands its reach and audience.

Think of it like this: you can read a restaurant’s website and everything they say to entice you but if you see people who’ve eaten there sharing their experiences it is much more impactful. This is why researchers have concluded PR is 7x more valuable than paid media.

FUN FACT: If you took one photo every second, it would take you over 45,000 years (and one very achy photo-taking finger) to snap the number of photos humans took with their smartphones in 2020.

Your followers have followers

It’s no secret that church members are deeply invested in their community. In fact, a sense of community is repeatedly cited as one of the top 10 reasons individuals join a particular church. From potlucks, weddings and fundraisers to the Sunday meet and greet before the sermon begins, your congregation is loyal, invested, trusts your mission and CHOOSES YOU. Entrust them to show their social media followers the joys of your community! Studies show that 83% of people would try something suggested to them by a friend…who says that excludes church? Tap into that audience to spread the good word and great community you have via social media and grow your congregation.

Harness the Power of Church Photos

Your candid photos reflect authentic culture and the atmosphere of your church, these are the photos that are the easiest and most shareable, providing the most engagement on social media. Don’t let those precious photos get stashed away on a hard drive only for it to never see daylight again! Organize them on WaldoChurch and deliver them to your members. 

These are moments that everyone will love to see and share themselves on their social media. Better yet, allow members to contribute photos that they’ve taken at church to your gallery. Crowdsourcing photos from your community is a scalable and effective way of generating engaging content, thanks to its authenticity.  Once the photos are on Waldo, we provide your members an easy, one-click solution to share photos from your gallery, all with your brand and hashtag embedded. It’s not just about producing great photos — it’s about getting those photos onto social media through your members.

In Summary:

Ok, ok. We know, there’s a lot to read on the internet and you might be short on time or getting antsy to scroll. So here’s the skinny:

  • People like candid photos.
  • People share candid photos.
  • Your church community is made up of people. ?
  • WaldoChurch is an easy to use photo management software
  • WaldoChurch can centralize your church community photos
  • WaldoChurch automatically sifts, tags and shares your uploaded community photos
  • Community album photos are branded with logo and sharable
  • Your church increases its reach, expands its mission and shows the ways you are special.

CURIOUS? TRY PHOTO MANAGER FREE FOR 30 DAYS