W
hat a disappointment! I don’t know if it has happened to you, but it has happened to me many times. You search for information about a ministry on the Internet and you would have preferred not to find anything. The website is disorganized and confusing, the links do not work, or they take you to pages with scant and senseless content.It seems like nothing is happening in this ministry. The information is stuck in the past. It is so outdated that the photo of the speaker or pastor was taken when they were a teenager. They have moved four times, but the address is still the old one.
The most frustrating thing for me is finding several pages “under construction.” They look like projects from the government of some Latin American country because they’ve been unfinished for years. The work is abundant, but the workers have not visited the site in a long time (Matthew 9:37).
Your digital presence must reflect the total character of your ministry. It must show that your ministry is alive, growing. The content of your message should be manna, fresh every morning, or at least every week. People should know they can count on you.
Your digital presence must be, well, present.
Vladimir Lugo
It must meet people where they are and facilitate the conversations they are already having. If your ministry is important to you, your digital presence must proclaim it.
Four things you need to consider for an impactful digital presence. In this article, I want to introduce these four things, and in the following weeks, I will be delving into the practical details of each one. Depending on your preference, grab a pen and paper or open an electronic note to answer each question in each section
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These four areas can be represented with a pyramid. Your IDEAS are the foundation on which the other three are built.
1. IDEAS
TEverything starts with a great idea. Nothing that humankind has created or achieved has come from nothing. It was born from imagination, creativity, and faith. I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but the region of the brain that governs imagination is the same where faith resides.
So, the first thing you need to answer is: What is my great idea? What makes my ministry unique and sets it apart?
You can read more about clarifying your IDEAS in the article: 5 distinctive marks of a successful digital presence.
2. Web
The foundation of your digital presence is your website. Your website is critical. It is the primary means you own to communicate your IDEA online. Michael Hyatt refers to your website as your digital home. The best way to keep your website information up to date is by using a Content Management System (CMS). One of the most popular, and the one I use, is WordPress, but there are other alternatives.
The questions you need to answer honestly are: Does my website represent the ministry well? How can I make it consistent with my IDEAS? How can I offer the same kind of experience someone would have if they visited me in person?
You can read about the 5 essential things for your website in the article: 5 questions to setup a useful and attractive digital presence.
3. E-mail
Email is one of your main resources, but I find that in most ministries, it is underutilized. Email is the original social network; it is 1,350% more effective at driving traffic to your website than any other technique. It is closer and more personal. It is an embassy that represents you in the foreign countries of email inboxes. It’s important that you own your email lists and manage them.
You need to answer: Am I using email to communicate my message? If the answer is yes, then answer: How can I make it consistent with my IDEAS and my website? How often do I want to send it? What kind of content do I want to share?
The following 7 tips are essential in your digital presence: 7 practices to take good advantage of your email list.
4. Social
Social media is very important. It’s no longer a passing trend. It’s your eyes and ears to maintain relationships with people. They are your consulates. They have great potential and even serve as a metaphor for a new ecclesiology. The thing with social media is that if you don’t work on the first three components, the cracks in your digital strategy become glaringly exposed.
Lastly, you need to answer: Am I using social media to support my digital presence? How can I make my use of social media consistent with my IDEAS, my website, and my emails? Which channels do I want to use? How often do I want to share, and what type of content?
There are 5 values and 5 actions you can take today to strengthen your presence on social media; you can read the details in: 5 practices to drive transformation through social media.
I want you to join me in discovering the four necessary components to establish an impactful digital presence. If you take each of these pieces of advice and put them into practice, I assure you that you will be much further ahead than many other ministries I know.
Share this article if you know of any ministry that needs this information, and don’t forget to leave your comment at the bottom of the page.
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