About ten years ago it became apparent that Facebook was much more than a place to go to connect with friends and family. It became a place to connect with creators, businesses, organizations, and even churches.
If a group did not have a Facebook page to connect with its supporters than it was like that group didn’t exist. Fast forward ten years to today, the landscape of Facebook has changed to a mess of advertisements, clickbait, raunchy headlines, mixed in with the original purpose of connecting with loved ones.
Church pages with holy and uplifting messages to share with those who follow their page have gotten lost in this clutter. The content that is pushed to the top of feeds is paid for by big corporations and other advertisers with massive marketing budgets. In 2019 alone, Facebook made nearly 70 Billion dollars off of paid advertisers (source). How can a church use this platform to engage with their dedicated followers when the message is being drowned out by companies with endless resources?
The simple answer to this issue is that it is extremely difficult to stand out. Competing with corporate giants is an uphill battle that is tough for smaller organizations to win. At Here I Am we have developed a solution to this engagement problem by bringing the page directly to a user’s phone, instead of users having to click and navigate through clutter to find a page – members can access all of their church’s information with one click of an app icon.
The smartphone remains a great place to stay engaged with friends and groups that people value. Dedicated apps for this purpose remain popular. With a simple home feed presenting content that is valued and not cluttered are features that draw people to sharing platforms.
This is how Facebook began 16 years ago, until it became a device to attract advertisers. Appropriate notifications, uplifting content, simple home feed and one-click access – these are staples of smart phone engagement that people now expect. New, dedicated apps, like Here I Am deliver this experience for churches looking for richer engagement in their congregation.
– Will
