Having an Instagram profile that matches your parish can do wonders for your church. Instagram is more popular know than it ever has been and has over one billion registered users with around half of them estimated to use the platform at least once per day. If your church isn't active on Instagram, you'll be missing out on a huge audience.
The majority of Instagram's users are under the age of 30. In fact, it's estimated that almost 60 percent of users fit in this age bracket. As such, if your church is looking to reach out and connect with a younger demographic, Instagram could be the perfect means of helping you to achieve this. An active Instagram account lets the younger members of your community know that your parish is paying attention to the things with which they engage.
Choose a username that is easily identifiable for your church and if possible, ensure that you use the same username across all of your social media platforms. This can help you to build consistency around your parish's brand identity and will help members of your community associate your profiles with you.
Your profile picture should be a high-quality version of your parish's logo and your bio should reflect your church's mission statement. In your description, include service times and a unique hashtag (this could be something as simple as your church's name and location), as well as service time. Include your parish web address so Instagram users will be able to visit your website for more information about your church. Also, don't forget to include your church's address so people will know where to find you.
What your parish should post is this most important thing you should work on. A good starting point is to think of the things that people wouldn't usually get to see. A behind the scenes look at event planning and service preparation and the people who keep things running at your parish. Whether that's volunteers, staff, or members of the congregation, letting Instagram users see who makes up your church can help them make a connection before they've attended in person.
Focus on events that are held at your parish. Dedicate time to sharing posts that celebrate past events and promote upcoming events in the community that your church will have a presence in. Repost interesting stories from your followers as well as share inspiration content such as bible verses or other conversation starters. There's no real secret formula to how often you should post, but a few times a week building up to daily posts when you have a more substantial following is a good way to build your Instagram presence.
Follow these tips and your parish should quickly establish itself on Instagram, increase its reach in the local community, and even attract some new members to the congregation.
