STAYING CONNECTED THROUGH FACEBOOK GROUPS By Brandi Jones, WMU of Texas Marketing Specialist
In 2020, people around the world have experienced an unprecedented time of separation. This time apart has not only reminded us of what’s most important, but also forced us to rely on a variety of tools to stay connected with our friends and loved ones. One of those tools has been Facebook Groups. At the start of the pandemic, Nona Jones, head of global faithbased partnerships at Facebook said, “Your Facebook page is your front porch. Facebook Live is you opening the front door and Facebook Groups is you inviting people into your living room for a conversation.” Wise words! During this season, let us invite our missions group members into our living room for a conversation.
HOW TO START A FACEBOOK GROUP:
STEP 2: CREATE A CONTENT SCHEDULE Create a content schedule to keep your Group active. Post at least once a day for the first couple of months, and possibly longer depending on the engagement in the Group. If your members take it upon themselves to post consistently, reduce your content schedule to 2-3 times a week. To create a content schedule, you must first determine the type of content you will want to share each day of the week. Once your content type has been determined, write down each day of the month on a sheet of paper, and fill in your content ideas for each day (see example below). To save time, create your posts in advance and schedule them to post at a later time and date. SAMPLE CONTENT SCHEDULE:
STEP 1: CREATE A PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP Start here: Visit facebook.com/groups and select the ‘create group’ button in the left sidebar menu. Create a private Facebook Group, invite your missions group members to join, and assign admin rights to your missions group leaders. Your Group’s admins will be responsible for managing the Group and creating content. Once your admins have been assigned, set the posting permissions to allow any group member posting rights. Under post approval, you can check the box requiring admins to approve all posts before they appear in the Group. 8
Focus your content ideas on posts that will inspire conversation and encourage engagement. SUNDAYS: Post the church’s livestream service. MONDAYS: Post a motivational quote or scripture from Sunday’s message. TUESDAYS: Post a missions activity for your members to enjoy at home. WEDNESDAYS: Ask for prayer requests. THURSDAYS: Post about this week’s missions lesson. FRIDAYS: Have a member post a Facebook Live devotional inside the Group page. SATURDAYS: Post a helpful resource, article, tool, etc.
THE BRIDGE
