How to get out of a Social Media Posting Funk

Have you ever been in a social media posting funk? Ever look through your postings and think, “what do I post now”? Sure! We all have.

That is why I asked 5 social media experts to share their thoughts on how to get out of that funk.

• Sly King: “My suggestion is first you need to make sure you are speaking the voice of the ministry. What is it your ministry is trying to communicate via social media. What’s the overall strategy? Why do I say that? Well once you decide your strategy you can began to communicate that message and incorporate visuals and other components that will help tell the story. If you are just randomly posting without a theme for the month or an overall objective then it can become bland and cause you to feel as though you are in a rut.”
• Justin Dean: “I always encourage people to look at what they already have instead of trying so hard to come up with something new. For example, a church can pull a ton of content out of the Sunday sermon. At least 1 blog post, quotes for social media, photos from the day, graphics you create with quotes, short video clips, etc. 1 sermon can easily be 1 post per day for a week, usually much more. You also don’t have to be all about yourself. Post other people’s content and lift others up by promoting them. RT and share posts from other organizations and blogs. That should really be taking up about 60% of your content.”
• Van Baird: “The relational equity model really does help with the burn out of posting. The vast majority of companies and blogs that depend on social media run out of ideas because they’re talking about themselves most of the time. Implement a model where you post 60% of the time about someone or something other than you or your company. 20% of the time post about ‘a day in the life’ of your business or ministry. And the other 20% of the time post about your content.”
• Darrel Girardier: “1. I always keep a swipe file in Evernote of ideas that I know I will want to use later. So if I see something that I love, I store it there knowing that at some point I’ll need it. When I hit a rut, I usually open up the swipe file and see what inspires me. 2. I ask the question “What is God doing around me and our church?”. Chances are I’m not paying attention to those moments and they definitely need to on social media. 3. I often find that when I’m in a rut it’s because I’m not sharing enough of what I’m finding on the internet. So I go through my instapaper feed, slack channels or go to some of my favorite sites to see what they’ve published.”
• Katie Allred: “SundaySocial.tv”

A lot of great answers from the experts. And they all, in one way or another, recommend doing the same thing –  seek to engage and inspire those you are communicating with. And the great news is that it doesn’t have to be all from you or your church. You can and should share other peoples content along as it ties in with your Church’s “voice” and inspires them.

There is great content from Relevant Magazine and Christianity Today, for instance, that can be great resources for you to share.

Social Media posting funks happen. It’s frustrating but they do happen, no matter how long you have been doing social media. However, you can do a few things today to help you when you do that and hopefully the above comments by the experts were helpful and encouraging for the next time you run into a funk.

Challenge

Take a few minutes and jot down some ideas now on what you can do when you get in a social media posting funk. Maybe it is creating a notebook like what Darrel mentioned so that you have a “go-to” list. Or maybe it is something. Whatever it is, jot down some ideas so the next time you are in a funk, you have some ideas to hit up.

Share

What do you do when you are in a social media funk? Share your thoughts and experiences below or on Twitter using #ymsidekick to comment.