Michael Buckingham is the founder of Holy Cow Creative (a church creativity and design studio) and the creative director for the Center for Church Communication and Church Marketing Sucks. Last week he wrote about the importance and power of the question mark in social media. He writes:
The very first rule of social media that I put in place with the churches I work with: There should be more question marks than periods on your page.
Now of course this is a rule of thumb but people come to your page to interact, i.e. the “social” in “social media.” By positioning your post with a question mark it creates that interactive environment and a door for them to walk through, a door they are more than happy to walk through.
So What?
Many congregations now have a social media presence, but far fewer understand the importance of engagement. Far too many churches use Facebook and Twitter as billboards to post information about activities rather than to facilitate discussion (other communication channels are great as billboards including your congregation’s worship bulletin, website, targeted e-mails, newsletters, etc.). To leverage the power of social media, you must learn the power of the question mark.
Review your congregation’s social media presence:
- What percentage of your posts end with a question mark or are stated in such a way that readers will be likely to respond?
- On Facebook, how many impressions have your most recent posts averaged? What is the average percentage of feedback?
- On Twitter, what percentage of your tweets are responded to or retweeted? How often are others asking you questions and how quickly do you typically respond?