How I used conversation starters to double our church’s social media engagement
Post Updated: October 13, 2023
In 2018, Meta announced a major change to the algorithm affecting how posts are prioritized and ordered in the News Feed.
Prior to the 2018 update, engagement (comments, likes, and shares) determined how high posts appeared in viewer’s News Feeds. After the update, Meta began using “conversations and meaningful interactions” as a ranking tool to enhance the quality of your Facebook experience.
“With this update, we will prioritize posts that spark conversations and ‘meaningful interactions’ between people. To do this, we will predict which posts you might want to interact with your friends about, and show these posts higher in feed.” -Facebook, 2018 Statement
Takeaway: Instead of seeing a variety of posts from news sources, brands, and organizations, your News Feed became a place for conversations between friends and loved ones around topics of interest.
This is why our church made the smart decision to include conversation starters in our content planning process.
What does the Facebook News Feed look like in 2023?
Today, Facebook uses “personalized ranking” to curate News Feed experiences. The concept is extremely detailed, but here’s a high-level summary:
First: Viewers are shown new posts or posts with new activity,
Second: Meta makes a note of your engagement signals (likes, shares, connections, comments, conversations, etc.)
Third: Meta uses these signals to predict which type of content you’ll find most relevant and valuable.
Finally, Meta mixes in recommended content to help you discover new interests.
Takeaway: Five years later, the algorithm still favors conversations and interactions as a determining factor in the type of content shown in our News Feeds.
The only difference — machine learning expanded beyond your friends and loved ones to look at worldwide interactions and conversations to determine virality.
What are “meaningful interactions”?
Before we continue, let’s define meaningful interactions so you’ll fully understand what’s happening:
Falcon.IO reported meaningful interactions could include the following:
> Multiple people replying to each other’s comments on a video they watched or an article they read in the News Feed
> A page responding to a person’s comment on their post
> People commenting on or interacting with a page’s live video
> People responding to page posts shared through Messenger
> Any interactions that people have with a page post that has been re-shared by a user
Our church’s struggle with organic reach
For years, our church’s organic reach on Facebook had been on the decline, and the 2018 change in post ranking drastically affected our visibility and engagement.
To maintain and grow our audience, we added conversation starters to our content calendar.
Here’s what happened next:
Our organic post reach doubled,
Our post engagement gradually increased each week,
We began developing relationships with our followers, and
The responses from our viewers helped us to create better content in the future.
However, all of this did not happen overnight.
What we learned about conversation starters
Viewers will not answer spiritually deep questions in online public spaces. Instead, churches should start off with general “get to know you” type of questions to get the conversation flowing.
Avoid: “Tell us about your relationship with Jesus”
Ask: “What is your favorite after-church lunch spot?” [Pro-Tip: Buy gift cards to the top 3 responses and use them as giveaways or first-time guest gifts.]
When we revised our content calendar to include a mix of questions from different categories, we began to average 20 or more comments per post (which is a far cry from the 1 or 2 comments in the beginning).
How often should churches post conversation starters?
If you want to see consistent growth in engagement and post reach, churches should dedicate one post per week to creating conversations with their followers. Once the responses start rolling in, your church will have two tasks:
Respond to each comment (unless it’s a troll).
Make a note of the important responses. Add them a church database, for...
church research, and
future content ideas
In the end, your main goal is to build stronger relationships with your followers. Once you have gained their trust, they’ll become your best advocates. Now, let’s get to the list of questions.
Sample Conversation Starters
Here are three conversation starters per category to get you started. See the free download below If you would like a year’s worth (52 weeks) of conversation starters with a printable planner to help you stay organized.
General Questions:
Ease your audience into a conversation with these simple surface-level questions.
What piece of advice would you give to your younger self?
What is your favorite book of the Bible and why?
What advice do you have for students returning to school in the fall?
Relationship Building Questions:
These questions will help you build a relationship with your followers. Use their responses to enhance your communication and ministry experience.
Who has been a spiritual hero in your life?
Name one way you can make a difference in someone’s life today.
Who inspires you to be better?
Content Gathering Questions
Content-gathering questions will inform you of your audience’s interests and needs. Use their responses to enhance your communication and on-site ministry experience.
What are some ways (insert church name) can be on mission in our communities?
Share your favorite Vacation Bible School memory.
What worship song do you listen to for encouragement?
Spiritual Questions
Now that you know more about your audience, it’s time to find out where they stand spiritually. Use their responses to explore your audience’s spiritual and discipleship needs.
How can we pray for you?
How have you seen God at work this week?
What do you love most about God’s love for His children?
Year-End Reflection Questions:
At the end of the year, people around the world are reflecting on their successes and failures. Use these year-end reflection questions to join the conversation.
In what ways did you grow spiritually in 2020?
What personal goals did you achieve in 2020?
Pick three words to describe this past year.
Spark 52 Meaningful Conversations with Your Followers
This resource will provide your church with a full year of conversation starters across 5 categories:
General Introduction
Relationship Building
Church Research
Discipleship
Year End Reflection
Simply post one question per week, respond to each comment, and watch your post engagement skyrocket.
Finally, this resource also includes a printable planner to help you plan your conversations for the entire year.
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