You may think it’s a no-brainer for why Awana is on social media. After all, everyone and their grandma are on Facebook.
But we want to make sure that the work we do on social media has a purpose.
So when I came on staff as Awana’s social media specialist in May 2014, I had one reason for why Awana should be on social media: engagement.
Allow me to explain.
Before I started, there was no clear direction for the social media accounts. Any likes or comments (aka engagements) were superficial and lacking depth.
The best example of engagement was when a blog was posted on Facebook and Linda Weddle (the Awana blogger) would reply to comments. And that was perfect!
You see, when someone writes something on social media, they’re participating in a conversation. And the least we can do as an organization is acknowledge that participation.
Better yet, sometimes we can invite others into that conversation.
An example of engagement
Back in October, Pastor Clint at Hickory Grove Baptist Church wore a Cubbies vest to club one Wednesday night, and @KyleScarlett tweeted a photo of it.
Thankful that @pastorclint finally earned his Cubbies vest @Awana pic.twitter.com/blCqz1O5Om
— Kyle Scarlett (@KyleScarlett) October 23, 2014
Over the course of two days, some more people from HGBC tweeted about the photo. Awana had been tracking the conversation, favoriting tweets along the way, but we were surprised when someone challenged Pastor Clint to wear the vest on a Sunday.
We thought that having a pastor wear a Cubbies vest in front of his congregation was worth rewarding.
@GooeyChewie @KyleScarlett @pastorclint Now THAT's a great question. A box of free stuff says he won't. 🙂
— Awana (@Awana) October 24, 2014
And before we knew it, a campaign was created.
https://twitter.com/GooeyChewie/status/525719983905443840
@ScotticusMax @pastorclint @GooeyChewie @KyleScarlett Not only do we support it, we want to help make it happen! pic.twitter.com/lKD51HNpQ7
— Awana (@Awana) October 24, 2014
But then, we wondered if any other pastors would wear a vest in front of their congregation that weekend. So we posted this on Facebook:
[fb_embed_post href=”https://www.facebook.com/AwanaHQ/photos/a.257637556439.152548.62342221439/10152397766806440//” width=”550″/]
By the end of that weekend, nearly 30 pastors wore a Cubbies or Sparkies vest at church. #SundayVest was a success!
And it was all because Awana was actively engaging on social media.
But the story doesn’t end there…
Even yesterday, we noticed a lot of clubs were canceling because of bad weather, so we posted an opportunity for parents to take advantage of the bad weather:
[fb_embed_post href=”https://www.facebook.com/AwanaHQ/posts/10152609158216440/” width=”550″/]
We LOVE doing stuff like this!
And we are going to continue doing fun stuff like this because it helps us to engage with our audience in a way that was never possible before.
So be sure you’re following Awana on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Google+ so you don’t miss out on the next fun, engaging opportunity that comes by.
