How to Create a Women’s Ministry Social Media Plan

Social media can be a powerful tool for promoting our ministries, encouraging our women, and offering opportunities for connection.

With the growing number of social media channels and the vast amount of information already being shared, we want to make sure we’re not a clanging gong, but a light pointing our women to Christ.

• Sharing carefully curated information, graphics, and links can provide practical support. 
• Social media provides opportunities for your women to connect at any time of day.
• Most importantly, social media can encourage their spiritual growth.

Taking the time to put together a women’s ministry social media plan benefits everyone.

Great social media ministry plans:

• Provide consistency.
• Offer quality content.
• Serve a purpose.

Using social media will definitely extend the reach of your women’s ministry, but it doesn’t come without some work!

• Managing social media is time-consuming and requires dedication.
• Posting plans and guidelines need to be followed.
• Someone needs to monitor the social media accounts your ministry uses.

Whether your team is already utilizing social media or is just getting started, I want to encourage you to put a social media plan in writing.

If you don’t already have someone serving as your social media coordinator, I strongly encourage you to add that position to your women’s ministry team. You may need to ask your church staff and small group leaders which women have experience using social media and have a heart for the women in your church.

Once you’ve got your social media coordinator in place, your team will want to take the time to define the purpose of social media for your ministry.

Is your goal communication, connection, or both?

Next, you’ll want to determine which social media accounts are needed to carry out the purposes you’ve identified.

For example, Facebook pages are great for communication, but Facebook groups are much better for creating connection.

Instagram is great for communication too, and it’s more likely to reach younger women.

Social media schedulers allow coordinators to on multiple social media channels at the same time.

There’s also no sense in wasting time posting on social media that the women in your church aren’t using regularly.

Ask your women which social media channels they use regularly.  

You’ll probably find Facebook and Instagram top the list.

Next, you’ll want to set up some posting guidelines.

• Who will be allowed to post on each platform?
• Will you allow other church members to post? Will those posts require approval, or will you manage post violations as they occur?
• What types of posts will be permitted, and what won’t be allowed?

If you’re using a group platform, such as a Facebook group, you’ll want to set up some group guidelines for members, or you may find the feed flooded with information that doesn’t support your purpose.

Facebook groups include some examples of group guidelines you can use in the group settings. You can see some here.

In addition to those I would suggest you include guidelines that address:

1. Self-promotion. Your ministry group is not the appropriate place for women to recruit customers. Some groups will allow once-monthly postings that would enable women to promote their business or product.
2. Complaints. Concerns related to church ministries or staff members should be addressed directly with that individual or ministry chairperson.
3. Consequences. Posts violating group guidelines should be deleted immediately. Group members who repeatedly violate group guidelines should be removed too.

Consider what is necessary to create a safe and supportive atmosphere in your community. While it’s easier to start with group guidelines already in place, you can always add to and adjust them as needed.

Protect your online community.

As I’m sure you’ve experienced, there can be a dark side to social media. Social media trolls love to create division and spread hate. But there are also women in our churches who sometimes post carelessly, and sometimes purposefully, in hurtful ways.

Thankfully social media networks allow posts and comments to be deleted when needed. Repeat offenders can even be blocked.

There is a time and a place for grace, but we also need to act swiftly when other women in our group have been attacked online.

• Be sure to document violations with screenshots before you delete them, so you have proof if it’s needed.
• Whenever possible, handle issues offline in person or via phone promptly.
• Make your purpose clear in the description of your social media platform, so when problems arise, you can explain how it violates the platform’s purpose.

Sidenote: Protect your ministry and your social media accounts by assigning multiple team members as admins.

Creating and Curating Great Content

Good news! You don’t have to create everything you share on social media from scratch. If you need help creating social media graphics, I’ve written this post filled with resources and tools to get you started.

Your social media coordinator may also find that setting up a social media schedule beneficial. I share my favorite tips and tools for social media scheduling in this post. You’ll also find a list of the different types of social media posts there too.

Social Media Matters

Social media provides a unique opportunity to connect with our women! A solid social media plan ensures we deliver valuable information to our women.

In addition, cultivating a community online that supplements our in-person ministry can be good and useful. When we cannot meet together in person, social media allows us to stay connected with our women.

Let us know how your team uses social media in the comments below.

Need help setting up a Facebook page for your ministry? Check out this link. 

This article offers some great tips on getting started on Instagram.

You may also want to read:
How to Schedule Social Media Posts
8 Benefits of Adding a Social Media Coordinator to Your Team
3 Keys to Virtual Women’s Ministry
How to Support You Women When You Can’t Meet Together
Isolation Icebreaker Questions
How to Use Facebook Groups for Women’s Ministry
How to Create Social Media Graphics
Virtual Women’s Ministry Resources