Here's some recent trends that will help your children's ministry stay current in the world of social media.
Trend #1 - Your teen and young adult volunteers are moving to Instagram. Teens and young adults that were surveyed said Instagram is the most important social media tool to them. This is reflected in the infograph below. If you want to communicate with your teen and young adult volunteers, use Instagram.
Trend #2 - The parents and adults in your ministry are using Facebook. While teens and young adults are shifting away from Facebook and toward Twitter, their parents are not. In the chart below, you can see the continued growth of Facebook among adults 25 and older.
If you want to connect with parents and adults in your ministry, then Facebook is one of the primary ways to do so. Create a volunteer Facebook page as well as a parent Facebook page.
Trend #3 - Micro-video. Short videos (15 seconds or less) are quickly rising to the same level as pictures and will become more and more popular on platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Vine. Use this tool to share quick training tips with volunteers and tips for parents.
Trend #4 - Connect with volunteers and parents on LinkedIn. LinkedIn's core demographic are those aged between 30 and 49. LinkedIn tends to be used by professionals and college graduates. If you want to influence volunteers and parents whose careers are on the rise, then join LinkedIn.
Trend #5 - Use Twitter to connect with male volunteers and dads. 22% of men use Twitter versus 15% of women.
Trend #6 - YouTube can help you train your volunteers. Nearly half of adults ages 18 to 34 visited YouTube between December 2013 and February 2014. It was rated by Millennials as the top place to watch content. Grab your camera and shoot a short training video. Post it on YouTube and send the link to your volunteers.
Trend #7 - Mobile. The shift toward people viewing content primarily on their mobile devices continues to accelerate. 37% of time spent online is on mobile devices. The average person checks his/her phone at least 110 times a day. Make sure your ministry websites, communication templates, etc. are in a mobile friendly format.
What other trends do you see happening in social media? How will they affect children's ministry? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.
