Practical tips on using social media to reach the youth to spread the Gospel.

1. SOCIAL MEDIA FOR
REACHING THE YOUTH : HOW
4 OCTOBER 2022
ETHIOPIA
CONFERENCE

2. • Introduction
• Social media apps
• What are the 12 MOST ESSENTIAL
social media principles.
• Creating content.
• WhatsApp / Telegram groups: what &
how
• Your YouTube channel: set-up, videos
& sharing
• TikTok for ministry.
• Creating engagement.
• Design
• Understanding the statistics & analytics.
AGENDA

3. Japie Swanepoel
@japies

5. 12 social
media
principles

6. ➡ Content
➡ Conversation
➡ Strategy
➡ Policy
➡ Respond
➡ Current
➡ Relevant
➡ Acknowledge
➡ Creative
➡ Original
➡ Consistent
➡ Analyse

8. Creating your content calendar

9. Creating content calendars
• Plan your content at least a
month in advance.
• Ensure that it is in sync
with your other
communications initiatives /
messages.
• Base your content on pre-
defined pillars /storylines.
• In your calendar have text,
images, gifs, videos, links.

10. Creating content calendars
• Don’t duplicate across
platforms.
• Ensure that images are
correctly sized for each
platform.
• Plan which posts to boost and
what the budget will be.
• Utilise all the various aspects
of the platforms: stories,
carousal, video, slideshows,
etc.

11. Creating content calendars
• Get your team’s buy-in /
approval
• Create designs in advance.
• Schedule posts where
possible.
• Be flexible wrt changes /
updates.

12. GROUPS

13. Groups / Channels:
The Golden Rules
• Always keep to the purpose of the group! Don’t share irrelevant messages about other topics.
• Do not spam the group!
• Don’t be offended if others leave. Not everyone wants the same information.
• Do politely excuse yourself before you leave a group.
• Post your message in one single chunk of text, don’t post every word or sentence in a new
message.
• Do not have one-on-one conversations in the group. Switch to private messages.
• Do not post in any group between 21:00 and 07:00 unless it is an all-out emergency.
• The group is not a political platform (unless you have specifically set it up for this purpose) No
arguing, no heated opinions, no fear mongering, no hyped up drama, no fake news. Check your
sources before you share.
• Never EVER use a group to berate someone else or air grievances. If you have an issue address it
one on one with the relevant person.
• Don’t add random people to a close-knit group.
• Always ask someone if you may add them before you add them.
• Don’t send data-insensitive messages. No-one wants their last 3GB used up on uninvited memes.
• When the group has served its purpose (the hike is over) delete it.
• Add images, audio files, short videos to grab attention.

14. If you are not sure,
ask yourself these
three
questions before
you post:
1. Is this relevant?
2. Is this necessary?
3. Is this a good time to
post?

18. Your YouTube Channel

19. Benefits of a YouTube Channel

20. Posting your Video

21. Audio to Video

22. Sharing Videos

25. Creating engagement

26. #hashtag basics
• They always start with # but they won’t
work if you use spaces, punctuation or
symbols.
• Make sure your accounts are
public. Otherwise, the hashtagged
content you write won’t be seen by any
non-followers.
• Don’t string too many words together. The
best hashtags tend to be relatively short
and easy to remember.
• Use relevant and specific hashtags. If it is
too obscure, it will be hard to find and it
won’t likely be used by other social media
users.
• Limit the number of hashtags you
use. More isn’t always better. It actually
looks spammy.
• Use niche hashtags. (longtail)

27. ANALYSE

28. Analytics
• Analyse as often as you
can.
• Weekly highlights
• Monthly in detail
• Look at:
• growth
• engagement
• ads’ results

29. Analytics
• Stop doing what is not generating results.
• Do more of what works.
• Look at other brands to see what they do that works well.
• Don’t be scared to experiment!

31. essential #socialmedia
notes
offers &
shops
Never stop
checking your
analytics
respond
quickly
create
events
stick to
a plan
advertise
content to
suit the
platform
content to
suit the
audience
video
engage
exclusive
content /
offers
connect online
with offline
links to your
accounts

32. japie@digital4christ.co.za