Using social media can feel like learning a foreign language but Rethinking Evangelism® is here to be your translator!
Today’s blog is about The Basic Elements of Instagram, which includes how to get started building your profile from scratch and the types of posts you’ll encounter. By the time you’re done, you’ll feel like a pro and have a much better understanding of how your church can dive into Instagram.
Let’s dive in and choose your Instagram username which is commonly referred to as your handle…or as some put it, “your at” or “@.”
Key things to remember:
Some ideas you may want to consider are using things like the name of your church, your church’s denomination, and/or your location or city – especially for churches that have common names or if your church has multiple locations. For example, you may consider @andersonsdachurch or @sdaprincetonil.
This is the “name” you’ll be referred to on Instagram and how people will find you, so take some time to think of something that makes the most sense.
Your Instagram profile picture is an excellent opportunity to explore the options for your visual identity. You can use a photo, the church’s name and logo, or an icon from your logo – as long as it’s about 110 x 110 pixels. Just note that the photo you upload will be cropped into a circle, so choose a photo or logo that will look good when cropped to fit.
If things don’t look good, there are free options for templates to make the correct size, like Canva. You also have the flexibility to change your profile photo to reflect things that are currently important to your church or add seasonal enhancements for some flair.
Can you describe your church – and keep it simple? Your communication skills are going to be put to the test writing your biography (“bio”) because Instagram allows a maximum of only 150 characters. Think of it as a quick opportunity for people to read just enough about your church that they’ll get a quick understanding of who you are and be motivated to want to read more about your church via the link you’ll include.
Be sure to include:
Example:
Do you know the difference between a Highlight and a Reel? How about a Story versus a Carousel? We’ve got you covered. Keep reading to see how we break down each type of post and demonstrate how these different types of content can be leveraged to promote your church.
The typical posts that you see when you scroll through your newsfeed are most often single images, carousels of multiple images (kind of like a small photo album), and videos. Traditional posts will make up the majority of your content when you’re first starting to build your Instagram platform. We’ll show some examples of each kind below along with some tips.
Single Image
Single image posts are as simple as that: one photo and then explainer text in the caption below it. All photos and images for Instagram should be 1080 x 1080 pixels so that you don’t crop out important parts of your image. A single image post is perfect for sharing a quick snapshot of a moment in worship or details about an upcoming event. Not sure how to get the right text overlay on your images? We have a resource with ready-made templates that can help with that!
Carousel Images
Looking to tell your story in a more visually-appealing way? Carousel posts host up to ten images and/or videos per post. You choose what to say, upload them in the order you need, and add the explanation details below. The dots under the photos in the sample below indicate that there’s more than one image to see so that viewers know to continue swiping through them. This type of post is perfect for longer lessons and higher engagement rates.
Videos
Did you know Instagram can host up to ten minutes of recorded video? That’s a powerful way to share a devotional or a clip from your most recent sermon!
The first 60 seconds of your video will automatically play and then viewers will be prompted to click on the video to see the rest of it. This style is great for getting across shorter bits of information and drawing in viewers for the longer message. You are encouraged to enable closed captions on your videos when uploading them - and this is something we highly recommend, as this increases your accessibility to viewers who need it and displays your message to younger viewers who often prefer to read through posts instead of turning up the volume.
Reels are all about the personality of your church. These are 6-90 second video clips that have their own tab on the home feed navigation bar – and Instagram loves to show these to users casually browsing, so it’s a wonderful way to get new followers. With reels, the options are broad.
The ideal video length for reels is about 6-13 seconds, so think of them more of a highlights reel than in-depth videos. You’ll use them to highlight some features or introduce something important to your church.
Stories are collections of photos or videos that your users can only see for a 24-hour period. This is good for keeping your followers checking in to see what else your church is up to and sharing brief bits of information that will change in the future, like event details. Stories appear at the bar at the top of your followers’ Instagram feed – as opposed to in their news feed. When you post a new story, your profile picture will appear at the top of their feed with a colorful ring around it to show them there’s something interesting to see.
Stories are comprised of something called “slides.” A story can be up to 15 seconds long; however, you can share up to four stories at a time with a maximum length of 60 seconds. Users can pause on one slide to read more, go backwards to re-play information, and click through to your profile page to learn more. You can use text, music, stickers, and GIFS to bring your stories to life. You can also add clickable hyperlinks, as a question, or post a poll for fans to vote on.
Does it feel like you’ll have a variety of things to talk about – like youth events, Bible lessons, sermons, details on holiday plans, messages from your team, inspirational images, and more? We thought so and we know how to fix it!
Highlights are saved stories that remain at the top of your Instagram profile in categorized folders that do not expire, so all your hard work on making compelling stories can be watched again in greater context with other relevant stories. For example, one Highlights file can be about your outreach program. Every time you post about the outreach program in your stories, save them as an outreach highlight so fans can watch them with everything else you posted on the subject.
Have you ever seen a social media user post a video and engage with fans in real-time? That’s called Going Live and it’s a great opportunity to interact with your audience. A live Instagram stream can run for 60 minutes. This is great for showcasing the things your church does in greater detail.
What happens when you go live?
Now that you know the terms used and the types of post you can make, you’re almost ready to get started! Next time, we’ll be discussing how to put these posts to work and build some strategy for your church.
Our team is passionate about helping churches grow. Our blog talks about ways to build and reinforce your community’s perceptions about your church – so be sure to follow along for more tips, ideas, and advice. Subscribe so you don’t miss out!
If Instagram is something you’re interested in, but you don’t have the capacity to take this on yourself, we’re happy to work directly with your church. Simply contact us to start the conversation.