• Theory Meets Practice In Online Ministry
  Posted: March 16, 2010
  From: Collide Magazine
  Ben Simpson from Collide makes a great suggestion: let's move the debate about church online forward by providing examples, both "pro" and "con". I agree. And let's do some real research on this topic as well.
• Google: Mobile Query Growth “Dramatically Higher” Than PC
  Posted: March 16, 2010
  From: CMO.com
  Google lets us know that search is mobile as well.
• Five Free Tools for SEO
  Posted: March 16, 2010
  From: Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com
  More search engine optimization info from OurChurch. This time, links to some SEO tools.
• Plugin by C. Murray Consulting

At the conference, David’s focus was on the use of Google AdWords and Facebook ads as a ministry tool.  Jesus.net is one of the biggest Google AdWords users and has had tremendous success.  In this post, I just wanted to summarize some of what he shared with us. Remember, this advice is for those looking to pay for ads via the Google or Facebook networks, not necessarily general SEO advice:

• All ads should be in line with your ministry’s focus and budget. They should be strategic!
• 94% of Google searches use multiple word phrases, not single words. If you are going to buy ads, focus on multiple word searches.
• You should take advantage of negative keywords as well, so you can better target your audience without being too general.
• Use all the tools provided, including: Google Insights for Search (http://google.com/insights), Google Keyword Tool (http://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal).
• Customize your ads by location and by ministry, if applicable.
• Facebook advertising is a bit more expensive than Google, but it is much easier to target your ads.
• Facebook requires an image with their ad: make it relevant!
• Facebook is relationship-based, so your ads should draw people into a relationship. Link to a fan page or something else within Facebook that the user can interact with.
• When doing these types of ads (Google/Facebook paid ads), you should plan on doing a lot of testing first to see what works!

What is your advice for AdWords or Facebook ads? What has worked for you?

As you know, I am now on a “half-sabbatical” for the next two semesters here at Biola, with one of the outcomes being a book on using the Internet and social media for ministry. As part of this process, I am spending some time reviewing some different materials for possible inclusion in the book and/or my online course this summer.  As I complete my review of these materials, I will post a summary to this blog. To see all my reviews, click here.

Last month I posted a review of Persuasive Technology by BJ Fogg. This book, which I highly recommend for those who are interested in understanding how to make their web presence more credible, details just how technology can be used to persuade people to your point of view.   While I was on my trip to Turkey earlier this month, I finished the follow-up book: Mobile Persuasion.

Unlike its predecessor, Mobile Persuasion is a compilation of essays written by leaders in the field of mobile technologies and captology (the study of computers as persuasive technology). Each essay focuses on a different aspect of how mobile devices can be used to persuade. While I did not find this book as compelling overall as the first, there are several nuggets of insight that are valuable to ministries and churches looking to understand and utilize the power of mobile devices.

I firmly believe (as does Google, by the way), that we are now moving quickly to the point where mobile devices will be the primary way people interact with the Internet and with each other.  With this in mind, here are some of my key takeaways from this book:

• the mobile-human relationship is one of the most personal, intensive, and lasting of all relationships. Just think of how you feel about your iPhone…
• because mobile devices are always with us and always on, they are positioned perfectly to provide persuasive prompts at the right place and the right time.
• a mobile service must be integrated into a user’s behavior pattern in order to succeed. I can see a church mobile “app” which reminds users of upcoming services, study suggestions, and registers their attendance each Sunday morning.
• developing a mobile “experience” is fundamentally different from a web experience. The experience is not only “smaller”, but  should also be “smarter”.
• users who know their activities are being monitored (voluntarily) are more likely to repeat the behaviors that we want them to.
• mobile devices can be treated as extensions of the way the user sees the world.
• mobile applications should be dependable, consistently solve user’s problems, and do so effortlessly.
• mobile devices are personal, so the programs run on them should be able to be personalized.
• if the mobile app is social, it can better persuade – we use the actions of others to decide on proper behavior for ourselves.
• being mobile is much less about technology, and much more about culture, connectedness, and fundamental human needs.

The book ends with a look at the future of persuasion through mobile devices. One interesting conclusion from this chapter (written by Dean Eckles, who is part of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford) is that individual messages will become less useful as a way to persuade. Instead, “it will be replaced by contextual information that comes to people based on their goals, their location, their activity, and – possibly- their state of mind.” This is then summed up by Dr. BJ Fogg, director of the lab, as follows:

By knowing a user’s goals, routine, current location, and current task, mobile systems of the future will be able to determine when the user would be most open to persuasion in the form of a reminder, suggestion, or simulated experience.

I have said before, the future is mobile and social, and we need to understand how to become a part of it.

Overall, I recommend Mobile Persuasion, though I would highly recommend reading Persuasive Technology first. The only real criticism I have about this book is that it was written too early. Specifically, it was written before the advent of the iPhone, which changed the mobile game completely. I would love to see an update to this book, taking all the latest technologies into account. However, the principles still apply and are worth reviewing.

• Learn Church SEO at Church Marketing Online University
  Posted: March 14, 2010
  From: Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com
  OurChurch.com is offering a set of articles for SEO - check them out!
• SEO & Social Media ROI: Ye Have Not Because Ye Ask Not
  Posted: March 14, 2010
  From: Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com
  Great reminder that we need to go beyond the use of search and social media and be sure we are measuring as well.
• Top 10 Social Media WORST Practices
  Posted: March 12, 2010
  From: CMO.com
  Some great ideas about what NOT to do with social media. Though written for businesses, ministries could do well to pay attention.
• Facebook To Announce Plans To Take Over The Internet With Facebook Pages
  Posted: March 10, 2010
  From: www.businessinsider.com
  Facebook wants to expand its "fan page" feature to all pages on the Internet. So now you won't need a separate page inside Facebook to get all the features of the social network. This seems like a logical evolution for Facebook - now companies won't have to maintain a separate Facebook presence.
• Plugin by C. Murray Consulting

The Turks are serious about the Internet.  Turkey is now the #4 country in the world in number of Facebook users behind only the US, UK, and Indonesia. The government has banned YouTube, but everyone I talked to knew a way to get around it.  Wireless access was everywhere, and the quality was good.  At the conference, I was struck by the fact that everyone had laptops and cellphones, including Mac laptops and iPhones. When I spoke at the conference, I never felt like anyone there did not understand what I was talking about – in fact, they were more Internet-savvy than many of the church leaders I have talked to here in the US!

In many ways, I felt right at home in Istanbul: most everyone dressed Western, many people spoke English, and I saw many of the same stores and brands that I see at home. In fact, at the local Starbucks, I could order the exact same thing I order here, no Turkish necessary (see picture).   Yet in other ways, it was very obvious I was not at home: mosques were everywhere and the Muslim call to prayer was heard five times a day (see my Facebook video to hear what this sounds like – Facebook account required).

My time in Istanbul was a pleasure (at least once my body figured out that day was night and night was day).  The people were wonderful. And brave.  To live as a Christian in Turkey is to be different from the majority. It is to always wonder if the government is going to add some new restriction to your ministry’s efforts, or even remove you altogether. Though it is legal to be a Christian in Turkey, it is still not easy.

The title of this post,  ”They use the Internet in Turkey too”,  is obviously meant tongue-in-cheek. Many times, when thinking of ministering to muslims in a muslim country, we picture something out of Indiana Jones. But it is not like that, as I have described here in this post.

To be successful in fulfilling the Great Commission, we are called to understand other cultures and then determine how to best share the good news within them. This conference gave me a look at how this is being done; both through the people at the conference and through the Internet.  The Lord is working in Turkey and, indeed, throughout the world. The Internet is being used as a tool “that everyone may hear”. And they all will, very soon.

Here are the latest things that caught my eye from around the web in the past few days. I subscribe to dozens of blogs and news sources via my Google Reader and share them. You can keep up with them by following me on Twitter or evensubscribing directly. I will also post them here in my blog from time to time.

• TextMarks Makes Sending Mass Text Messages Easy
  Posted: March 5, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Here is a way to set up a text message campaign quite easily.
• Understanding the Participatory News Consumer | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project
  Posted: March 5, 2010
  From: pewinternet.org
  Great research about how people get news. The points made here in this research are something to consider when developing strategy for online ministry. The importance of developing online connections with people cannot be understated!
• 9 Search Engine Marketing Questions Every Organization Should Be Able to Answer
  Posted: March 4, 2010
  From: Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com
  More search engine optimization insights...
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• Strategy Principles – Segmentation
  Posted: March 3, 2010
  From: Kingdom Strategist
  Thoughtful article from Kevin Ring on using segmentation as part of your strategy. Good stuff!
• How Companies Are Using Your Social Media Data
  Posted: March 3, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Interesting article on the importance of your social media data. That friend you have on Facebook may hurt your ability to get credit someday...
• Content Alone Doesn’t Cut It for Traffic, SEO
  Posted: March 3, 2010
  From: ChurchCrunch
  What is your search strategy? Great post from John Saddington on the other components to getting found.
• Growing Through Search Marketing – A Case Study
  Posted: March 3, 2010
  From: Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com
  More SEO insights from OurChurch.
• Holy Holograms!
  Posted: March 3, 2010
  From: Out of Ur
  Holy Holographic preachers! Is this the next step for "online church"? What do you think?
• Yelp for Android Gets Bookmark Sync and Draft Support
  Posted: March 3, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  If you are a church or location-based ministry, have you checked to see if you are on Yelp? This article reminded me that the convergence of social and mobile will include these types of applications.
• Mobile Social Networking Usage Soars [STATS]
  Posted: March 3, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Mobile and social. The match made in heaven. If mobile and social media are not in your strategy, it's time to update your strategy.
• Making Videos That Work Socially
  Posted: March 3, 2010
  From: tonysteward
  Here is some great insight on how to develop video for the online environment. From the new blog by Tony Steward. (HT: Collide Magazine)
• State of the Union of Church, Ministry and Search Engines
  Posted: March 1, 2010
  From: Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com
  Jump in with OurChurch.com this month on search engine issues. If you aren't doing anything with your search engine results, this is a great way to get started!
• Developing a Social Strategy: Slides and Webinar Recording –Share It
  Posted: February 27, 2010
  From: Web Strategy by Jeremiah
  Trying to put together a social strategy? Jump in to this series!
• Google Adds New Location-Based Options to Search
  Posted: February 27, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Does Google know where your ministry is? If you are a location-based ministry, be sure you are taking advantage of this.
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• 5 Fantastic Facebook Fan Page Ideas to Learn From
  Posted: February 25, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Great examples of the use of Facebook fan pages. Learn from these examples!
• The Future of the Non-Profit Internet
  Posted: February 25, 2010
  From: Mashable!
  Predictions about the future of the Internet, with an emphasis on its effects on nonprofits.
• Facebook outreach and training
  Posted: February 25, 2010
  From: Digital Evangelism Issues
  A great look at how Facebook is the place to be for online evangelism.
• New and Upcoming Books on Technology, Media, and Faith
  Posted: February 24, 2010
  From: Don't Eat The Fruit
  Here are some books to consider for your reading list. I added my upcoming book in the comments.
• Social Media – What’s the Point?
  Posted: February 23, 2010
  From: Christian Web Trends Blog by OurChurch.Com
  Some good thoughts on social media from Paul.
• Plugin by C. Murray Consulting

Interviewees include:

• Cynthia Ware, Executive Director of the Center for Church Communications
• Eric Célérier, founder of TopChrétien.com
• Matt Perman, Senior Director of Strategy for Desiring God
• DJ Turner, Executive Director Communications Denver Seminary
• Dr. Richard Krejcir, Director of Into Thy Word

Here are some highlight quotes from the interviews, see if you can figure out who said them:

Sometimes online excellence is seen when someone has taken the initiative and laid the foundation for others to follow.

Great content must be wedded with high usability. If you have excellent content but it’s hard to use the content is obscured. Not focusing on usability creates distortion that gets in the way of the content. Even if you have financial resources and a competent staff, poor usability will lead to an ineffective website.

When you go to a restaurant, you don’t go just for the food or for the look of the dining room, you go for the experience. This is how Facebook draws so many people: not just the content, not just the design, but the experience of it. The experience of a web site is created by how you navigate through the content. When you are designing your site, foremost consideration must be given for how the users will experience it!

Go read the interviews at StateOfMinistryOnline to figure out who said these and to get much, much more insight!

Of course, it couldn’t let this finish without reminding you of the CLA 2010 conference coming up in San Diego in April. And encouraging you to come! I am part of the team putting together a special 12-session summit on the Internet and technology, where we will be taking the principles learned from these interviews and other research and presenting them.

Also, if you are interested in coming (or even if you’re not!), please consider taking the online survey we have developed to help us further our research. For your time (about 20 minutes), you will receive a $50 discount to the conference.

I wrote last week that I believe we are now in a “post-website” world, where the organizational website, while important, is no longer the centerpiece of how we interact online.  Continuing to think along these lines, the question then becomes: what should be the main focus of our online communications and interactions?

My answer to that question is not simple. I believe that the best way to interact with our target audience is to build relationships with them online.  And one way to build relationships with them is to insert ourselves into the “streams” of information that they consume everyday.  To have the maximum reach possible, we must understand the streams that our potential audience wades through on a daily basis and become part of it.

Streams can be found in many places online:

• Facebook status updates: get your content on people’s wall. Depending on your target audience, this may be the #1 way to get into people’s streams. Facebook is now the #1 site that people spend their time on.
• Twitter: get your message into Twitter clients, whether that is text message, Tweetdeck, or Twitter.com itself.
• Email: many people still use email as their primary “go-to” tool. While this may seem “old-school”, it also can be powerful and effective for certain target audiences.
• RSS reader: the more tech-savvy out there (and those who prefer to read) probably use an RSS reader to aggregate content into one place. Be sure you make a feed available.
• Mobile apps: as mobile devices become more and more integrated into our culture, you will want to make it easy for people to get your content delivered to their mobile device.
• Search results: if people are looking for you, can they find you?
• Wikipedia: many people go to Wikipedia first when trying to find information. It is listed as a “top 10″ web brand. Wikipedia results almost always show up in the first page of search results.

This idea is nothing new, marketers have been thinking in these terms for decades. Billboards, television and radio ads, door-to-door salesmen, telemarketers and multi-level marketing companies all understand this. Our potential “customers” will not come to us, will not engage with us, unless we go to them first.  But of course, many of these methods have an extremely negative connotation: we may not want our ministry to be identified with telemarketing or advertising.  So do we forget the idea of streams and just build a great website, hoping that it will get visited? No.

As I stated in my answer to my initial question: the main focus on our online communications and interactions should be to build relationships. To do this, you need a carefully crafted strategy that is research-based and encompasses a variety of online methods.  Some ideas on how to do this include:

• How will your ministry start your relationship with someone online? Will you post ads asking them to “subscribe” or “follow” you? Will you look for recommendations through friends?
• Each “stream” should be carefully identified and its role in your strategy examined.  The number of content items you place into a stream should be enough to get noticed but not so much that it is considered “spam”. Remember: users can choose to stop getting your stream.
• If you choose to have multiple streams (and you probably should), work to find tools that allow you to manage them from one place. For example, if you post to Facebook and Twitter, you can link them together so that only one update needs to be done.
• Don’t offend – if it is not appropriate for your content to be delivered through one of these methods, then don’t! Remember, each stream has unique pros and cons. Some are more public than others. Examine each thoroughly.
• Who is going to manage all of this? Don’t think it will run itself! Someone on staff should have this in their job description!

This is a topic that I will be continuing to work through as I put together my book. I would love your feedback! What other “streams” exist out there? How are you engaging them? What are some of the differences you’ve found between different streams?