What I Learnt From The First Church Marketing Twitter Chat

I had a great time this morning (Australian time) hosting the first Church Marketing Sucks Twitter Chat. We had a group of around 12 people commenting, more probably watching the stream. 

Here are just a few of the highlights, feel free to add your comments below:

@ChrisWardYoung: :Context , content, knowing your market and being clear are what works for any comms - church or not" #cmsucks

Measuring radio ROI is nearly impossible IMO, but you can gauge increased web traffic or inquiries #cmsucks

@burks:  in a media saturated society, and advertising by a church needs to have a ton of thought behind it #cmsucks

@brittneydanne: we empower & enable by not making it a mission but a way of life. Give them tools & knowledge of what u stand for & they will... ..spread the mission/vision/values in a way that is PERSONAL to them & their story of faith. It's all about owning it! #cmsucks

On the practical side of holding a Twitter chat, here are some of my takeaways:

• The Twitter chat is a perfect place to meet new people (not in an awkward speed dating kind of way).

• I'm not sure if the time works globally, we may change this so that we don't hit dinner time in the US and midnight in the UK. How would Aussies/NZ'ers feel about a night time chat to include those other groups?

• Twitter chat is a great place to ask questions and get some informed group think going.

• The hastag feed can feel a bit disjointed at times as various conversations move at different pace

• It's a very easy way to connect globally with people who are passionately engaged in their respective roles in churches and not for profits. 

Here is an idea I have:

1) Move to a Google hangout. The 1st twelve can participate and the rest can ask questions via Twitter or Google hangouts if it lets you. I need to check this out to see if its a viable option.

What do you think? Comment below!

Comments

[Redriverromance.wordpress.com]

Really enjoyed the chat today, Steve - thanks for organizing! Looking forward to the next one - whatever time you choose works for me!

@brittneydanne

Brittney Garneau

[burks]

Night time chat would work great for me - it means I'm not having a 16 month old climb all over me and then having to go change his nappy right in the middle of it!

Google Hangout could possibly work a whole lot easier, too - though I'm not opposed to keeping it a Twitter chat.

Great work in facilitating it all, Steve!

[Nathan W. Bingham]

Had fun. Thanks for putting it together.

If we go over 12 then probably good to wait till Google+ make their new "On Air" feature public. That allows others to simply tune in and watch a Google+ Hangout live.

I'm up for experimenting. :-)

[David Tonen]

I'll make the next one - no matter which platform you use!

[Steven Fogg]

It will be great to have you David!

[ChrisWardYoung]

Thanks for organising the chat Steve, it was great to connect with others from around the world. I'd be open to giving a G+ hangout a try, and also to doing it later in the day.