You have probably heard the expression “preaching to the choir,” and it touches on a problem every ministry faces: how to reach non-Christians, non-believers, the doubtful and the lost with your ministry’s messages of faith and hopefully gain new members in your congregation. For many years, a ministry’s outreach was dictated by geography or its ability to buy radio or television airtime. With these limitations, untold numbers who might otherwise feel a kinship with a ministry would never learn about it.
Twenty-first-century content delivery technologies have leveled the playing field, however, giving any ministry a global reach right from their office desktops. With online content delivery systems like TikiLIVE, you are no longer constrained by legwork or traditional broadcasting expenses to reach potential new members of your church. TikiLIVE enables you to leverage audio and video streaming, video on demand, and social media to reach people – both the faithful and the searching – in greater numbers than previous generations of churches dreamed possible.
Streaming Media: A Low-Stakes Way to Introduce Your Church
For many, the idea of attending a church service just to check it out can be off-putting in a number of ways. They may be concerned about standing out as a newcomer, they may fear “sales pressure” from church leadership or members to join a congregation that may not be what they’re looking for, or they just may decide it’s too inconvenient to take the time and effort to attend a service at a church they don’t feel invested in yet. By providing streaming video of your church services and other activities either live or on demand, you can open avenues for prospective members, who might not otherwise take that step to learn more about your ministry.
These “virtual visitors” can take a look at what your church has to offer in a low-pressure, convenient, and comfortable way. By delivering this content over the Internet, you extend your church’s reach far beyond its locality, essentially showing the world what your ministry is all about. The potential for adding to your congregation’s ranks this way is truly remarkable, as viewers get a chance to get to know and grow comfortable with your church. A content delivery provider such as TikiLIVE makes it easy to introduce your church to potential newcomers through their computers, set-top boxes, or mobile devices.
Social Media for Making That First Connection
Connecting via sites such as Facebook and Twitter has become second nature for us today, making it critical for your ministry to have a presence across all social media networks. Retweets and Facebook post shares can introduce the unchurched to your congregation, so maintaining an appealing and inviting image with your content and messages on these social media platforms can go a long way toward adding Christian newcomers to your church’s ranks.
These social media sites also place your church in the context of a community, showing individuals who might be skeptical about joining a church what its members are really like as they share and interact. These sites also give non-Christians the opportunity to ask questions about or participate in discussions with your congregation in a low-risk manner. TikiLIVE lets you share your media instantly to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube, giving prospects a window into your ministry using sites they already visit every day.
21st Century Broadcasting Without the 20th Century Expense
Reaching out to non-Christians doesn’t have to be a high-risk investment for your ministry, either. Broadcasting church services or other events has traditionally meant purchasing television or radio airtime, which is prohibitively expensive for all but the most well funded ministries. With a content delivery provider, broadcasting video of your church is exponentially more affordable and it leverages what is increasingly becoming the preferred way to consume content – via digital streaming. With expense being a much smaller concern, you are free to expand your library of online media to a wide variety of offerings on a number of channels – sermons, Bible study, Sunday school, special events – without feeling the budgetary constraints of traditional broadcasting. You could even create and stream a video specifically addressing the concerns of non-Christians to make them feel like they would be welcome in your congregation.
Decide Your Next Steps with Data
When you send your ministry’s media out into cyberspace, you want to know where it lands. Tracking the when, where, what, and how of your content delivery is essential to help you focus your ministry’s outreach efforts. To meet this need, TikiLIVE offers a suite of sophisticated analytics tools to give you this information about visitors to your media. If you have content tailored to inviting and welcoming non-churchgoers into your congregation, these tools provide you with the data you need to direct your further outreach efforts. For example, if you stream a video inviting newcomers to learn more about your church and the data show a large viewership in Florida, it would be productive to tailor content to or schedule events for Florida viewers.
With HTML5, the Device Isn’t a Dealbreaker
TikiLIVE’s HTML5 encoding removes the barrier of device type from getting your ministry’s messages to non-Christians. With this technology, your church’s content is readily viewable across all digital devices, from PCs to smartphones and tablets to set-top TV boxes. Whether at a desk, in front of the TV or on the go, prospective members will have unparalleled access to your church’s content.
WordPress Gives Your Content a Home
By integrating with WordPress, TikiLIVE provides your ministry with a public repository for all your content, allowing potential newcomers to explore your media in total and make informed choices about involvement with your church. This functionality offers an opportunity for you to engage with the community and make it easy for non-Christians to understand what sets your ministry apart and what you can do to meet their spiritual needs.
Let TikiLIVE Help You Deliver Your Messages of Faith
Whether to non-Christians or the devout, your ministry has a mission to spread the good news of God’s teachings to the widest audience possible. TikiLIVE can help you accomplish this with our best-in-class content delivery platform. For more information on how TikiLIVE can work for you, give us a call today at (305) 289-4557. We look forward to helping you bring new members to your congregation through online offerings provided by TikiLIVE.
