Communication methods sure are different today than they used to be, aren’t they? I really try hard to stay on top of the latest tools, because, after all, we’re in the communication business! We are here to communicate the Gospel message to anyone in any way possible.
With culture and technology these days, there are SO MANY different ways that people communicate. Some prefer email, some text, some Instagram. A few even place a telephone call! (remember when we used our phones like, you know… Phones?) So, with such diversification of communication styles, we at The Orchard Church work really hard to communicate. All told, we have around 16 or 18 different tools or channels through which we communicate… And each of them has to be handled differently! It really is a lot of work, but we’re committed to making the Gospel relevant. Relevant means that it connects to people where they are. So if they’re on Twitter, that’s where we go. If they’re on Facebook, we will be there. All of this really takes a lot of effort, so to try to figure out where to best make our time investment, we did a quick survey to see how our people liked to communicate. Everyone was asked which of 11 channels were most useful to them. Participants were able to check as many options as they wanted. Here’s what we found out:
What can we learn from this?
Email is still king
When it comes to communicating to a reasonable amount of people, email remains the number one chosen format. We try not to overload our group with too many emails. Typically, we send one or so a week, unless there is a special event or something. I get feedback from this venue all the time, and it seems to be working pretty well overall.
Facebook still owns our social scene
This is awesome because YOU get to use this channel to influence people for Christ. When you repost and “like” Orchard info on Facebook, you are connecting your friends to us, also. Keep up the great work!
Our best content isn’t connecting
We make our best available on my blogsite here. Either it really isn’t that great, or I’m just not connecting it well.
Our most immediate content is ignored
For prayer requests, last-minute schedule changes, updates, and other time-sensitive info, nothing beats Twitter. But Ellijay people still haven’t started using this channel.
Text messaging. Who knew?
This one ranked as the third most popular communication channel… We use it extensively for individuals and small groups, but don’t take advantage of it on a broader basis. That may need to change.
Print may not be quite dead yet!
We work for hours to produce an attractive, up-to-date printed newsletter each week. The drawback is that you have to BE there, AND you have to actually read it for it to be effective. This is by far the most expensive and difficult communication piece for us to produce. It takes hours each week. Always looking for ways to make this more effective.
So, communication in the 21st century is rapidly changing. Whatever we’re doing today won’t be the same thing we’re doing next year. Even if we aren’t hitting everyone, we are certainly trying hard. It looks like communication channels are only diversifying more and more, so expect us to add channels as things continue to evolve in this area.