Cutting Through the Static :: Texting

Texting has certainly changed the way we communicate. I’m notorious for not answering my cell phone. One of my friends’ voicemail  says, “Don’t leave me a message I don’t check them, send me a text.”

I think the only person I talk to on the phone for longer than 10 minutes is my mom. And that’s only because she can’t text.

Beyond texting, mobile technology is altering the way we interact and engage with information. While for years, the computer screen has been the “first screen” people see, the mobile screen is now the first place people go to.

iPhones, Blackberries and SmartPhones are now a lifeline for most people… so, it would make sense, that in thinking through how to better communicate and engage with your audience that your church would consider using text messages.

When we were considering using texting at Park, we decided to start simple: using it as a way to notify people about important information [service time/location changes, daylight savings time, etc).

So, we put together this little video and encouraged people to sign up.

It worked.

In under two months, we had nearly 1,000 people signed up to receive text alerts from us.

That taught us a valuable lesson: this was something our people would engage with, therefore it would be a great communication channel for us to consider.

I think many people are quick to jump on the texting bandwagon because it’s hip and cool, and everyone else is, but the truth is, depending on who your audience is, it might be a hit or a total miss.

For us, and our young demographic at Park, it makes sense that we’d engage people with texting. However, that might not be the case if you have an older congregation.

When people have called and asked for advice about how to roll out texting in their churches, I always tell them to start small. Try it out for a weekend or find an inexpensive service and try it out. See how people respond.

The proof is in the numbers.

I was part of a conversation not too long ago where someone mentioned their church had introduced texitng but not many people were using it. They asked for advice on what to do to get more people engaged with it, and I said, “try something else.”

Not to be a downer, but that’s just the truth. That's not to say if you don't get a great initial response you should kill it. It takes people time to latch onto new ideas, so give them some time. But, if after a few tries, people aren't responding how you anticipated, it might be a good idea to think of a new idea.

However, if the adult population isn’t ready to text, your youth group most certainly is.

The avereage teenager sends over 1,700 text messages per month. And while I don’t think every church needs to use text messaging in their services, I completely believe every youth group needs to begin to implement texting into their services.

I’ve shared some different ways Park has used texting in an article "To Text or Not to Text" on  ChurchMarketingSucks.com and have notes from Dawn Nicole Baldwin’s session on Texting from ECHO, so I won’t get into HOW you can use texting, just read the notes!

But as for why… because it’s a way communication is changing. It’s another point of contact. It’s another way to get your message out there.

Some cautions… don’t rush into it. Introduce it gradually. And don’t SPAM people with messages. At Park, we send no more than 2 or 3 text alerts per month.

Who to go with… there’s a number of GREAT texting companies out there. At Park, we’ve partnered with Jarbyco, but there’s other great service providers out there including TextHub and EzTexting.com.

Some questions to consider as you think about tuning into texting…

1. What’s the average age of your church? If you tend to have a younger congregation (under 35), then texting might be a good thing to try out. If you tend to be a bit older, you may want to reconsider.
2. What do you want to do with texting? Do you want to use it to send out alerts? Do you want to use it in your services? Have a plan in how you want to implement texting.
3. What is your lead pastor’s relationship with texting? If it’s something they get, it will be an easier sell if you want to introduce it into your weekly services.
4. What’s your magic number? Based on the total number of weekly attendees at your church, before you launch into it, I’d set a goal [ maybe 25-35% of your total weekend attendance ] and say that if you hit that number that you will keep going.
5. Is your youth group texting yet? If not, I’d honestly put more priority in making sure you are connected to your youth group via texting. In any church,they will be the ones who will respond and engage with texting the most.

Final Thoughts…

Texting is just one of many new opportunities we have through mobile technology to advance the message of the Gospel and literally put it right in people’s hands. It’s changed the way we communicate and can potentially change the way you communicate and interact with your church.

If You Liked This, Check Out...

• Cutting Through the Static
• Diving into Text Messaging
• Why You & Your Church Need to Engage Social Media
• Leveraging Social Media in Ministry
• I Suck.