Using Instagram for your church
Guidance and advice from the URC on using Instagram for your church.
What is Instagram?
Instagram is a photo and video-sharing social networking service owned by Facebook.
The app allows users to upload photos, graphics and videos, which can be edited with filters and organised with hashtags and location information and posted to your account. You can also choose to allow your posts to be shared publicly or with pre-approved followers.
Instagram users can search for content using hashtags, locations or by seeing what鈥檚 trending on the platform. You can follow different accounts and like or comment on their content if you wish.
Check it鈥檚 the right channel for you
Instagram is primarily used for sharing visual content. Check if it鈥檚 the right platform for you.聽Do you have enough good quality photos or videos to share on a regular basis? If you don鈥檛, Instagram is probably not the right social media platform for you.
However, if you can produce this type of content then Instagram is for you.聽Have a think about who your audience is. This not only includes your congregation, parish or wider community but can also include local councillors, MPs, local authorities, religious groups, etc.聽If people you want to engage with are on Instagram, think about what you want to say and how often.
Make sure you have the time to manage your account. If you don鈥檛 have the resources to post regular content and respond to and/or moderate comments on your posts, it鈥檚 probably best you don鈥檛 set up an Instagram account. Not using your account is like advertising a phone number that no one ever answers.
Setting up your account
1. Think of a username for your account. Choose one that鈥檚 as near to the name of the church or organisation you鈥檙e setting the account up for so people think to search for it on Instagram.
The name of your account is what appears in your account鈥檚 Instagram address. For example, the 麻豆传媒 Church鈥檚 Instagram account is聽.
You may find the name you want is already taken. Don鈥檛 let this put you off.
For example, St John鈥檚 麻豆传媒 Church in York wants to use the username /stjohnsurc but finds it鈥檚 already taken.聽One way to make their username more unique unique could be to include the area that they are located, e.g. stjohnsurcyork.
2.聽To set up your account, you can either install the Instagram app to your iPhone or Android or visit聽聽and do it from your computer.
If you鈥檝e downloaded the app to your phone, tap it and follow the instructions you鈥檙e given to create an account. You can choose to sign in with an email address, mobile phone number or your Facebook account if you already have one.
If you鈥檙e joining via a computer you will need to create an account using your email address or your Facebook account.
When it comes to creating a password remember to use upper and lower case letters, digits and symbols in order to make your account as secure as possible.
3.聽Once you鈥檝e created your account you should add a profile image to your account. This is the round image on the right-hand side of your Instagram page.
When choosing your account鈥檚 profile pic opt for an image that identifies your church. If you have a church logo use it as your profile picture as it helps people identify your online brand.
Instagram posts
Aim for a minimum of one but a maximum of three Instagram posts a day. But find whatever suits you and your audience. Too few posts and your followers will think the account is unused and too many posts can end up with your account being unfollowed as you鈥檙e taking over your followers鈥� Instagram feed and preventing them from seeing other posts.
As always, think about what you want to post and why. You can be more creative about what you post on Instagram. In fact the platform lends itself to this type of post more than the informative posts you tend to see on Facebook or Twitter.
Be more creative
Perhaps more than other social media platform, Instagram lends itself to creative posts rather than posts about upcoming events or report launches.
This means your posts can be about the every day joys of life in the parish, community or the church organisation you run, to give an insight into what it鈥檚 like. This can also help people see the role your church plays in the immediate community.
You can also share pictures from events you鈥檝e held. There鈥檚 a gallery option in Instagram that means you can post more than one photo at a time and you can use this to let your followers know how well an event went.
If your church has a unique or unusual architectural style, post photos of it with information about the architect and/or the history of the building. There is a huge interest in design and architecture on Instagram. Hashtag the design period, the architect, etc, to help garner interest.
Even simple occurrences that put smiles on followers鈥� faces work. For example, perhaps there鈥檚 a cat that likes to visit and spend time in your church grounds. Take a photo or video of it and post it. There鈥檚 a very popular hashtag for cat pics and videos and that鈥檚 #catsofinstagram so use that hashtag if you post content like this.
Limitations to Instagram
Instagram doesn鈥檛 really lend itself to promoting upcoming events or things you might want people to join, especially if this requires a link to another website for more information or to complete an action. This is because Instagram doesn鈥檛 allow your posts to include links to other websites and so forces you to include all the information in one post.
If there鈥檚 a lot of information this can cause problems as people tend to scroll past posts with that much text. People may also fail to follow the 鈥榤ore info鈥� link when the text gets cut off on their news feed.
One way of getting around this is for your post to say: 鈥淔or further information see link in bio鈥�. However, if you鈥檝e got another post about a different event that needs a different link for further information, this might not be the right workaround for you.
You can get around this issue by using Linktree. Linktree allows you to create a personalised and easily customisable page, that houses all the important links you want to share with your followers on social platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Once you鈥檝e setup your Linktree and added all your links, you simply copy your unique Linktree URL and paste it into the 鈥榃ebsite鈥� field of your Instagram or Twitter bio – you never have to change the link in your bio again.
So for example, if the links you鈥檝e added to Linktree are to your main website, and then you鈥檝e added other links to direct people to your events, news, and calendar pages, when you say 鈥渇or further information, see link in bio鈥� people will click on the Linktree link in your bio and be directed to the relevant page your post refers to. Check out the 麻豆传媒 Church鈥檚 Instagram bio for an example.
Don鈥檛 forget to use #Hashtags
Whenever you post, don鈥檛 forget to use #hashtags as people use them to search for content they鈥檙e interested in. Don鈥檛 add too many hashtags, otherwise those viewing your Instagram posts may not remember your key message! Some say three hashtags are enough, but see what looks right. A short Bible verse followed by 30 hashtags will look odd.
Remember to moderate your posts and interact with followers and other accounts
Keep an eye on responses to your posts. Many will be positive replies expressing how they liked it or found the information useful.
However, some may be critical. If it鈥檚 a sincere criticism you should respond and see how you can resolve the issue. You may want to ask the account to call your church as in some cases it can be quicker to sort things out in person.
If it鈥檚 vindictive don鈥檛 feel that you have to reply. Unfortunately there are accounts out there that do this. If an account is persistently vindictive you could think about muting them or reporting them to Instagram. The latter option should only be used as a last resort.
If you like a post from another account like it and write a positive comment if you have time. As well as making Instagram a more positive platform it also helps make people aware of your account.
Find accounts to follow
Think of what accounts you want to follow. These may be members of your congregation who you know are on Instagram, other churches, local councillors, food banks. Think of organisations that play a role in your local community and/or that you have dealings with in real life.聽Often accounts like these will follow you back and so will add to your list of followers.
You may want to follow accounts that are known as 鈥業nfluencers鈥� on Instagram. These are popular accounts often posting updates on a niche area 鈥� beauty, exercise, mindfulness, etc. Follow verified news accounts so you can get information you can trust.
Help people find your Instagram account
Once your account is created you can help promote it outside of Instagram. Add it to your website, put the account address on printed materials and posters in your church, email your congregation about it. Share it on your other social media platforms.
Do everything you can do to help people find you on Instagram, but most importantly enjoy your time on the platform. There are lovely accounts and lovely people using it.
Download this guidance
- Using Instagram for your church聽(PDF | 4mb)