You might think we’ve gone mad, but just today we suggested to one of our religious communities that they not redesign their website. They were thinking of redoing their site to a new format that would allow them to make web changes on their own, and to allow for a blog.
Social media vs. traditional websites
Here’s what I told Sister:
Switch to social media
“Rather than upgrade your site, I’m wondering if you would consider that your money might be better spent on a Facebook page. Believe me, it’s difficult to get people to come to your website, but much easier on Facebook. Everything today is going to social media. I’ve been doing vocation promotion for five years full time, and this is what I’m suggesting now to communities.
“The advantages: Nearly everyone is on Facebook (1.2 billion users worldwide. Yes, that’s B for billion), and you can connect and communicate with young women candidates much easier. You get to know them better. You can make posts on your Facebook page every day, and they see your posts on their Facebook pages. You build up your fan base, increasing your audience. You can have all kinds of photos, videos and documents on there as well. And of course, you want to place a link on your website to your Facebook page, and vice versa.
“You can also place paid ads on Facebook, and direct them to single young women who have certain devout Catholic interests, and direct them right to your Facebook page. (We at Vocation Promotion have a proprietary system for targeting young Catholics who know and practice their faith, and we offer monthly marketing packages).
“In other words, Facebook has replaced a website blog for many people. (Of course, you can have both a Facebook page and a website blog, if you have the time and money for it.)
“So your promotion scenario is that your website contains static pages that have all your essential community info. Facebook has everything that changes.”
Keep your eyes open, because people on the internet are finding you in new ways.
