As the summer began, I had a lot of ideas and a lot of plans for the website to provide resources for you. One item that I had hoped to develop was a social media plan for the Agents of Grace Mission Handbook. This did not develop as I had hoped for several reasons, it seems that God had other plans.
One reason why I did not develop a social media plan was because clubs across the country use several different formats with the Mission series books. How you use a social media plan will be determined by how you run your club – if clubbers come prepared with the section complete to discuss, you go over it in club, you discuss the lesson and then expect them to memorize the verse through the week, etc. Since there so many different ways clubs run T&T, what I hope to do with this post is to give you some basic guidelines to use to develop your own social media plan.
Know your audience
With several social media channels available, you want to know your audience and what social media channel (Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc) they use most often. Keep in mind that you are seeking to connect with parents. Legally, T&T aged children should not be on social media (though some are). Target the media outlets that your families use most.
Ask Questions
Utilize the Start Here, Optional Box, & Explore Sections to ask dinner time questions. These will help parents engage with their child and can help the child complete the section as they make the connection.
Post the Scripture being memorized for the week
Posting the Scripture helps families know what verse they should be focused on for the week. You can use YouVersion or other app to develop Scripture art (the verse with a picture). This helps capture their attention and helps them focus on the verse. The visual can even help them remember the verse and make a connection.
Be Consistent
Families will become used to the information you provide via social media. They will begin to look for it and it will become part of their routine. It is not always easy to maintain a social media strategy because “life” gets in the way.
Remember the purpose
Everything should have a specific purpose. The purpose of using a social media plan should be to engage families in discussion. Helping to guide the parent to initiate discussions about God, not to complete a handbook… that is a by product of parents engaged in discussing the things of God via the Awana material.
Don’t Believe the Myth
Some people believe that everyone is on social media… this simply is not true. Using a social media plan will not reach everyone, and even those on social media may not use it. That is why you also want to consider other options to help clubbers keep on track. One way is to use the verse postcards that you can send home with the clubbers each week to help them study and to stay on track. The verse postcards have the verses broken up so the clubber can work on learning one phrase at a time (chunking) working on the verse throughout the week. If you are interested in the verse cards for the Agents of Grace book, you can click here for the resource page (also available for Grace in Action at this time).
Do you currently utilize social media to encourage family discussions and help clubbers stay on track? If so, then please comment with how you are using social media to engage families. It may inspire another club to use social media to engage families.
