The motivation for brands to jump onto Instagram is compelling.
There’s been strong growth with 2-million users per month. Instagram reached iconic popularity and cultural impact while being only available on the iOS. When it was first released for the Android, over a million downloaded it within the first day. If that wasn’t compelling enough, unlike Twitter, Instagram users keep using it.
“Over 200 million photos have been uploaded to Instagram, and users post over 1.3 million photos every day (roughly 15 per second).”
That’s some serious activity, especially when you consider these are photographs.
Brand’s are starting to jump on board, but what about churches and ministries?
I’ve got mixed feelings about brands on Instagram.
Some have setup photo contests to promote their product name, which is kinda cool, but would anyone really follow Coca-Cola? Who wants multiple photos of Coke products in their stream everyday?
Meanwhile, when you look at ministries and non-profits, Compassion International has done a good job leveraging Instagram. When you consider their focus and following, I can see how a social platform like Instagram works well. You’re talking about kids and foreign locations–two ingredients for interesting photos, right?
But, what about your church?
Is a hashtag more fitting?
And when you consider how Instagram works–the account being tied to the device, in a sense–how would a church use Instagram?
When I think about applying Instagram’s platform in a ‘Page’ or ‘Fan’ sense, it looks a little murky to me.
I would love to hear your thoughts on this–talk to me!
[via Capture the Conversation | Image via Karl Nilsson]
Josh says
I’ve seen some local churches in my city try instagram and there’s a few that do it well. I follow them and I don’t even attend their church. Take @students_bbc for example. They’ll post upcoming events on there, new merch, words of wisdom, community outreach, kids testimonies, and my favorite is that they show how active they are in their kids lives. whether it’s seeing a highschool play or going to their football game or visiting students at work.
Seriously though, check out their feed. I think we could share some tips from the way they do theirs.
Eric Dye says
Cool, thanks!
David Smith says
We have been using Instagram at our church for several months now and I love it! I have it set up to post directly to our FB Page and Twitter accounts. It has been a great way to start conversations with our congregation as well as sharing behind the scene stuff like our recent sanctuary remodel. We also used it to share our last baptism event in real time and pics of our youth missions trip. You can check out some of the ways we have been using it at @verticalchurch
Eric Dye says
That’s great!
Dan King (@bibledude) says
I agree with the other comments so far… I definitely think that there’s a great use for it in ministry… probably moreso than in a traditional business. I think that it gets down to storytelling. When you think of the church as an entity with a story to tell, and Instagram as a tool to help you tell that story, well then… you get the picture.
Interesting post! Great food for thought!
Eric Dye says
You’re right, it IS about story telling. Good call!