The Holiday season is upon us and many of your members might be out of town but still desire to watch your live streaming. People that have never been to your church may also pop in on your live streaming to see what your church is all about. Following streaming video tips will ensure an excellent experience for your audience and your ministry.
It’s important to ensure your church offers the best live streaming experience for your audience. Here are some valuable tips:
1. Always Test
Make sure all of your equipment – video, audio, cameras, and all devices – are online and operational prior to broadcasting a service or event. We also strongly recommend a speed test of your network to make sure upload speeds are solid.
2. Meet, Greet, and Pray With Attendees
We recommend chat and interaction features. Designate a volunteer or regular online attendee to interact with folks logging in – similar to a greeter at your church facility who answers questions that congregants have. This creates a connection with your viewers. Offering to pray with people online is important, too.
3. Follow Up
Just like you follow up with first-time visitors to your facility, follow up with those who attend online for the first time. Use a customized online form that enables viewers to list a prayer request, ask a question, or give a comment. You should have a place for viewers to submit contact information so you can follow up.
4. Make Streaming Video Easy to Find
Make sure it’s obvious and easy to find your online live streaming service when visiting your website for the first time. The best ministries make it obvious where to attend and will usually embed the live streaming service within a page on their website.
5. Address Your Online Community
The announcer, worship leader, and especially the pastor should welcome not only those inside the church facility but also viewers online. This makes those attending online feel like a part of the service and reminds everyone attending in-person that the service is being streamed. Real-time analytics can also give the pastor an opportunity to specifically welcome viewers from different parts of the world, which encourages the whole church, letting them see a “bigger picture” to the ministry.
6. Equip Members to Invite Friends
80% of all first-time attendees come to church because someone invited them. Let’s face it, it’s very intimidating for newcomers to walk through the doors of your facility for the first time. Attending online as a first-timer is so much easier! Make sure your regular attendees at your facility are aware that your services are streamed weekly so they can invite their friends to attend online to experience your ministry. Most of your members’ friends will attend their first service online if invited, just because it’s so easy.
7. Create Online Goals and Measure Results
Just like you set your growth goals and measure results for your overall ministry, you can set specific attendance and growth goals for your online ministry. It’s a fact that most will experience your ministry online before they come in person. So, set goals for your online ministry and make sure your streaming provider can provide the analytics and detailed reports to measure the progress against your online ministry goals.
8. Use Social Media
Social Media is here to stay. Your physical and online ministries should be leveraging the benefits of your social campaigns and regular interactions. If you decide to use some paid social marketing tools, Facebook and Google have made it easier than ever to specifically target your audience (with a small budget).
9. Make Giving Easy
For those who are ready to support the church, being able to easily donate online while viewing a live or archived service is a great tool. This can help attendees and visitors feel more connected to your ministry, so make sure it is easy for everyone to find their way to your donations page.
10. Make Sure Help is Always Available
It can be very frustrating if you have a problem, especially when there is a lot going on right before a service. Choose a provider that can help you 7 days a week with all of the points above.
These ten tips may seem like a lot but with a big push, you can get most of them ironed out in no time. The potential growth that can come from online streaming far outweighs the effort required to optimize your attendees’ experience, so set your eyes on your goals and provide excellence in what you offer.
For more than 20 years our team has worked exclusively with churches and ministries around the world. We are much more than a tech company. We are available 7 days a week, even on Sundays. Go to StreamingChurch.tv or use live chat at the bottom right of your page.