By Jon Hirst, Director of Communications at HCJB Global
It's not hard to imagine anything in the world we live in today. Images and video take us to the most remote places and on dramatic imaginary adventures. Our world is a place where the image rules the day!
Each of us involved in ministry and evangelism has a narrative we want to share. We are communicating about the "World's Story." And in an image-driven culture more and more of us are turning to new mediums to tell that story.
The growth of YouTube and the many other video sites is a great indicator of our image-driven focus. Much of what you find on these sights might have been said in print or in person, but with the ease of video - why not?
The key challenge as we look to use YouTube and its counterparts as part of our ministry strategies is to begin to think creatively. That is why I started MinistryTube - the Directory of Ministries on YouTube.
Here are a few things I have found through this directory project:
- The easiest thing to do and probably the least effective is to simply put your organizational video on YouTube. But if that's what you have, start there!
- Personal stories and interviews on YouTube work very well because they can be shared virally. Many times the person being interviewed becomes your best marketer.
- Action videos that take people places and show what God is doing are effective because people can experience something quickly that they would otherwise be unable to experience.
- Funny videos are the most popular - but very hard for ministries to pull off.
Don't Just Use it - Innovate With It
One of the keys in using a tool like YouTube in your ministry strategy is to innovate within their platform. Many people simply use the tool without asking some of the questions that might lead to new ideas within the tool itself.
Let me give you an example. I work for a mission agency named HCJB Global. We initially put up some videos from Urbana 2006 - interviews with students and organizational videos. These were received very well, but had little impact. Then we began to ask some hard questions about how to use this tool within our ministry context.
In our world, our missionaries do most of the communicating to partners and donors through their personal support networks. We are helping our missionaries launch their blogs (see HCJB Global blogs at http://del.icio.us/hcjbglobal) as a way to communicate more regularly with their supporters. So we made a radical change in our YouTube strategy. Instead of having our YouTube channel be a destination place, we made it into a repository of videos from around the world that they could send to friends, supporters and partners. We now have over 25,000 views on videos and our staff around the world is able to include videos in their blog postings as well as in their emails. It has become a powerful communication tool.
So as you look at your ministry strategies ask the hard questions about how a platform like YouTube's online delivery system could enhance what you do. Here are some thoughts:
Tips for Using YouTube
- The video doesn't have to be high quality but it has to be genuine and interesting.
- The videos that allow your audience to experience your ministry in a very personal way do well.
- Keep the videos under 5 minutes when possible - remember YouTube is online and people's attention spans are shorter online than anywhere else.
- To have a lasting impact, prepare for the long haul - you have to upload regularly and provide people with new material.
- Make sure to include your call to action at the end of the video. You can include things like a web site, a promo for an event, an ask for donations or a request for prayer.
To read more about innovating through YouTube, visit http://www.innovationinmission.com/.
Source: AG News