TikTok for Churches
While steady social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram remain powerful, TikTok, continues to grow in influence. If you haven’t heard of TikTok, it is an app that features short, impactful videos that are 10-60 seconds long. For churches looking to engage younger audiences, TikTok is the perfect platform to reach them. This app is an incredible way to reach new crowds and have a ton of fun. For an ultimate guide to using TikTok, keep reading!
Churches Should Use Creativity on TikTok
TikTok is different from any other social media platform. While users know Facebook for building relationships and Instagram for photo sharing, TikTok is all about having fun. The most popular types of videos provide entertainment value. Whether it’s a motivational clip, a dance, challenges, skits, or storytelling–users like to be entertained. TikTok is a great platform to exercise creativity and try new things with your staff and congregation. Because the TikTok age demographic is young, this app is perfect for your youth, student, and young adult ministries. Don’t be afraid to use input from your younger members while brainstorming for TikTok ideas, they’re the ones using it! By using an app young people are familiar with, they’re able to see the church in a more fun, inviting, and exciting way.
Churches Should Try TikTok Trends
Trends on TikTok last almost as long as the videos themselves. The nature of TikTok allows for sounds, dances, challenges, and more to trend easily. The most important thing about TikTok trends is that you must be active on the app to know what’s trending. Like all things, these trends will come and go, but if your church can be ahead of them, they are a great way to reach new viewers. Within the app, TikTok compiles videos using the same sound together. For example, if there’s a trending dance that uses the same song, users are able to click on the video and find every other TikTok made with that sound. This means that your church could be found by someone with zero connection to you, other than the video you posted on TikTok! The same thing applies to hashtags and challenges themselves. TikTok trends open the door to having fun, reaching new audiences, and most of the time, dancing a little!
Use The Algorithm
While trends are a great way to reach new audiences and popularize your content, it’s also important to maintain your church branding and mission. Like other platforms, users are free to follow whoever they like to see their content. But unlike Facebook and Instagram, TikTok never runs out of content to watch, because it tailors a user’s feed to their preferences. Using AI, TikTok compiles the topics and types of videos a user likes to watch to create a curated feed of their preferences. This creates really specific niche content. For your church, this means maintaining clear branding and a consistent niche allows you to reach audiences that care about what you’re posting.
Encourage Your Church Audience Through TikTok
Another major difference between TikTok and other platforms is the lack of emphasis on advertising and marketing. For your church, TikTok isn’t just another tool to convince people to attend, but rather, educate and excite them about the things of God. TikTok uses entertainment to capture an audience, not clear invitations. This means that TikTok is the perfect platform to post impactful snippets of your weekend sermons. It’s a great way to challenge your audience and provide entertaining content without overwhelming them with obvious advertising. It’s easy to get caught up in the promotion of your church online and forget your purpose. Your social media is another platform to promote Jesus to the world around you! Through shortened sermons and similar styles of content, your audience not only engages with your church but also with the Word of God.
Experiment with TikTok Recording
TikTok allows you to post premade videos, like sermon snippets, or videos filmed within the app. Be patient with yourself as you begin to film TikToks, it may take a little trial and error. The great thing about the nature of fun within TikTok is that as you film more and more videos, you’ll see the joy of statements like, “Oh, let’s try it one more time!” Still, we found a great article with some filming and editing tips to get your church dancing!
8 TikTok Post Ideas for Churches
Starting anything new can be intimidating, so we’re providing a few post ideas to get your church started on TikTok! Check them out below!
Sermon Snippets
Posting a short, impactful, and engaging portion of your pastor’s recent teaching is an awesome piece of content for TikTok. Sermon Snippets simplify TikTok because they don’t require you to film or edit any additional content! They’re easy to post and create a lasting impact.
Scripture Memory Challenge
Challenge your audience by posting a verse each week for them to memorize and then duet, repeating the verse back to your original TikTok is a fun way to get your audience involved!
Offer Topical Support
People may not always be searching for sermons, but they’re definitely searching for topical support. Record a series of short videos offering support for common concerns in your community. For example, offer tips for marriage, forgiveness, singleness, parenting, and spiritual growth.
Dance Challenge
Get your students moving by inviting your youth ministries to film popular TikTok dances. This is a fun way to invite youth participation and allow them to see your church in a new way.
Start a Series
Short videos work best on TikTok, but if you’d like to post a longer video, that’s totally okay! Instead of posting the entire long video, post it in multiple split clips. Creating a series of connected content will give you even more videos to post!
Watch What Your Members Post
One of the best ways to brainstorm and come up with new ideas is to look at the styles and types of videos your members are already posting on TikTok. This research reveals the type of content they already like!
Respond to your Congregation
Like and comment on the TikToks of the people in your congregation. One reason people post on TikTok is to be seen, heard, and valued. Your church can easily encourage the people in your congregation by liking and engaging with their content.
Share a “Behind the Scenes” Post
Pastors, worship leaders, children pastors, and any other church staff members should consider posting some sort of “behind the scenes” TikTok. These TikToks can show the band practicing, pastors preparing for the service, or even the pastor practicing the sermon. TikToks like this can show true authenticity.
Church Advertising on TikTok
Churches have the ability to advertise on TikTok. However, it’s important to understand the strengths/weaknesses of every platform in order to align your expectations. TikTok ads can not be geo-targeted locally so they’re not as effective for event advertising. Instead, churches could consider using TikTok advertising to generally promote their church and sermon content. If your church is looking to grow its online presence through increased content views, TikTok could be one way to grow a younger audience. However, because it is relatively new, it will cost more than other similar platforms like Google and Facebook.
The Case for TikTok for Churches
The Apostle Paul was determined to do whatever it took to reach people with the truth of God’s love. As followers of Jesus, we are called to go and reach people, wherever they are. As one of the fastest-growing social media platforms on the planet, there’s no question that people today are on TikTok. We may not fully understand rapidly changing TikTok trends, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore the platform. Instead, churches should try to share the great news of God’s love on TikTok.
Let’s Chat about TikTok
We’d love to help answer your questions about TikTok for churches. Schedule an appointment today with one of the experts at Missional Marketing.