Digital Evangelism Methods Every Ministry Should Use In 2024
Here are the top 8 digital evangelism methods you should know and consider for your digital ministry in 2024 and beyond.
As more and more churches and ministries are considering incorporating digital evangelism into their outreach strategies, we must choose the right channel and medium.
A few months ago, we ran a quiz, “What’s the right digital evangelism method for me?” On our website for two weeks and here is what we discovered.
Before I talk about the results, I would like to mention that the quiz’s first question required participants to state their ideal digital evangelism method. We then asked a series of questions to determine if their ideal platform was right.
If their declared platform was not the correct one based on their answers, we then suggested the best digital evangelism methods for them and explained why.
The Quiz Results.
Q1- What is your ideal digital evangelism method? – 92% of the participants chose social media evangelism as their ideal method.
After the quiz was complete of that 92% chose social media– here are our suggested results:
- 40% – Social media evangelism
- 22% – Video evangelism
- 20% – Blog evangelism
- 10% – Email evangelism
- 8% – Podcast evangelism
Picking the right channel for you and your audience is vital to the success of your digital ministry.
The best digital evangelism method is one your audience is already using.
Here are six digital evangelism methods you should know about and consider for your ministry.
What is Digital Evangelism?
Digital Evangelism is the act of teaching and spreading the good news of the gospel through digital media by people known as digital missionaries, digital evangelists, or digital disciples.
Apart from spreading the gospel, digital evangelists also help people navigate some of life’s social, economic, and psychological issues.
Table of contents
- Social Media Evangelism
- Email Evangelism
- Video Evangelism
- Blog Evangelism
- Podcast Evangelism
- Audio Evangelism
- SMS Text Evangelism
- Social Listening Evangelism
Social Media Evangelism
Social Media Evangelism is the act of spreading the Christian gospel through digital platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other popular social media platforms.
The Social media evangelism method is the most common digital evangelism method of the six. It involves creating content to reach, connect, and engage with people on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
When using social media as your main digital evangelism method for your outreach efforts, you should remember that no one comes to the platform thinking, “Hmm, let me see what the Lord is saying today on social media.”
In fact, a social report by Global Web Index showed over 40% of internet users were more likely to use social media to connect with their friends.
The illustration below shows the top ten reasons why people use social media.
Knowing why and what people consume on social media will help you create engaging content relevant to your target audience.
One effective way to make sure that your social media ministry reaches your target audience is by creating a dedicated social media group.
Groups are a great way to find and engage with like-minded individuals, and you will be assured of great engagement and reach.
If you are thinking of using social media or are already using it for your ministry and looking for effective ways to reach the masses, we have a great article for you. Please check out – Social Media Evangelism – How To Effectively Use Social Media To Grow Your Ministry.
Email Evangelism.
Email Evangelism is the act of spreading the Christian gospel through email to people that have subscribed or given you permission to receive emails from you.
This may be surprising to you, but Email Evangelism is by far one of the best and most effective digital evangelism methods. Unfortunately, it is also the most under-utilized method in digital evangelism.
Email evangelism involves sending evangelism content to people who are willing to subscribe to receive emails from you.
One of the issues we find with traditional evangelism is that there are very little to no nurturing strategies. We are mostly concerned with the initial connection, and we leave it up to the Holy Spirit to do the rest.
However, when it comes to digital evangelism, nurturing is just as important as the initial connection. We don’t connect with someone the first time and leave the Holy Spirit to work on them.
We have created an in-depth article that will teach you everything you need to know about how to build your church email list and what to do with it when you have it.
Email evangelism is the most effective method to nurture your audience. It allows you to deepen your relations with your audience by sending them valuable personalized information and messages to help them along their Christian journey.
If you need more information about how to incorporate email evangelism into your ministry, please read “Email evangelism Growth Hacks.”
If you chose email as one of your preferred digital evangelism methods, then you should consider the following two types of email evangelism campaigns for your ministry.
Evangelism Email Newsletter
What is an evangelism email newsletter? Basically, an evangelism email newsletter is a type of email sent out by churches, ministries, or digital disciples to their subscriber list. That list should include existing members or followers that have signed up and given clear consent to receive messages from you.
Email newsletters don’t have to be original content but curated important information from across the internet that your audience cares about. It is a great way to keep your audience engaged and nurtured.
Curating, sending, and monitoring newsletters can be a lot of work and time-consuming. First, you will have to find the resource online, copy and paste the information, images, and links and finally send them to your audience.
However, there are some great tools that we used to make curating and sending newsletters a breeze. One such tool is called Curated.
Evangelism Email Campaign
An evangelism email campaign is an act of sending evangelism messages, typically to a group of people on your list using email.
When it comes to nurturing your members or audience, nothing comes close to the power of personalized emails.
You can send your audience all kinds of information, including Bible lessons, articles, resources, short sermons, and so on.
What you need to run an email evangelism campaign.
Even though running an email evangelism ministry is easy, it has so many moving parts you need to put in place before you begin.
You will need a way for people to subscribe to your newsletter. The most common way is through a capture form on your website. Once people sign up or subscribe, you will need a way to send them emails.
A regular personal email account will not work for this particular campaign. You will need email automation software that will allow you to send personalized emails based on certain criteria and segments.
If you’re ready to get started with email evangelism and looking for tools, we got you covered. Please read the 9 best free email evangelism tools for your ministry.
Video Evangelism.
Video Evangelism is a type of evangelism used by churches or evangelists to spread the gospel through video. Some common video evangelism types include live streams, Facebook Live, YouTube Live, and other video platforms.
The third method I want to discuss is Video Evangelism, digital evangelism that involves using video as a medium. The main idea is to create videos and upload them to your website or social media platforms.
Video evangelism is not new, and many ministries have used it to reach and minister to people around the world.
Video evangelism ministry appears to be easy, but that’s not the case. Like social media evangelism, one must understand how to create, distribute, and monitor video content effectively.
If you’re ready to start your video evangelism ministry, please check out “How to implement the del method for your digital ministry” to learn how to plan, build and grow your digital ministry effectively.
Content Evangelism.
Content Evangelism is the act of spreading the Christian gospel through digital media such as video, blogs, voice, etc.
When it comes to digital evangelism methods, Content Evangelism is the key instrument of digital outreach. It allows audiences and search engines like Google to find the information they need on the web.
In simple terms, content evangelism involves creating, publishing, and distributing written and visual content to your target audience.
The most common components of content evangelism are e-books, blogs, and webinars.
Content evangelism is effective because it can support the Christian journey process from the awareness stage to nurturing.
Here is a great article on why you should start a Christian blog and another to inspire and walk you through how I started my own Christian Blog.
Podcast Evangelism.
Podcast Evangelism is the act of spreading the Christian gospel through podcasts and other voice media like Clubhouse.
If you are looking for a cheap and effective way to evangelize, podcasting is the way to go.
Over the past few years, we’ve seen rapid growth in podcasting, and in a few years, it will be as good as blogging or better.
Of all the Digital Evangelism Methods mentioned above, podcasting is probably the easiest to start and run.
Even though you need some technical skills to record, edit, and upload your recordings, it is fairly easy to start.
First, you can start by using the equipment you already have, like your cellphone and a cheap $21 external mic for the iPhone or $15 for other smartphones.
Editing your podcasts is also easy and if you need to hire someone, you can do so for as little as $5 per episode of Fiverr.
Think of podcasting as digital on-demand radio that allows people to listen to their favorite show anytime, anyplace.
Podcasts are effective because people can listen in while they work or drive. That cannot be said about blogs and videos.
Social Audio Evangelism
This is the newest type of social network that you can use for evangelism. It is based on voice where people from around the world come together to talk and connect with each other.
The first of these voice-based networks was Clubhouse. It was launched in 2019 and currently has over 10 million users from around the world.
Due to Clubhouse’s success, other platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook have adopted similar functionality to their platforms.
If you want to create an online community or bible study group for your ministry, Clubhouse App is the best solution for you and the best part is that it’s free and available on iOS and Android devices.
SMS (text) Evangelism
How many unread SMS messages do you have on your phone?
Chances are you have very few compared to your email inbox.
That’s why text or SMS messaging is one of the most important digital evangelism tools for reaching out to people.
Studies show that over 70% of people read their text messages within 3 minutes of being received. When you use SMS for your evangelism, you can be assured that your message will get read.
Furthermore, when people receive a text message, they tend to open them immediately. This means that if you send a text message, you can expect to see results right away.
However, there are some things you need to know before sending texts:
Text messages have a character count limit
You can only send up to 160 characters per text message. If you exceed this limit, the recipient may not be able to read your message.
Another problem that the text character limit presents is that you have to get straight to the point and that could affect your relationship-building efforts.
However, we still recommend SMS evangelism because it’s easy for people to consume your content even when they’re in a hurry.
I hope you’ll consider using SMS evangelism to nurture and grow your ministry.
Social Listening Evangelism
One common question many digital evangelists ask is, “how and where do I find people looking for my content?”
Well, there’s a solution to that and it’s easier than you think. It’s called social listening evangelism and the good news is you can get started for free.
Here is a great article that will teach you everything you need to know about starting your own social listening evangelism campaign in no time. Please check out – Social Listening Evangelism – What It Is And How To Use It For Ministry In 2022.
Social listening evangelism is a method of connecting with people by monitoring the internet for conversations around your particular topic through a method known as social listening.
Social listening is the practice of monitoring conversations happening around you on various platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. This allows you to see what topics are trending, who is talking about them, and what they are saying.
There are so many paid social listening tools online but you can get started by using a free tool called Google Alerts.
For more advanced features, we use sprout social and other tools.
Once you set up the alerts, Google will send you a daily summary of social mentions of the topics or alerts you set up.
The alerts will give you a glimpse of what people are saying and also gives you an opportunity to reach out to them and offer your services.
I hope you can use this free tool to start monitoring the internet right away.
Which one of these Digital evangelism methods is right for my ministry?
The simple answer to this question is – to use the method that your audience is already using. If you are just starting out and don’t have an audience yet, then pick one or two where you are likely to find your target audience.
Conclusion
Choosing the right digital evangelism method for your ministry is vital to your success.
It is also important to know that you can use more than one method to maximize your reach.
Let me know in the comment which of these types you are using and how you are using them.