How to Create Shareable Content for Your Church

Today we're going to talk about how you can create shareable content for your church. Are you ready? Because it's time.

You're listening to the Church Digital Sidekick Podcast, part of the TCD Podcast Network.

Hey heroes, my name is Tom Pounder and this is the Church Digital Psychic Podcast. This is a podcast where we're ministry leaders and we talk about how you can do ministry more effectively in this very digital and online world. And today I have my friend Corey Sullivan back. He's with Rally Youth and you can check out all his links in the show notes. But we're talking about shareable content because one of the things that I love to do is I love to share content. If there's something funny, if there's something that interests me or inspires me in some way, I will share it with some of my friends and Corey's one of my friends that I share it with. And so we get on the podcast today and talk about why we share content and then what that can teach us as churches and ministry leaders in the online world, how we can create content there that is shareable for the people we are ministering to and the people in our church and our congregation. So I'm really excited to have Corey on the podcast. But before the interview starts, I do want to highlight thechurch.digital. At thechurch.digital, we have tons of coaching. We have tons of cohorts. We've tons of blogs and podcasts, all designed to help you doing digital ministry, a combination of digital and in-person, digital and online ministry, or metaverse ministry. That's right, we're tackling metaverse ministry as well at thechurch.digital. So we've got tons of content there, tons of coaching and cohorts happening, and we'd love for you to be a part of it. So if you've never checked it out, go to thechurch.digital today. All right, so we're ready to begin. Let's get into the conversation right now with Corey Sullivan. all right with me right now is corey sullivan corey how are you what's up i i'm doing fine what's up with you nothing man living the dream i feel like we haven't done this in a while i you know it's funny because every now and then i feel like we haven't done in a while then i look back i'm like oh yeah we just did it a few months ago or something like that so you are still my most reoccurring guest you know you've taken that over completely listen it's just because i'm in you know i'm in you need something you need your last minute i understand yeah i know it's like hey if if an interview cancels i call corey i'm like corey you got a minute you're like yeah let's do this so yeah let's go let's do this okay corey well before we get into what we're talking about today uh tell everyone really quick refresh anybody who's not heard from you on this podcast before who are you and what do you do

first off that's true we've been living under the rock for years and years but welcome welcome to the podcast uh my name is corey sullivan currently i help run a children's program for kids with behavioral health needs throughout the state of new york and then i also do a lot of coaching on the side of youth programs and non-profits particularly churches how do you run better systems programs how you recruit volunteers coaching parents on the age of teenagers and what that looks like and how do you help launch kids into what's next for them as they graduate high school that's great and you you blog a little bit you post on um instagram as well so man i got a toddler it's been not far between right now with that stuff but i'm doing my best i can with it tom yells at me every day like you need to do that you have a good voice you have a good you got good content to push it out there so tom usually cheers me on and yells at me for that yeah well again you know toddlers tend to mess up everything don't they i mean you know Listen, they do, but at the same time, man, I love that guy.

Yeah, yep. He is a Sullivan, that is for sure. Well, Corey, before we actually get into the topic now, now that we've done the intro, you are a Bills fan, a huge Buffalo Bills fan. You live in Rochester, New York. You grew up Bills all over. How are they going to do this year? I mean, this is right before the start of the season, so how are they going to do?

Anything less than Super Bowl champs is a disappointment. You've gotten to that point. Yeah, anything less than Super Bowl, I think. And, like, I'm a realistic Bills fan. I'm not, like, a Dallas Cowboy fan or anything like that where I think I'm going to win the Super Bowl every single year. But, you know, I'm a Bills fan. I think we have a window to win this thing, and the window is actually on the downhill right now. I think the past couple of years we're on the uphill. I think our window is starting to close in the next year or two if we can't get a Super Bowl in us in the next couple of years.

Good to know. You know, I always just like to say about the Dallas Cowboys, because I am a big Cowboys fan, is that people always make fun of us. But there's a reason. I mean, we haven't won the Super Bowl since 1996. There's a reason why people always, they're afraid of the Cowboys and afraid of what the Cowboys can do and will do. And they just, you know, it's, we're the best.

No, it's like, I say it's kind of like. Dallas Cowboys of like the 70s 80s 90s those fans are like the Patriots fans now they're just like on the bandwagon oh they're good when I was a kid so I'm there forever like I like them when I was a kid because they're good and now they're who I like

You know, don't ever lump the Cowboys in with the Patriots. Okay. They had a string and that's it. It'll go back. They're already going back to normal with what they were before Tom Brady. So, all right, let's, let's get, before we alienate all the Patriots and Boston fans of this podcast, I'm sorry.

Go bills.

So let's get into the conversation because here's the deal. We're talking about shareable content today. And we're talking about content that you would share from like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, all that stuff. And what makes people share it? And we're going to apply it into church and ministry use of what we can implement there. But to kind of start it off, Corey and I, again, we've been friends for a number of years, and we will share... tweets and Instagram posts and memes and videos all day long to each other. I open up my Instagram in the morning and Corey's already shared with me a reel or something like that. And so we want to address this. We want to first talk about what is it about content that makes us want to share it? And then how can we apply it in the churches? So, Corey, why don't you kick us off? What is it that makes you want to share content with other people?

I think the number one thing for me is the idea of relevancy. There's real world conversations that have been happening in person to person with me and you over the phone. or like conversations at a party or hanging out with some friends, right? And something gets, a topic gets brought up. And then for me, sharing content comes back to relevancy of what's happening in other people's lives, right? For instance, one of the kids that I helped mentor, he was wondering about, hey, what's this next stage of life look like for me? What kind of career do I want? And he wasn't sure, but he has a lot of interests and passions. So I sent him a few different like, job type posts on Instagram that help kind of maybe just share what could be right out there for them for some content. Right. Sometimes it's sharing something funny or like right now, a lot of TV shows drive a lot of content. Right. So I'm often going back to some of that with some of my friends. So I think the relevancy of our relationships helps drive whether content is shareable

to the people in my network and the people that i go do life with yeah that's that's great um it is it's gotta be really relevant i mean again if it's something that i'm scrolling through again because we're always scrolling on our phones if if it catches my attention uh and it makes me feel like it's relevant to my life or someone else's life i think that is really important and that's that's one of the things i'll just kind of piggyback on it's got to catch your attention In order for it to be shareable, you have to, again, because we're constantly scrolling all the time. I mean, my Instagram feed is full. I hate it. It's just full of recommended posts and all that kind of stuff now. And I'm trying to change that. But the reality is that there are some posts that immediately grab my attention. Maybe it's because of an image, or maybe it's because of a video that I quickly see for a second that I'm like, ooh, I want to see this a little bit more. but it's got to be attention grabbing for me to get it and then if it grabs my attention then i might be like oh i i got to share this with a friend of mine yeah i i think another one for me and i was going to say like humor but i wanted to expand that a little bit more

to be it's almost like an extension of your personality right an extension of like how you interact with people is often the content you share like for me i like i i love making people laugh and using jokes and humor so that tends to point me to the content that's going to make my friends laugh That's going to like that made me laugh that I want to share because it was funny. So I think humor is a major one, right? Like just in general to make people laugh and find some joy in content. But I do think it is an extension of our personality. So we're more likely to share things that we're aligned with, whether it's our beliefs or our values or whether it's our opinions on things, we're more likely to share it as it's a reflection of ourselves. and what we're doing um i think everyone has an audience right and who you're sharing to um but i do think you know out of that you know what i wanted to say is like humor plays a big role into that right why because there's enough seriousness some days right and i think these instagram things tick tock these videos allow us a moment of experiencing the real world as an exaggeration to find humor in. I think of some of the guys who I follow who are dads, they make TikTok reels about what the experience is like to be a dad or to be a husband. And these are real world scenarios, but then they find humor in it and they find an exaggeration point in it to make that content. And that's what's shareable for me and what I find joy in to share to other people.

Yeah, well, again, mine will then piggyback right off of that because I like that there's a gif out there that's like, it's funny because it's true. Again, these things that are funny are things that I can relate to. uh and because it's true and so again like you just talked about so i'm talking about relatable you know it's got to grab someone's attention it's got to be funny but it's got to be something that i can personally relate to and again you're talking about two dads right here i have four daughters you have one son you know you might have more down the road i'm done having kids but the reality is that i i can relate to a lot of these dad things And so sharing content that is relatable, that dads can laugh at and find funny is great. Because again, we like to laugh at things that we can all relate to, even if it's that, ooh, that's a little awkward kind of deal. But it is, if it makes you laugh.

I'm still laughing. I'm still laughing. I'm still laughing.

Well, yeah, I know. That's why you send me that stuff, because you still laugh and then I tend to laugh as well. So humor and being relatable are really good points as well. What else do you have?

i think one of the the last things i'm thinking about is just the idea that i can i can share content on a personal level right like what i mean by that is what i share with you tom is different content than what i share with my wife right or what i share with her is different than when i share with my siblings right and so i can have these uh conversations going in a digital space that foster relationships that grow us closer together and that and in the end find that humor and find that relevancy and connection um in something right because now i'm sending a post i'm sending a meme i'm sending a gift whatever it is and then that moment is we're both sharing a laughable or relevant experience um and we're connecting right there's a connection so i love the fact that what makes content shareable for me is my ability to share that to people in a personal way right even just like a quick direct message to them um or whatever it is but i i can share it to one person because i'm thinking about them and i want them to know that i'm thinking about them in one way or another right that it's different on what i'm trying to send

Yeah, again, you know, relationships have many forms, you know, and whatnot, and the friendships are developed and you go through a lot of different things. And when you see something that makes you think of somebody else, you want to share that. And I actually, that's one of the things I had as well, is that if I scroll through something that makes me think of you, Corey, I'm going to send it to you. Or it makes me think of another friend of mine, I'm going to send it to you. So it was something that makes me think of them. But the other thing, the kind of final thing I have for me, is that is if it actually just makes me think in general like i i'm kind of like a little bit of a nerd in some ways like i love to see the weird like um the the the graphs that like there are like these certain videos that show um uh like a smartphone sales over the years or phone sales over the years and it kind of goes through and it has nice little graphing and i i'm doing a really bad job of explaining what it is no i get it it's like facts it's things and it's learning experiences yeah and so whether it's like a video or whether it's something like a did you know uh i always just find those really interesting i'm like huh that's cool and then some of those things i'll really send it on not just to my friends but like to my daughters as well and i'll be like hey this is was kind of an interesting fact i also love the things that again teach you things that you didn't know like tick tock is really good at this about giving you different hacks that you can learn um whether it's for your smartphone or whether it's for your house or i again my i have older girls and you know i like to send them safety tips and so people who are teaching me things that i can pass it on to others is really important

Yeah, I think we're hitting on this point just collectively in all this time that, you know, the stuff, the content we share is an extension of our relationships, right? Like, this is what I think that you drive in all avenues of you, right? You love this digital stuff. And here's why is because you love it because it helps relationships flourish in an unexplored and in a new place, right? In a new setting, right? Because the content we're sharing is just an extension of the relationships that we're having with people. right uh um with that so i think it's in all those things you see it like it's the connection it's the people we're not just sharing it to dead space right we're sharing it with a real person on the other line for one reason or another yeah

Okay, so we talked about why we like to share things, and I'm sure there's things that we missed out. So if you're listening to this podcast on the video or audio, definitely comment on it and tell us why you share. But also, now let's get into the point of what can churches do? Okay, so if you're thinking about making content, how can you apply this into what you do on social media or with digital and online ministry? And so, again, I just think... One of the things that I think, and I'll start this off and I'll hand it back over to you, Corey, is that I really feel like we want to create shareable content. And shareable content is not information about the church service or whatnot. They want to be encouraged. They want to be inspired when they're on social media. Oh, I believe that people want to be encouraged and inspired. So I think from a ministry perspective. are we sharing content that is encouraging and inspiring people in their faith and in their life if are we giving them information that they can grow in their relationship with the lord from and if we're not then i don't think again we shouldn't be surprised that people aren't sharing our content so we got to be encouraging inspiring them in their faith that's something that they can take away what what else would you add to that cord

we're really just taking those original points we made and applying them to church right and into that into that context right is what you're sharing relatable to them doesn't meet people in their day-to-day life right is it is there a separation between church content and real content and here's the truth there should not be there shouldn't be if if we as the church as we as christians are saying you know we're going to the ends of the earth right we're trying to help show people the love of christ then there shouldn't be a separation there right like our church content should be an extension of the relationships that already exist right so is what we're posting and sharing relatable and helping our families helping our our families be better families our kids be better kids our our parents be better parents is that finding the humor and the fun in things right because you know what you're not going to share is you're not going to share church content that creates division not going to create church content um that drives a wedge between relationships and people right but you're going to share things and that has common ground in um and i so i think those two big things is it relatable is it meeting people where they are are you finding the humor in that as well and finding the ability to do that

Yeah, I think the humor aspect is something I think some people are a little bit afraid to share. Some churches are afraid to share. But it talks about the joy of the Lord and that we should have joy in the Lord and then that there is fun involved in it. So not all your social media posts need to be serious. or involving scripture or involving a sermon notes or anything like that have fun you know especially if that's part of your culture at your church you know adam mclaughlin talks about a lot all the time on social media is like you know embrace your culture and who you are as a church and put that information out there on social media if you want people to share about it embrace your culture but again i i think joy and fun is a part of of what jesus did and what uh we as believers can do as well and so let's share some stuff but again it's also about the relatable stuff like you said corey you know share some dad hacks some mom hacks you know laugh at yourself i think you know i think a lot of times we're afraid to laugh at ourselves because we have to be serious and all that stuff but i love just laughing at myself you and i corey we laugh at ourselves all the time because we're stupid we're silly and all that kind of stuff but but that That creates an element where people feel like we're relatable and we're approachable. They're not afraid to come up and talk to us when they see us in person, even if they see us doing something stupid or silly on social media.

I would say, too, with that, our churches should, at times, be part of the culture. And in this sense, I mean, look at what... make social media successful right be a student of the game if you would right like what makes social media and one of the things i think about too is like how do we how do you use strategies like the hashtags you're utilizing and the marketing trends you're using right like be a student of that stuff to help drive some of that content and get more attraction we need to be but at the same time like the number one the thing that jumps out at me is like the time right like social media works because it's snapshots it's moments it's seven second video vines right it's 30 second you know it's these just quick things and what and if we start pushing that i think then are we engaging the audience i think there's a realm right and there's a content but again be the student of your audience be the student of the relevancy that you're going on and if you see your trends are wait like we're getting more engagement for 10 seconds 15 second videos do more of that don't do more 10 minute videos yeah right if you're seeing more your devotionals and the content you're putting out that's five to ten minutes is actually what people are enjoying more put more of that content out right and so being a student of that

Did you just make a reference to vines? Yes. I mean, gosh, man, you, you really are like, that's old. That's really old school.

I love, I love, I love the vine era.

I never got that era. I mean, I just never got the seven second videos or whatever. I was like, how can you really communicate anything?

It was all shock value, right? It was like four seconds and then a quick turnaround and that was done.

Yeah. all right well kind of as we're getting close to wrap up here i do want to just say one thing again these you want to create shareable content because ultimately this can be an evangelical or an outreach opportunity for people at your church think about it if i create a dad hack and share it to a friend of mine who's not a believer then that person gets an opportunity to say oh my this church created this dad hack that's pretty cool i never realized that and it starts in an introduction to your church and so it might be an introduction to the church it might be an introduction to who jesus is so again you're creating these contents not necessarily to go viral but just to create opportunities for the people in your church to share the content with other people who may not know who Jesus is or know about your church. And it's a good outreach opportunity for your church.

Yeah, I think it's a new avenue to the front door. Yeah. Right? It's a new way to get people to connect and feel like they belong. And I'm excited as you lead out this whole thing in all your spaces, Tom, of helping other churches figure that out and how can they do it better.

Yeah. Well, thanks. I'm always trying to learn. That's the thing, again. I always just want to learn. I love how you said, too, a few minutes ago, Corey, that be a student of it. Figure out what's working. If your five-minute devotionals or 10-minute devotionals are not getting the numbers it is, shorten it up to a minute devotional. I mean, our church has had tremendous success this past summer. um doing shorts tick tock reels well tick tocks and reels we've had tremendous success with that all because we're shortening our devotionals to what people were really into and it's it's changed what we do now so yeah all right corey well thanks as always for uh joining me if people want to connect with you what's the best place

uh www.rallyyouth.com is our site we got a lot of free content out there and resources and then we're really helping to find out ways for youth to thrive whether that's in their schools and their situations and their families how can we connect and coach kids to be the best version of themselves

Yeah, Corey's great. And he's happy to talk with you, talk with kids. He does a lot of coaching like that and he's great. So definitely go to rallyyouth.com. I'll have that in the show notes and you can find him on social media eventually. I'll include his.

It's like slow, man, man. I like, here's my one thing that I'm going to, I'm challenging myself. I'll share this with other people who might need it too. It's like, I'm trying to make goals about it. I'm trying to make. because life is busy and it's in a busy season, but can I put better goals around it and better systems to help me? Because I want to, that's what I want, you know what I mean?

Yeah, you're great, man.

All right. Thanks, Tom.

I'll talk to you soon.

All right. See you. Bye.

All right. So what did you think of the interview? What did you think of what Corey and I shared? What stood out to you? But also, more importantly, what is it about content that makes you want to share it to other people? And what can that teach the church? I would love to hear your thoughts on it. Definitely put in the comment section below. or you can hit me up on Twitter at TAPounder. I would love for us to continue this conversation online so we can create more shareable content so that more people can hear about Christ and more people can hear about our church. So do that today, and let's continue this conversation online some more. All right, heroes, well, that wraps it up for another episode of the Church Digital Psychic Podcast. Thanks so much for being here. As always, you can subscribe to this on YouTube. It's on iTunes. It's on Spotify. It's at thechurch.digital.com. It's all different places you can find it. But look for it there and subscribe to it so you can keep on getting these interviews every time they come out. So we'd love for you to do that. All right, heroes. Well, I hope you have a great rest of your day. Until next time, have a great one.