Cultivating Social Media Relationships

Joni and Friends’ focus on the ministry of social media

In February 2023, Joni and Friends posted a video that unexpectedly went viral. Our marketing team had been active on TikTok for about three months, hoping to use this newer platform to increase brand awareness and cultivate a younger audience.

The content we posted was provided by a staff member serving at our International Family Retreat in Uganda. She had taken a video of Christine, a Ugandan woman in her forties who lives with significant physical disabilities. At our retreat, Christine let out a joyful squeal as she was lovingly dipped in a pool for the first time and experienced the sensation of cool water.

This 10-second video exploded on TikTok, then on Instagram, then on Facebook. Christine captured not only the hearts of our Joni and Friends community, but of brand-new audiences as well! This single video reached over 100 million video views across three platforms.

What’s the Secret?

So, what is the secret to a viral video that grows your audience and ministry support?

We wish we could share the silver bullet for social media growth (hint, it doesn’t exist), or how to replicate the success we saw with Christine’s video on every post. But each platform, whether TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook, has its own game – changing algorithms and native features – and you must play to see the results. This can feel like an elusive chase that is continually evolving for every channel. But we’ve found that there is a commonality between all our social media platforms as we look to grow and steward our communities.

Behind every like, comment, and share is a person with an individual story.

That is, behind every like, comment, and share is a person with an individual story. And to reach the number of followers and ministry supporters we long to steward, we must first see the people behind the data and focus on cultivating relationships with those people.

A Big Shift

When Joni and Friends first launched our ministry Facebook page in 2010, the goal was to add another fundraising arrow to our quiver. We saw a lot of early organic growth as we shared ministry news, events, and devotional content. It was exciting to gain momentum and watch our audience start to respond and grow, but it was more about promoting the ministry than connecting with people.

Then accelerated growth came, starting in 2019 when Joni and Friends made a big shift with a ministry rebrand. As a legacy ministry celebrating a 40th anniversary at that time, we tightened our visuals and messaging and aligned all programs and communications with a clear who we are. With this shift, we also began to focus more on the “Friends” in “Joni and Friends,” our community.

Instead of first considering how we can reach constituents with our ministry news and important support opportunities, we focused on the experience our “Friends” had with Joni and Friends at every ministry touchpoint. Was the experience on social media the same as in print, on the phone, or at an event? Would a constituent recognize Joni and Friends on any channel, at any point in their journey?

The Ministry of Social Media

Instead of looking to communicate about the ministry, we focused on the needs of our audience and what they were telling us. We began to listen more to what they were saying through the qualitative and quantitative responses.

We became more intentional about cultivating our community than hitting a revenue or recruiting number. Just as we minister to donors and volunteers over the phone or through mail or email, we saw a new opportunity to make relational deposits in our community on social media. Desiring to cultivate each follower as we would any other supporter, we even created a dedicated role to respond to our social media comments and messages. If we wouldn’t leave a phone message or email unreturned, shouldn’t we also respond to our social media engagements? The only way to cultivate authentic relationships with our audience is to communicate with them.

With this shift in perspective and relational focus on our “ministry of social media,” we’ve seen greater and faster growth in followers, engagement, support, and opportunities for videos to go viral and reach new audiences!

“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” (1 Thess. 5:11)

A Consistent Message

So, what is the first step you can take in building your community and connecting the hearts of supporters to your ministry work? At Joni and Friends, we had to first identify clearly who we are, and ensure it was the same across channels and experiences.

Our ministry shares hope through hardship. We are gospel focused, relational, compassionate, and high touch. We see everyone as made in the image of God.

So, whether it’s a Joni Eareckson Tada quote encouraging Instagram followers with God’s promises for those who suffer or a TikTok video of Christine joyfully experiencing the pool for the first time, our social media content is always centered on hope. And we don’t water down the gospel or shy away from talking about Jesus to potentially reach a wider audience. We stay true to who we are as a ministry and as a brand. The gospel is front and center because that’s who we are and the purpose for everything we do.

High Touch Relationships

We are always relational. Of course, we automate where we can, but even on social media, Joni and Friends is high touch because that’s part of our culture. Our investment in relationships – responding to comments and praying for our audience – has paid dividends in connecting supporters and soon-to-be supporters to our vision and mission.

We are always relational.

Once you know who you are and have clearly defined the experience of your ministry, it’s time to focus on the needs of your audience. Cultivating relationships on social media means that instead of asking, “How can we better engage or supporters?” we ask, “What do we want our ‘Friends’ to experience? How can we impact each person’s social media scroll? Where can we add value for them?”

And what a privilege it is! If you are growing an audience on social media, you have an opportunity to cultivate those God has entrusted to you. Our followers aren’t just numbers. They are people – a gift that needs to be stewarded well.

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” 1 Pet. 4:8

And because it’s all about cultivating relationships, it’s important to keep social media “social.” We must make relational deposits with our audience before we earn the right to make an ask.

Care for Your Audience

At Joni and Friends, we don’t engage with our audiences simply as a revenue stream. We care for them and add value to their social scroll through our content for two reasons: One, we’re called to as followers of Jesus. And two, we know we are building loyalty with an audience that’s paying attention.

At Joni and Friends, we don’t engage with our audiences simply as a revenue stream.

They are highly engaged! And a loyal and engaged audience will show up for your organization in many ways. Yes, there is the potential for them to become generous donors (and we have seen this), but they are also your brand ambassadors, volunteers, and prayer warriors. And if you steward them well, they will multiply.

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Amy Hurtado serves as Vice President of Marketing at Joni and Friends, leading marketing and creative teams in strategic communications and engagement strategies. Hallie Gilmore serves as Director of Digital Experience & Content Strategy, directing digital transformation efforts that connect mission to message.