[Question] Should you be an early adopter or a cautious watcher on social media?

Hello and welcome to the #AskNatchi Show. I’m Natchi Lazarus. Today, we are talking about whether you should be an early adopter or you should wait and watch when a new announcement is made, or a new product is released, or a new feature is released in social media. For example, Instagram Reels was just released a few days ago around the globe. So should you just jump in as a ministry or a church or should you be a little bit cautious and see how it goes (and what happens to TikTok) and then kind of make a decision? Well, it is an interesting question. It’s a question that really is based on the culture or the outlook of your ministry.

Be adventurous and try something new.

But let me tell you this. I am a big believer in trying something out when it comes out as soon as possible. Now, that ‘as soon as’ possible might vary between days and weeks and months, depending on who you are. But I would say try to have that culture of being curious. That is something that will really help you in social media and the digital space, because this is an innovative space. You have to have this attitude of trying something, jumping into something, being adventurous because guess what, the first mover always has an advantage. And what could go wrong? You jump in, you do something wrong. You can always delete it. You can always get out. You can always tell people, “Yeah I was trying something and it didn’t go well”. That’s fine. And people understand that.

If it works well, you would have found a new way to serve people.

But what is more important is if it works well, then it helps you build your ministry and do something impactful for the kingdom. We are all in ministry. We are here to serve people and people are out there using it (social media). For example, Instagram Reels, millions of people use Instagram, and Reels is a new format. Now, whether it is going to work or not work, I don’t know. But if it’s going to help people and if I have a message that is relevant for that particular feature, and if my ministry goals, and branding, and everything aligns with that format, then why not? Why should I stop myself from not trying it out? I highly recommend you have that attitude of being adventurous, being curious and trying something without worrying about it too much or overthinking about “what’s going to happen? what if I fail?” that kind of thing. Ok? Be inquisitive and go try. That’s what I would say. But I also have a couple of practical strategies for you when you try it.

Practical Tip #1 – Try it with your first-circle existing audience.

First of all, try it with your first set of audience. I always talk about two sets of audiences, right? If you heard me before, you know, I talk about ‘existing’ audience, and ‘extended’ audience, two types of audience on social media. Existing audience are people like your church members, people who are followers, your donors, people who know you and you are comfortable with them. Try it with them, because they are more forgiving and they also give you honest feedback. So try it with them. That is the strategy.

Practical Tip #2 – Have a trial period and assess progress at the end of it

Number two is have a period in which you’re going to try it. Set yourself a period – you could say I will try it for 3 months or 8 months. I would say, give it at least a few months. Don’t keep it too short, because sometimes things change in a period of time. So give it a few months and see how it works. But be consistent about it and keep pushing it for that period of time.

Practical Tip #3 – Take extra effort for the special needs of whatever you are trying out

The third is, try to create content that is relevant for that particular feature or an app or whatever you’re trying out, create content, and customize it for that platform. Because many times I see when people try something new, they just pick something up that they already have and try to throw it in. It may not work. For example, again in Instagram Reels. You can’t take a YouTube video and put it on Reels. Probably won’t work because it is a completely different TikTok type of thing. So you have to customize for it. Take a little bit of effort to do that. And with these tips, I’m sure you will be successful in anything that you do. And even if you’re not, it’s ok, at least you tried it and it didn’t work. Don’t worry about it.

All right, I’ll see you next week with another answer to another question. Until then stay connected, stay blessed. If you have any questions related to digital or social media, do send it to me. God bless you. Take care. Bye.