If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.

With so many components to Instagram and either too many cooks in the kitchen working on it or maybe only one person managing everything, it can become chaotic to say the least. 

When you aren't focused can make you feel all over the place, trying to improve everything at once, which ends up counterintuitively making progress reallyyyy slow.

Keep reading to learn 3 areas to focus on to maximize your time on Instagram, especially if you are just starting out.

Focus #1 Great Photos of Your Church Life or At Least 1 Reel Per Week

Great Photos 

I am all about reels, video, carousels, hashtags. But if we are talking in terms of focus, the foundation of Instagram is great photos of your church.

If you don’t have great photos, start here.

Many churches start with mostly photos until they have the capacity to expand to video, reels, carousels and more. 

I love this strategy because your Instagram feed can be very effective with only photos, if they really exemplify your church. 

On top of that, if you are trying to post more, posting photos is a great way to create content faster.

There are two ways to always have tons of great photos on hand. 

#1 Hire a photographer 4 times a year and use those photos the entire quarter.

#2 Teach volunteers in your church to take and edit awesome iphone photos.

A mixture of both is ideal! 

If you need help training volunteers to take photos, download this free guide: 10 Pro-Tips To Take Professional Quality Church Photos With Just Your Phone

Create 1 Reel Per Week

If you already have great photos on lock, move on to learning to create at least 1 Reel per week. 

Instagram recommends 4-7 Reels per week. Start with 1, work it into your system and go from there.

You will get faster as you practice.

Experiment with funny Reels, educational Reels and inspiring Reels. 

Dedicate 2 volunteers to making Reels.

Reels will reach a lot more people than other types of posts, which will maximize the time you spend on Instagram!

Focus #2 Captions that Add Value 

The next focus is creating captions that add value! 

Becoming a great copywriter takes practice, but it is totally worth it. 

What you say in your captions makes all the difference between people engaging or ignoring you. 

Captions also make the difference of adding value to people, or only focusing on making your church look great or focusing on what you offer instead of what they need.

The key to great captions is making sure they serve people.

Here’s a few quick rules of thumb:

• Always ask yourself what would help, inspire, educate or add value to someone. 
• Use a mix of shorter and medium length captions. 
• Make sure the first line of your caption has a strong hook, to intrigue people to keep reading. 
• Always add a Call to Action at the end to tell people how you want them to respond 
• Use short stories in your captions instead of only making announcements 

Focusing on your caption will maximize your time, because what you say determines how people respond to each post you publish.

Focus #3 Delegate Out Small Tasks to Volunteers

Last but definitely not least, delegate!

Easier said than done, I know.

You ask someone to help, give them a deadline, they don’t follow through and then it seems like it’s more work to delegate than to just do it yourself.

But if you keep doing it yourself, you’ll never maximize your time on Instagram. 

It is more than a one person job to keep it going unless you have a full time person dedicated to social media.

And even then, you could keep expanding to videographers, designers etc.

Start by delegating small manageable tasks before giving your volunteers bigger tasks to tackle.

The key here is to give clear instructions. 

Most people if given something too vague when they are just starting out on social media, will feel really stuck and not do anything.

I remember first running a couple churches Instagram accounts when I worked at a church marketing company and I was so nervous! It took me forever to think of what to say and what to post.

If you push through that and keep trying and keep learning you will get so much faster and better!

Here’s some suggestions on what to start delegating:

• Delegate Stories on Sunday: Give your volunteer a specific list of video stories to capture every Sunday (worship, kids ministry, the lobby, etc.)
• Delegate Stories at Events: Give your volunteer a specific list of videos to capture a events
• Delegate Engagement: Ask a volunteer to respond to every comment and DM with a question to keep the conversation going
• Delegate iPhone photos: Ask a volunteer to take iPhone photos at a certain event or church service 
• Delegate one post per week: Start small and delegate just one post per week that you can review once a week 

Conclusion 

If you want to boil it down to the basics to stay focused on your Instagram and maximize your time, focus on these 3 items:

Focus #1: Great Photos of Your Church Life or Reels  

Focus #2: Captions that Add Value 

Focus #3: Delegate Out Small Tasks to Volunteers