Welcome back to our TikTok series. Each week, I’ll share what content we posted, the results, and my reflections on the process.
As you can see from the image above, we had six posts that were a combination of short reels (11 seconds), longer social sermons (up to 1:04), and a carousel. Views are down drastically compared to the last two weeks, but I am still happy with the progress.
I think this is often where churches might feel discouraged and consider giving up. Seeing 250 views instead of 800 can feel disheartening. But I am committed to this 6-month journey with Pastor Travis Boyt at LifePointe. We will see this through.
Even though views are down, there are still encouraging signs:
- Increased Followers: The account has grown to 40 followers! That’s almost the size of the rural church I pastor as a bivocational pastor.
- Improved Retention: We are keeping viewers’ attention a bit longer. The first two seconds of a video are key to retention, and a couple of these videos kept 60% of watchers until the third second. This might seem minor, but it’s vital as I improve my editing skills.
- Better Captions: The caption graphics are getting better with each video.
- Enhanced Quality: LifePointe invested in a 4K camera, and the audio feed is vastly improved. This will help with retention going forward.
Followers Gained: 40 (all organic)
Total Views: 12K
Total Post Likes: 802
Tip of the Week: Don’t Give Up!
Consistency is key. This doesn’t mean posting the same type of content repeatedly and expecting better results. Instead, the more you post, the better you get at the craft, and the more opportunities you give the algorithm to learn what works. I experimented this week to improve the first three-second retention rate, and it worked! Get a little better with each post, and eventually, one will take off and reach a wider audience. Don’t give up.
Moving Forward
We haven’t had a viral post for LifePointe yet. I don’t know if we can expect millions of views from any sermon social video. We are still waiting for the first one to get over 2000 views, but it will happen eventually.
Feel free to leave tips on improving reach and ask any questions that you might have.
To learn about going viral click here.
