What is the best way to increase the profile of your youth ministry facebook page?
That is the question that a lot of youth workers are asking. How can we engage student online, and on facebook. I know that facebook is slowly dying (or at least all the reports/infographics say that!), but my intern and I stumbled across the simplest way to get tons of people to engage with your facebook page. It took almost no money, and a few hours to setup, get supplies, but it brought people to our facebook page.
Last spring we decided it would be a great idea to set up a photo booth, and take photos for a youth night. The response was crazy. Everyone made the photos that we took that night as their profile pictures on facebook. It was a success, and we started to plan how to make it better the next time.
On our kickoff night this past September we created a duck dynasty photo booth, and it was a hit. It took a facebook page with 122 likes to reach over 1,400 people. It is awesome to know that all the students that come out to our youth group were sharing the images with friends, and family. It also created a buzz in the community about what is happening in my youth ministry. We are going to do this a few times a year, usually at our big events!
Have you ever done a photo booth? It is relatively easy to build/setup. Here are a few tips.
Here is how you can create a duck dynasty photo booth this week!
1. Get a camouflage backdrop. We just tacked it to the wall, but if you can’t do that here is a link on how to build a custom backdrop stand. The stand will set you back $10 or so, but you will have it for ever.
2. Get a decent camera. Honestly, if you have someone with an iPhone 5, that will do. We have someone with Nikon d800 and with a pro flash, so that the photos turn out really nice. Test the photos first!
3. Purchase and print off the duck dynasty cutouts. You can purchase them here. You could make your own like us, but buying a cutout is pretty easy.
4. Post all the photos on your facebook page, and get everyone to tag people. It is amazing how quickly this explodes a facebook page. We will still get people liking photos a year later. This is one simple and effective way to blow up your facebook page.
What are you waiting for? Create this today. Your students will love it. We would love to see what you did with your photo booth. Either leave a comment below, or share an image on our facebook page of what you did.
