Are you a friend of Isaac?

Did you know that Isaac the Eagle (our loquacious lectern) has a Facebook page? It’s https://www.facebook.com/isaac.st.stephens. And Isaac has a page for St Stephen’s: https://www.facebook.com/StStephensMaysChapel/.This Facebook presence is the cornerstone of the parish’s publicity program using social media.

Back in the fall of 2016, instead of spending several thousands of dollars on a mailing to advertise the Cookie Walk, we spent a few hundred dollars in advertising on Facebook. Our ads were shared by dozens of people and seen by several thousand people. And we had an exceptionally good turnout.

So if the Facebook ads weren’t responsible (maybe it was a coincidence? good weather?), then at least the absence of the mailing wasn’t detrimental (and we saved a lot of money).

Since then, we’ve created Facebook Events for Epiphany Lessons & Carols and blood drives, and we’ve had full-scale campaigns (Events with multiple related boosted posts) for Garden Parties and Cookie Walks.

Our ads are targeted at people in the age range 18 to 65+ (yes, that’s an open-ended range, but that’s the way Facebook works) living within 25 miles of the following cities: Baltimore, Cockeysville, Columbia, Ellicott City, Perry Hall, Reisterstown, Timonium, Towson, and Westminster. That’s a pretty big area: it gets down to Washington, and even up into Pennsylvania.

You can help Isaac by liking and sharing his posts, advertisements, and events. Facebook looks at “organic” views—views by people who see a post because friends or friends-of-friends interacted with it—and uses that in its algorithm to decide whether or not to show a boosted post to a stranger.

The more organic views, the likelier it is that Facebook will display an ad to someone. That’s why the Cookie Walk ads were so successful: so many parishioners liked, shared, and commented on the ads. Over 100 people expressed an interest in the 2016 Cookie Walk, and almost 150 people expressed an interest in the 2018 Garden Party.

Even if not everyone who expressed an interest showed up, they at least are now aware of our parish and what we can offer, and they may show up at a later event.

There are other advantages to being a friend of Issac (or following the St Stephen’s page). Every time a post is made to the web site, a notice appears on their pages. So, for example, when the Newsletter or a sermon or a podcast is posted on the web site, you will get a notification. You can then click through to read or listen on line.

We also occasionally have Facebook Live events: we broadcast the 2018 Good Friday liturgy, and more recently, several segments of the 2018 Garden Party. These are still available on Isaac’s page.

So become a friend of Isaac’s on Facebook, and follow the Parish page. (If you need help, ask one of the internet-savvy people at church.) And when you see an event being publicized, share it with your friends. Together we can make our parish grow.