Handbook
This handbook documents how we approach digital communications at Dalton First. It covers the platforms we use, the decisions behind our strategy, and the workflows that keep things consistent. It will grow. When we learn something new, we add it. When something stops working, we update it.
How to use this document
Use the sidebar to jump directly to the chapter or section you need. Each chapter is self-contained. If you're new to the team, start with Chapter 01 for the big picture, then move into the platform-specific chapters that apply to your role.
If something is outdated or missing, flag it to Mat. This handbook only stays useful if it stays accurate.
As of May 2026, our three active livestream platforms each reach roughly 30 live viewers per Sunday service. Here is what those numbers actually mean.
| Platform | Live Viewers | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Subsplash | ~30 | Highest quality (1080p). Most committed online audience. |
| Facebook Live | ~30 | 1-minute view metric. Best organic reach potential. |
| YouTube Live | ~30 | Low discovery. Algorithm penalizes low-engagement streams. |
| Total Raw Views | ~90 | |
| Est. Actual Viewers (×1.7) | ~153 | Industry multiplier accounting for multiple viewers per device. |
The bigger picture
Combined with 180-200 weekly in-person attendance, our total weekly reach is estimated at 330-350 people. That is a meaningful number for a congregation our size, and it is the number we are working to grow thoughtfully.
Every platform does not deserve equal energy. Here is how we rank them and why.
| # | Platform | Priority | Strategy |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Subsplash | Primary | Home base. Full quality. Our real online congregation. Invest here first. |
| 2 | YouTube | Opportunity | Stop livestreaming. Go dark until intentional clip content is ready. |
| 3 | Maintain | Keep the restream at zero extra effort. Do not chase the algorithm. |
This distinction changes everything about how we should use it.
The Problem
YouTube rewards click-through rate, average view duration, and engagement. Low-performing livestreams actively signal to the algorithm that your channel is not worth recommending. They work against you, not just sit neutral.
The Fix
Make all existing livestreams and full services unlisted, or stop the YouTube restream entirely. Subsplash is a better archive. Clearing the channel of low-performance signals protects future content.
The Opportunity
A 30-45 second clip titled "What do you do when you feel completely alone?" answers a real search. A Sunday service title does not. Even one strong clip per month beats twelve low-performing livestreams.
You will see this number referenced across our analytics reporting. Here is what it means and how to use it honestly.
Use raw numbers internally. Always.
The 1.7 multiplier is a widely used church metric that accounts for multiple people watching on a single device. It is not an official industry standard. Some churches use 1.4, others use 2.0 or higher. Lifeway Research recommends 2.5 (the national average household size).
Our recommendation: use raw numbers for internal decision-making. Lead with honesty. The multiplier can be noted as context when sharing reach with the congregation or leadership, but it should never be the headline number.
Fall 2026
Facebook now behaves like TikTok. It pushes content to strangers first, then to followers. That changes everything about what we post and why.
"The Star Wars Reel did not succeed because we planned it perfectly. It succeeded because it was human, surprising, and shareable - exactly what the new algorithm rewards."
Six months of posts reveal a clear pattern. Three days carry our entire weekly performance. Two days actively waste our effort.
Monday Is Our Most Consistent Day
The weekly events carousel performs reliably every Monday. It is information people are already looking for. Keep it. Protect it. Let Kate own it fully.
Wednesday Is Our Hidden Weapon
Our second-best average reach. When Wonderful Wednesday is running and we post real relational content, Wednesday competes with our best Sunday posts.
Sunday Numbers Are Misleading
Sunday reach is inflated by our Facebook livestream. What looks like content engagement is largely passive viewership. Consider treating Facebook as a pure content and discovery platform instead.
Right now we are asking one Page to serve two completely different audiences at the same time. It is time to separate those jobs intentionally.
Discovery Engine for Unchurched Families
Reels, video moments, post-event photo recaps, and human stories that earn a watch from someone who has never heard of Dalton First. Our goal is reaching parents ages 28-42 within 10 miles of Dalton who are not connected to a church.
- Authentic, human, shareable video moments
- Post-event photo recaps - our highest organic reach format
- Story-first captions, never logistics-first
- One boosted Reel per month on best-performing organic content
Congregation Connection Hub
A private or closed Dalton First Facebook Group serves our existing congregation with logistical, relational, and prayer content they want. Groups reach 20-40% of members versus 1-6% for Pages. This frees the Page to focus entirely on outreach.
- Moderated by a designated volunteer (to be confirmed)
- Prayer requests, weekly updates, behind-the-scenes
- Member milestones and community announcements
- Launch target: September 2026 alongside fall series
Why the Facebook Group changes everything
Right now, every post has to serve two masters: the unchurched family scrolling past us and the longtime member looking for Sunday details. That tension waters down both. A Group gives our congregation a home. The Page becomes a front door. Both work better when they have a single, clear job.
Groups reach 20-40% of members · Pages reach 1-6% of followersA non-negotiable three-day spine with two flexible support days. Fridays and Saturdays are eliminated from regular rotation.
Exception: Tier 1 event countdown only.
Exception: Tier 1 service reminder only.
Tuesday and Thursday are optional. Only post when there is genuine content worth the post. The three anchor days are non-negotiable.
The Star Wars Reel worked because it was unexpected, human, and genuinely interesting to someone who had never heard of us. That is the formula - not the content, the formula.
The Organ/Piano Star Wars Reel
Our highest-performing piece of content ever. Unexpected talent + recognizable cultural moment + genuine human joy. Facebook pushed it to people who had never seen our Page.
Kate's Worship Reel
Real moment, real emotion, captured naturally. 1,031 reach on its first attempt. Authentic performance content from our own people outperforms anything we could produce with more effort and less authenticity.
Behind the Scenes: Sunday Setup
30 seconds of what happens before the doors open. The band running through a song, the team arranging chairs. People are curious about what a church actually looks and feels like.
One Question, One Answer
A staff member or congregation person on camera answering one honest question about faith. 20-30 seconds. No script. The vulnerability is the point.
Dalton Kids Moment
A candid moment from Dalton Kids. Families with young children are our primary growth target. Show them their kids belong here too.
Post-Event Recap Reel
10-15 quick clips from an event stitched together. Our highest-reach static posts are already post-event photo recaps. The same content as a Reel will go further.
The Reel Formula (Based on Our Own Data)
- Real people from our congregation - not staged, not scripted
- Something a stranger would find genuinely interesting, surprising, or moving
- 30-60 seconds maximum - hook in the first 3 seconds or it is already over
- Captions that do not explain the video - let the moment speak
- No logo intro, no branded lower thirds, no announcement overlay - those kill watch time
- Cross-post to Instagram Reels immediately - same file, same caption
We do not need a big ad budget. We need a disciplined one. Here is how to get maximum reach from what we are already spending - plus one small addition that changes the math.
| Event / Purpose | Budget | Duration | Target Audience | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christmas Eve Services | $100 | 7 days before | All ages, 10mi radius of 30720 | Video invite |
| Easter Services | $100 | 7 days before | All ages, 10mi radius of 30720 | Video invite |
| Fall Festival / Easter Egg Chase | $100 each | 7 days before | Families with children, 10mi radius | Event promo |
| Monthly Best Reel Boost New | $15-20/mo | 5-7 days after organic post | Parents 28-42, 10mi radius, no church engagement | Reel (already organic) |
The monthly Reel boost adds roughly $180/year to our current annual spend. Boosting content that already has organic engagement is significantly more efficient than boosting cold content - Facebook's algorithm treats organic traction as proof the content is worth showing more people, which lowers your cost per result.
Three numbers we are watching. If we hit these by December 31, the strategy is working.
- Identify a Kate replacement photographer by July 15 - shadow schedule begins immediately
- Post first intentional Wednesday Reel before end of June - use an existing Sunday moment if needed
- Discuss livestream consolidation as a team - should Facebook stop being a primary broadcast destination?
- Identify a Facebook Group moderator volunteer - Group launches September with fall series
- Add monthly $15-20 Reel boost to ad calendar - starting with first strong Reel of fall
- Eliminate Friday/Saturday posting from regular rotation - effective immediately
- Brief the team on the two-lane platform strategy - Page for discovery, Group for congregation
Upload Workflow
Subsplash and YouTube serve completely different people. The moment we treat them the same is the moment both get worse at their job.
"The edited sermon is the product. The full service is the archive. Everything else follows from that."
Subsplash
- Where our congregation watches and re-watches sermons
- Edited message + full service archives by date
- Connected to Church Center app and website
- Organized by series - members browse by name
- Analytics reflect real congregational engagement
YouTube
- Where a stranger with a question finds a sermon
- Edited message only - no full services
- Standalone, algorithm-driven, no app required
- Organized by felt-need questions, not series names
- Every field is an SEO decision, not a label
Clean library structure means your congregation always finds the right version, and your analytics always tell the truth.
Why the edited sermon gets its own analytics
When you replace a raw livestream with the cut version in the same record, the analytics from the unedited version contaminate your data. Someone watching 45 minutes of a 70-minute service skews engagement numbers in ways that do not reflect real message retention. The edited sermon starting fresh in its own library gives you clean, meaningful data - every view and every minute watched tells you something true.
Archive libraries need zero promotion energy - they are organized storage, not discovery toolsYouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world. Google owns both. Every upload field affects whether a stranger finds this sermon when they type a question into either one.
The title must answer a question real people are already typing into YouTube or Google. The moment you put "Genesis 3" or a series name in the title, you have signaled that this content is for people who already know the Bible and already know your church. The title is your chance to reach everyone else.
- Questions God Asks Us - Week 1
- What Does God Ask When We're Lost? | Genesis 3
- Dalton First UMC | June 15, 2026
- Sunday Morning Message
- What Does God Ask When We're Lost?
- Why Does God Ask Us Questions?
- How Do You Trust God When Life Falls Apart?
- What Does the Bible Say About Feeling Forgotten?
- Answer the human question the sermon speaks to - not the internal sermon title
- No scripture references, series names, dates, or church name in the title
- Keep it under 60 characters - longer titles get cut off in search results
- Front-load the question - the most searchable words go first
- Scripture references, the series name, and the church name all go in the description
The thumbnail and title work as a pair. If the title asks "What Does God Ask When We're Lost?" - the thumbnail should hint toward the answer in a way that makes someone need to click. "He already knows where you are" creates that tension. The moment you resolve the question on the thumbnail, the reason to click disappears.
- Use the sermon series Canva graphic as the visual base for series consistency
- Add a short phrase that hints at the answer - a tease, not a summary
- Example: Title is "What Does God Ask When We're Lost?" → Thumbnail text: "He already knows where you are"
- Avoid: church logo only, date text, generic sanctuary photo, blank series graphic with no tension
- Minimum 1280 x 720 px - design at this size in Canva
- Consistent visual style across the series builds channel recognition over time
Everything that would make the title feel churchy belongs in the description - where it helps with indexing without narrowing the audience. Do not leave this blank or minimal. It is free SEO real estate.
- Lines 1-2: What this message is about - 1-2 sentences, conversational, written for someone with no church background
- Line 3: blank
- Line 4: Scripture: [Full reference - e.g., Genesis 3:1-9]
- Line 5: Series: Questions God Asks Us (Week 1 of 6)
- Line 6: blank
- Line 7: Part of the [Series Name] series at Dalton First United Methodist Church in Dalton, GA.
- Line 8: blank
- Line 9: Watch more sermons: [Subsplash link]
- Line 10: Visit us at daltonfumc.com | Services at 9:30 AM and 11:00 AM every Sunday
- Lines 11+: 4-6 hashtags mixing felt-need and faith topics: #Faith #BibleStudy #ChristianLiving #WhenYouFeelLost
When Google surfaces a YouTube video in search results, it often pulls a specific chapter timestamp directly alongside the result. That means someone could land at exactly the moment that answers their question - 9 minutes into a 40-minute sermon - without ever clicking from the beginning. A chapter labeled "What to Do When You Feel Like God Has Forgotten You" will get surfaced by Google. A chapter labeled "Main Message" never will.
- Every chapter label should be a phrase someone might actually search on Google or YouTube
- Aim for 4-7 chapters per message - enough to give Google multiple entry points
- The first timestamp must be 0:00 or YouTube will not activate chapters
- Format: each timestamp on its own line in the description
- Chapter markers also generate thumbnail previews inside the video player - they improve watch time
- Core tags every upload: sermon, Bible study, Christian message, church online, Dalton Georgia
- Series tags: repeat the series name and key topic words from each message
- Felt-need tags: the life-situation this message speaks to - feeling lost, faith doubt, God's presence, purpose, identity
- 8-12 tags is enough - do not stuff
- Create the series playlist before the first upload goes live - not after
- Playlist title: match the series name exactly as it appears on Subsplash
- Playlist description: 2-3 sentences on what the series is about, written for someone outside the church
- Set visibility to Public
- Order videos oldest-first so autoplay follows the series arc naturally
The full workflow from raw livestream to both platforms live. Same file, different packaging.
| # | When | Action | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sunday - same day | Save full livestream to the correct archive library in Subsplash (Traditional or Modern, by date) | Subsplash |
| 2 | Sunday evening | Edit message: trim announcements, intro, and closing - target 30-45 minutes | Editor |
| 3 | Sunday evening | Export edited message file and write the chapter marker timestamps while the message is fresh | Editor |
| 4 | Monday morning | Upload edited message to Subsplash Sermon Series library - series naming format, branded thumbnail, scripture + summary description | Subsplash |
| 5 | Monday morning | Upload same file to YouTube - apply full checklist: human-question title, tension thumbnail, full description with scripture + chapter markers + hashtags, tags, playlist | YouTube |
| 6 | Monday morning | Confirm both are live - verify chapter markers activated in YouTube, confirm Subsplash series library shows correct artwork | Both |
| 7 | Monday morning | Update website sermon page link if applicable | Website |
Write the chapter markers the same day as the edit
The best time to write searchable chapter labels is right after you finish the edit - the message structure is fresh and you remember which moments answer which questions. If you wait until Monday morning, you are watching the video again to reconstruct it. Note the timestamps as you export.
This series is a rare opportunity. The series title itself is already search-optimized in a way most church series never are. The questions God asks in Scripture are exactly the questions people type into search engines.
| Scripture | Sermon Title | YouTube Title | Thumbnail Hint Text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Genesis 3:9 | Where Are You? | What Does God Ask When We're Lost? | He already knows where you are |
| Exodus 4:2 | What Is In Your Hand? | Why Does God Ask What You're Already Holding? | The answer is closer than you think |
| John 5:6 | Do You Want to Be Healed? | Do You Actually Want to Change? | Healing starts with an honest answer |
| Luke 18:41 | What Do You Want Me to Do? | What Do You Really Want From God? | He's asking - are you ready to answer? |
- Confirm all six scriptures and sermon angles with Pastor Don so YouTube titles can be finalized before the series begins
- Create the YouTube playlist: "Questions God Asks Us | Dalton First UMC" - write the description for a first-time visitor
- Create the matching Subsplash series library with the same name
- Build the series thumbnail template in Canva so each week's graphic takes minutes, not hours
For whoever handles weekly uploads. Print it, screenshot it, or put it in Notion. Every upload passes through both columns.