A weeklong social media effort by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to share the Easter story and to give hope through Jesus Christ received worldwide attention. The initiative, titled “Because of Him,” included a YouTube video released in 20 languages. It was viewed more than 5.2 million times since it was posted on Palm Sunday, 13 April 2014. English, Spanish and Portuguese are the most popular versions of the video.
The video hit 1 million views on Wednesday, jumped to 2 million views on Thursday and climbed to more than 3 million views on Saturday. On Easter Sunday, the Church promoted two 30-second versions of the video in English and Spanish on the masthead of YouTube, which is visited by millions of people daily.
The video is described as “wonderful,” “powerful” and “inspiring” by YouTube viewers.
“I am not a Mormon, but the message is true! I´m a human being with my own sins, my own goods, my own hopes and despairs,” added another viewer.
“This video has an amazing Easter message that touched me profoundly! I'll watch it again and again,” said one of the commenters.
The Church has also received many positive comments including one from a member of the Church of England said it inspired him to go back to church.
The campaign focused on the hope, healing and salvation made possible because of Jesus Christ. It included daily memes with the #BecauseofHim hashtag, which was used on several of the Church’s official social media sites. The numbers prove its power: “Because of Him” content was displayed more than 100 million times on Facebook and other social media channels, and a link to mormon.org/BecauseofHimwas shared 250,000 times. “Because of Him” materials were also mentioned 24,800 times on Twitter, with an estimated audience exposure of 21 million. And the campaign was mentioned 42,000 times on Instagram.
Depictions of Christ’s New Testament ministry were featured on the memes, which include phrases such as “The world is filled with second chances,” “The grave has no victory” and “Death has no sting.”
Video and banner ads also appeared on hundreds of websites.
Viewers of the video, which is still available, are invited to visitmormon.org/BecauseofHim to learn more about Jesus Christ, His atoning sacrifice and His Resurrection. “Because Jesus Christ is the Savior of all mankind, it’s possible for each of us to live again with God,” said the website. Visitors to the site are encouraged to share the Easter story with their friends on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. They can also “talk with a Mormon” online or request an in-person visit with missionaries, request a copy of the Holy Bible or learn more about the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ.