What’s Your Social Media Lock Out Plan?

When you lose access to your social media account, then what?

I’ve been seeing a handful of posts like this across Twitter and Instagram.

Years of connections, messages, and content gone.

How many hours have we lost to tending an online garden that we don’t own?

“Make sure to capture your user contact info, including email and phone numbers, just in case. First-party data is key to success. Make sure to find ways outside of third-party platforms. It’s important to capture user info like email and phone numbers as a way to contact them outside of these popular platforms — whether it’s to run your own website, create a loyalty newsletter/program or use a CRM,” from ‘Social Media Is Down — Now What?’ at Forbes

A friend recently lost their IG account of 10 years.

I saw a musician plead with Twitter to “reinstate their account” so they could promote an upcoming show.

Enough is enough. Go sign up for Mailchimp, Substack, Revue, ConvertKit. Please don’t use Gmail.

Your 2022 is going to be a bloodbath if you rely 100% on socials to keep in touch with your fans. Especially if you lose access to any of your social accounts.

It pains me that so many bands, brands, artists, and creative individuals are losing touch with their audience. If you’re lucky you’re reaching 5% of your fans.

That means if you have 3,000 followers, 150 of them will see your next post.

And I’m seeing so many social media posts with single digit likes, no comments, which just leads everyone to keep feeding more posts into the bottomless algorithmic beast, hoping for a break.

• Reply to this email with your questions
• Get in touch at: seth@heavymetal.email

THINK ABOUT IT: If pop star Olivia Rodrigo has an email list, your band should, too.

IT’S TRUE, ALL OF IT: Missy Elliot has a cooler email sign up page than you (h/t Shannon Byrne who wrote ‘How to build and grow your email list as a musician’ for this one).

XMAS IS ALMOST HERE: have you planned an email to send to your fans? Offer a nice discount, or a freebie for your subscribers? Maybe a link to an unlisted video message or performance on YouTube?