In a recent interview with Substack, Cody Cook-Parrott spoke about shifting their audience from social media (they’ve been on Instagram since 2012) to their email newsletter (where they have 683 paid subscribers).

“I have had to completely unhook from the algorithm because I have never had lower social media engagement. I have 80K+ followers and often get 300 likes on a post.”

Getting 300 likes with 80,000 followers means that just 0.3% of their audience clicked like, no doubt because most of those 80,000 followers never even saw their posts.

Think engagement will get easier for bands and labels and creative folks in 2023?

NOPE.

In more fun social media news, according to Reuters Twitter’s most “heavy users” are leaning more into “Cryptocurrency and ‘not safe for work’ (NSFW) content,” and “interest in news, sports and entertainment is waning among those users.”

So expect to see engagement on tour announcements and pre-orders (and a million other things) dip in the new year.

Oh, and looks like Elon Musk is gonna own Twitter later this week, too. That’ll be fun!

Imagine just sending an email once a week directly to your fans, and seeing those emails actually help you sell things.

Then think about how much time you could spend on your art, your music, your design studio if you didn’t have to feed the social media algorithm for hours every day.

“Make sure you’re building your email list today, while you can still reach some of your audience on social media!”

I said this in my very first SOCIAL MEDIA ESCAPE CLUB just over a year ago (in my interview with Jeff Gretz of Zao), and it’s even more true today.

Someday all of us (including your fans) will log into Twitter and Instagram and Facebook for the last time – don’t let the years you’ve spent building that audience disappear! Make a plan today to build a direct connection with those fans with an email list.

SMART THINGS FROM SMART PEOPLE:

“Instagram influencers are increasingly pushing their most dedicated fans onto platforms like Discord, Slack, Substack, and Patreon so they can forge a deeper connection with them.”

Look, it’s not just me who’s saying that people are pushing their social media audience elsewhere – go read Simon Owens’s Tech and Media Newsletter.

“What we do together matters. The way you connect with someone by drinking coffee at a cafe will feel entirely different than how you’ll feel connecting with someone while volunteering at a food kitchen.

What’s something that you can ask members to do that they wouldn’t usually do at a community experience like this one? What activities feel novel? What activities will help members connect in a different way?”

Some interesting concepts on “how to design community experiences your members will never forget,” by David Sprinks.

“Doing it right is expensive. Doing it wrong costs a fortune.”

From Shane Parrih at Farnam Street. Yes, hiring a professional is expensive, but in the long run it’ll probably save you a lot more time and money.