The sad drop in engagement rate on your page is not accidental; it results from the greediness of tech companies (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and their disregard for creators who invest their hard-earned money and time to create breathtaking content.
I hate to break it to you but you have been played by the four horsemen and their cohorts. When their platform was young, they ensured that even newbies got exposure; however, once their Google play downloads exploded and became popular, they tweaked their algorithm to neglect the creators responsible for their success. Then, they slapped you with shadowban and continually obstructed your content from getting to your followers. The only time your content gets seen is when you give them your money. Isn’t that robbery?
It is becoming too expensive to get seen on social media; hence you need to take total control over your music career and build your fans using a mailing list. In this guide, we will inform you on the dangers of not building a mailing list and how you can build direct relationships with your fans without having to pay Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for miserly clicks.
Your Followers are not Your Fans
The beeping sound of a ‘follow’ notification from Instagram introduces an influx of dopamine into the bloodstream. However, if these notification alerts become unending, you get overwhelmed with a false sense of security. False? Yes, false as in not dependable, not in your control, and not good for your future as an artist.
There is a popular saying that goes like this; your followers are not your fans. Unfortunately, that saying can be perceived as quite accurate as it applies to all social media platforms. To best understand the difference between a follower and a fan, you must first comprehend the nature of the relationship between the users and social media platforms.
A user is a person who provides their mail to a social media company and agrees to abide by the rules of the digital platform (that no one reads) in exchange for the ability to connect with people from all over the globe and consume entertaining content. The social media company is the entity that ensures that the website is up and running while regulating the type of content shared on the platform. The company’s interest is to keep its users on the website, hence promoting entertaining content to more users and punishing the unentertaining ones.
On the other side of the spectrum, you are just another social media platform user, and the company treats you as such. Your followers are fellow users interested in your social media content, while your fans are genuinely interested in your music. A good percentage of your followers won’t stream your music until your true fans have listened and created user-generated content on your behalf. Even if a good percentage of your followers are devoted to your music, the social media algorithm won’t show them your content.
To take back control from the social media companies starving your followers on the app, you must turn the followers into direct users of your brand, and the best way to do that is to create a mailing list. With a mailing list, you can collect their emails and reach out to them regularly. Once your followers give you permission and access to their mail, they become lifelong customers. You can sell them your next album, merch, or tour tickets.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying you should dump your social media accounts. Social media is, of course, an excellent tool for building a fanbase, but it’s not a patch towards having a solid mailing list. When it comes to fostering long-term relationships with listeners, the mailing list is the bee’s knees. The Dangers of banking on social media to connect with your fans include;
According to a Buzzsumo report, Facebook engagement for business pages suffered a 20% fall in 2017 (roughly 5 years after it launched its mobile ads program). Although Facebook ads date back to 2004, there was no place for ads on the Facebook mobile app before 2012. The moment Facebook ads became a thing across all industries, brands previously enjoyed’ exposure plummeted significantly on Facebook pages. Think of it – the lesser exposure facebook pages get organically, the more money Facebook gets per impression/click. The idea of changing the way its algorithm operates is not just motivated by growth but also greed. The moment brands hack the algorithm, Mark’s’ zero support team’ Zuckerberg changes it.
Social Media Platforms come and go
When using a social media platform dwindles, the biggest losers are the influencers who have put in much effort to build a digital presence on the platform. At least the founders and shareholders get a share of the profit. But the influencers are left with nothing. Examples of dead social media platforms include vine, MySpace, DailyBooth, FriendFeed, iTunes Ping, Google Buzz, Yik YAK, Google Wave, Meerkat, Friendster, and Google Plus.
Your account can be hijacked by hackers or banned the company
I have lost count on the number of my friends whose Facebook accounts have been hacked in the past. But then, I remembered how my Instagram account was almost hacked in 2021 while helping a friend recover her account. It dawned on me that Facebook does not have a support team that anyone can contact to resolve an issue. If your account gets hacked, your best bet is to chat with a bot, and most people never recover their hacked Facebook accounts.
Also, your account can get reported for the silliest reasons, and the funny thing is you might get banned from Facebook for breaking obscure rules that no one ever reads.
You are always on the losing end
Facebook alongside Instagram or Twitter is already a successful venture for the early shareholders and founders. If these platforms stop operating at any point in time, the brands that depend on them lose the most.
Final Thoughts
Social media life is so fast that your followers are constantly distracted by a networking app. To make things worse, the social media companies hamper your posts from reaching your followers, let alone other users who don’t follow you. The mailing list is the best way to get their undiluted attention without bothering about an unfavorable Facebook algorithm.
