Did you lose your social media accounts? Here's how to fight back with fire in your eyes and determination in your heart
Recently, a friend had their Instagram and Threads accounts closed without warning, and they had no idea how to get it back. They were sent repair links, but because they couldn’t log in to their account, they had no way to access the information.
We had a short conversation about the problem. Because I couldn’t keep my brain from spinning around scenarios like this, I put together a list of things I would do next if I lost my social media accounts without warning.
These are the steps I would take if I lost access to all social media simultaneously. Also, I’m not looking at this as the publisher of The Hungry but as someone who sells products (art, digital assets, hand-made goods, etc.).
1. Start an email list
If I didn’t already have an established email list, I would immediately open an account with any email service provider. Considering that Substack has a social media aspect, one doesn’t count, but Beehiiv, Kit, and even Mailchimp are all viable options with low—or no-cost tiers.
I would then send a single email to all of my contacts (BCCing everyone) through my personal email account, letting them know what happened to my social accounts. I would then provide them a link to sign up for my new email list.
2. Beef up my website
I would ensure that my e-commerce site or marketplace had as many items for sale as possible. I would also update all my pages to ensure all information was current. I would focus on messaging across my site more than on aesthetics. Design is important, but it is not essential yet.
3. Write and write some more
I would also start writing on my blog regularly. All the time I’m not spending on social media needs to go somewhere, so I will start writing posts that pertain to my work, mixing up the content between personal stories and SEO-friendly articles like tutorials, reviews, lists of things that are important, and of course new work that’s for sale.
I would also write about other creatives in my niche and those adjacent to me. I would make them as in-depth as possible, being complimentary and encouraging. Once published, I would share those posts with the artists/creatives. This would help add content-specific SEO to my site and create solidarity with others. Not all of them will share, but they may. They might join my email list and encourage others to do the same.
I can also use some of those pieces of content for future newsletter pieces, sharing them as newsletters first and then posting them to the blog.
3. Reach out to my top customers
Assuming I can access customer data from my site, I send individual emails to my best customers, letting them know the situation and asking them to join my list. I would give them a unique coupon code to join the email list and tell them to share it with any friends they feel might be interested in my work.
4. Send my first newsletter
The first email to the list should introduce the newsletter and provide a simple plan for its future content. My strategy is to mix short stories about work, events, happenings, or commentary with new products.
There would be links to items for sale, but it would not be a constant pitchfest. I think it’s essential to keep things light and conversational and to show my humanity more than anything else.
5. Top of Funnel
If my goal is to get people to buy, my website is the end of the funnel, with the newsletter being the middle part. Unfortunately, getting people to subscribe to newsletters and blogs organically is tricky unless you generate a metric ton of monthly content, and I don’t have time for that.
I would then use other publishing platforms to drive traffic to my email form. For example, I use Medium for writing and YouTube for video. Both platforms are highly searchable, and viewers are accustomed to being led from them to other places.
Another option is forums and communities. Reddit is a great place to get found, but you must tread lightly in specific communities because members usually abhor promotion from newbies. Discord servers and other communities are also great options because you can quickly engage with other like-minded people.
I would lean into these communities to contribute, not pitch products. The most important thing to remember is that you are in service to others, and those people will find their way to you by osmosis.
6. Advertising!
Now is the time to put my energy into ads, but damn if I didn’t just (hypothetically) get my account canceled on the most powerful ad platform (Meta) on the internet.
Without Facebook and Instagram ads, the next options are Google and Pinterest (if we do not include those in the list of social media apps). Both of these have been great ad platforms for product brands, but they require strategy and a lot of experimentation. Money will need to be spent to figure out what works.
It’s also essential to leverage advertising by sending people to my products with the best profit margin. If I’m paying $10 in ads per customer to drive them to a sale of a t-shirt or mug, that doesn’t make good financial sense. I’d need to be more thoughtful about what products I’m paying to promote. People may still buy a shirt or mug, but I hope to get them in for multiple products, if not the ones with the best margin.
This is not the end of the world.
Yes, social media has made it easier to share content and products with people we’ve never met, but even if we don’t have access to it, there are plenty of ways to promote online. Even with the Internet's short timeline, social media has only taken up a small portion of that time.
People networked, collaborated, advertised, and sold things like before Instagram and Facebook existed. Those techniques still work today, but they only work if we do…and we have an email list.