by Hallee Bridgeman, @halleeb
In February, Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced some changes in the way the social media platform will operate in 2021. This caused a giant stir among the author community because the changes will go a long way toward repressing the reach authors have to readers.
This isn’t the first time or even the fifth time a change in Facebook has completely overhauled authors’ marketing momentum. Changes to the way Facebook feeds page information unless you “pay to play”, the way that groups no longer give notifications the same way, the way they don’t do the same notifications of live videos – all of those changes happened before now.
To preempt this news, there was already a lot of buzz in social media land about – social media and popular platforms! Accounts canceled, users banned, posts disappearing, posts getting reported – it’s been a little bit Wild West out there.
Recently, my Facebook page was put on a 30-day ban, because a “dad joke” I posted violated their community standards. Right now I am now at risk for losing my page entirely for “continued” violation of their community standards – even though the two examples they gave are of the exact same post.
Want to hear the joke that’s so offensive?
I boiled a funny bone. It made a laughing stock. This is a humorous joke.
I know. It’s shameful. And worthy of pulling my page and all of the thousands of followers I’ve grown over the last nine years. I appealed it, asking that a human being review what a robot banned, and the human being conferred and sided with the robot.
Here’s my point:
If you’re putting all of your marketing stock into social media, you’re putting it into the wrong place.
I’ve never been a fan of social media marketing. I think it’s because right as my Facebook page was growing and the “likes” were coming in, that’s when they added the “boost post” feature and shut down any kind of organic page reach. That really made me angry and it emotionally shut me off of Facebook. My thought was, if someone “liked” my page, they want information from me — I shouldn’t have to pay for THEM to see posts. I’ve never minded paying to reach OTHER people, but my fans should be my fans.
That was YEARS ago, and I’ve never warmed back up to Facebook. I use it, because I feel like I have to, but to be honest I’m kind of glad to see this big shift in attitude about the social media giant ever since the scandal over them selling user information to Russia and then all of the hubub during the U.S. Presidential election and now the “restrictions” my page was put under.
I *am* on Facebook, Twitter, Mewe, and Parler, but I really don’t want to *have* to be, you know? For years I’ve been teaching that your focus of marketing should not be in social media. Social media ebbs and flows. The creators of the platforms aren’t in the business to provide you with a place to reconnect with old high school buddies. They’re there to make money – billions of dollars of money. Every time you can find a way to make organic reach happen, they’re going to find a way to monetize it. That’s just the way it is.
Where should you put your effort and energy?
I’m not saying that authors should abandon Facebook and other social media platforms all together. It’s fine to be there. Like I said, I’m there. I just don’t believe that the majority of effort should be spent there.
We all only have so much time and energy in a single day. Your first focus should be on the following:
- Your website: This is where you control information. What’s there is what you want to be there in the format you want to present it. You should have a website that you have the power to update as needed that also contains a blog or a link to a blog. That said, should you feel the need to blog regularly? No! But, a blog is a great way to give out a quick news update, book release information, whatever. Information that you control, going out to people who want to hear from you. If you’d like to take a look at my website, you can do it here.
- Your newsletter: You need to have a newsletter, you need to grow your newsletter list, and you need to regularly send out a newsletter. Why? Because the people who sign up for your newsletter are saying, “Yes! I want to hear from this author!” Your email goes to their inbox. It’s right there for them to see it. You don’t have to pay extra money to make sure it falls into their feed. They signed up, you sent, they can open or not. It’s a beautiful relationship and one of which you and your reader are in complete control.
That’s it. Anything else should be extra. If your website is up-to-date, if your blog posts (as needed) are scheduled, and you’ve spent some time and energy cultivating your newsletter list or writing/planning your newsletter – THEN get on social media.
Because there’s no telling if you tell a dad joke and the rug is completely ripped out from under you and you lose all of your following. Then you’re stuck rebuilding everything from the ground up. If you have the majority of your effort and followers on your website and newsletter, then you’re in control even when other platforms try to take control away from you.
Just one little date can’t hurt anything, right?
Ever since the sixth grade, Daisy Ruiz loved Ken Dixon from afar and spent her entire youth pining for him. Ken, the youngest of identical triplet brothers, never even noticed her crush.
Today, Daisy lives her life serving her loved ones and her family’s ministry, Gálatas Seis, where she acts as Executive Director. As the daughter of a youth pastor, she understands the importance of ministry and teaches a women’s Bible study. The sudden discovery that she’s pregnant—and her baby’s lying married father wants nothing more to do with her or the baby—threatens her ministry and her entire reputation.
Solemn, sober, solitary, and silent, Ken grew up in a mission-minded family and consistently seeks ways to serve society in the name of the Savior. He goes to Gálatas Seis with an offer to aid a family in need and recognizes his former youth pastor’s daughter leading the organization. While shocked at the chance meeting, the instant attraction he feels surprises him even more.
When Ken asks her out on a date, Daisy realizes her childhood dreams have literally come true after all this time. Even though she just found out she is pregnant, Daisy tells herself that just one little date won’t hurt anything.
But when they go out again and again, she soon finds herself in a full-blown relationship with hearts on the line. She can’t keep her secret much longer. Does she tell Ken about the baby? Can Ken love her baby, too? Or will he abandon her like the baby’s father did? Daisy has a decision to make.
With nearly a million sales, Hallee Bridgeman is a best-selling Christian author who writes action-packed romantic suspense focusing on realistic characters who face real-world problems. Her work has been described as everything from refreshing to heart-stopping exciting and edgy. Hallee has served as the Director of the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference, President of the Faith-Hope-Love chapter of the Romance Writers of America, is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), the American Christian Writers (ACW), and Novelists, Inc. (NINC). An accomplished speaker, Hallee has taught and inspired writers around the globe, from Sydney, Australia, to Dallas, Texas, to Portland, Oregon, to Washington, D.C., and all places in between. Hallee loves coffee, campy action movies, and regular date nights with her husband. Above all else, she loves God with all of her heart, soul, mind, and strength; has been redeemed by the blood of Christ; and relies on the presence of the Holy Spirit to guide her.