Life gets busy! And when you’re pressed for time, it’s natural to let some things go—like working on your next writing project, hitting the gym, getting Fido groomed, or posting regularly on social media. At Web Design Relief, our experts know that actively maintaining your social media platforms is vital to your success as a writer. If your dedicated followers don’t hear from you on a regular basis, you can easily be forgotten—and replaced.

Effects Of A Social Media Dry Spell On Your Accounts

There’s no avoiding it: Taking an extended break from social networking will have some deleterious effects for an author.

• On Twitter, you may lose some followers as tweeters vet their lists to eliminate inactive accounts.
• On Facebook, and to a lesser extent, Instagram, the algorithms for newsfeeds favor those whom you interact with regularly. So your ability to rise in your followers’ newsfeeds will be weakened.
• In all cases, it’ll take some time to build up the impact of marketing and promotion efforts to where they were before you took a break.

Though your reach may have withered, here’s the good news: Many of your followers may not yet have noticed your absence. Social media is like a huge cocktail party where everyone is coming and going. Caught up in the onslaught of constant tweets, posts, and pins, even active followers may miss the fact that your author posts have dribbled to none.

So many of your followers are still right there, waiting for you!

Strategies For Reenergizing Your Social Media Output

Do Some Recon. If you had an active presence on several social media channels, it can be intimidating to return after a long break. There’s no shame in scooting from one old haunt to another to catch up on what’s been happening, and to check out other authors’ profile pages to see what they’re doing for promotion and marketing. Soon you’ll be liking, following, commenting, and writing engaging posts of your own.

Pick Up Right Where You Left Off. Some authors prefer to gloss over the fact that they’ve been away for a while, especially if the dry spell was due to personal issues. Jumping right in with your usual monthly promotion or giveaway, even though you haven’t had one in months, will get your followers engaged again.

Dive In Boldly. Your fans want to connect with you on a personal level. If you’re comfortable sharing (while avoiding TMI) the reason why you’ve been lax in posting or tweeting, you may discover a huge leap in engagement due to your honesty. Beyond kick-starting your return, judiciously sharing your personal triumphs and sorrows will show you how many caring online friends you really have.

Get Back To Basics. After weeks (or months) of not posting or tweeting, you may be a little rusty when you restart your social media activity. Ensure that your posts are effective and engaging by keeping in mind the basics:

• Post content that is appealing and relevant.
• Offer value to those who connect with you for insider information, giveaways, contests, sneak peeks, and recommendations.
• Ask questions, solicit advice, run polls, and find other creative ways to encourage engagement.
• Use hashtags and visuals to boost post performance.
• Post regularly according to the platform.
• Respond to all comments, preferably in a way that will start a conversation.
• Make sure to limit direct marketing and promotion to only one out of every ten posts.

Setting a calendar and scheduling posts in advance through Hootsuite or another social media management platform can help keep you on track.

When it comes to social networking, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. But remember that social media isn’t just a powerful way to boost sales, strengthen your brand, and meet fellow book lovers: It’s also a wonderful way to gather a tribe of supportive online friends!

Question: If you’ve ever taken a break from social media and come back, how did you get back to regularly posting?