Help & answers

Frequently asked
questions

Everything you need to know about MessageMyFans — from getting started to platform bans, shadowbans, audience ownership, and how your fans experience it.

Getting started
You sign up, connect your Instagram, and get a personal page at messagemyfans.com/s/yourname. Share that link on your socials. When fans tap it, they enter their phone number and subscribe — free for broadcasts, or paid for direct messaging. You send updates via SMS. Fans get them instantly. You own every phone number and email permanently.
We're currently in private beta. Join the waitlist and we'll reach out when your spot opens. During beta, everything is free — no credit card required.
Yes. During the private beta, creators pay nothing. No monthly fee, no revenue cut, no setup costs. We'll introduce pricing tiers after beta, but early creators will always get the best deal.
Platform bans & shadowbans
If you haven't built an owned audience, yes. When Instagram bans you, your follower count, DMs, and reach disappear instantly. There is no export function. The only way to protect yourself is to move fans to a channel you control — like SMS or email — before a ban happens. MessageMyFans gives you a direct line to every fan who opts in, completely independent of any social platform.
A shadowban is when a platform limits your content's reach without notifying you. Your posts stop showing up in feeds, hashtags, or the Explore page — but your account looks normal to you. Signs include a sudden drop in engagement, views from followers only, or content not appearing under hashtags you used. Unlike an outright ban, there is no appeal process because the platform never admits it happened. The only defense is building an audience on a channel you control, where no algorithm can suppress your reach.
The only real protection is audience ownership. Social platforms can change algorithms, demonetize content, or ban accounts at any time — and creators have zero recourse. The creators who survive platform shifts are the ones who moved their audience to channels they control: SMS lists, email lists, or private communities. SMS has a 98% open rate and reaches fans instantly, with no algorithm gatekeeper deciding who sees your message.
Nothing changes on MessageMyFans. The creator still has their SMS subscriber list. That's the entire point. Your fans subscribed with their phone numbers — not their Instagram handles — so a ban on one platform doesn't break the connection. You can keep broadcasting, earning, and communicating exactly as before.
OnlyFans can ban accounts without warning — for policy violations, payment disputes, or platform changes. When it happens, you lose your subscribers, your content, your messages, and your income stream immediately. OnlyFans does not provide subscriber contact information. The only way to protect yourself is to move fans to a channel you own before a ban. With MessageMyFans, your subscribers' phone numbers are yours permanently — even if OnlyFans disappears tomorrow. Read our OnlyFans ban survival guide →
YouTube channel termination wipes out your videos, your community tab, your comments, and your ability to earn from AdSense. Worse, you lose contact with every subscriber who found you through search or recommendations. YouTube does not give you subscriber email addresses or phone numbers. If you've built an SMS list through MessageMyFans, your audience is safe — you can immediately tell them where to find you next, whether that's a new channel, a different platform, or your personal site. Read our YouTube termination guide →
You can't — unless you already moved them to a channel you control. TikTok bans remove your profile, your videos, your DMs, and your ability to go live. There is no "export followers" feature. The creators who survive TikTok bans are the ones who had a backup plan: they asked fans for phone numbers or emails through a link in bio, a pinned comment, or a story. MessageMyFans gives you a simple link (messagemyfans.com/s/yourname) that captures phone numbers instantly. When TikTok bans you, you text your list and tell them where to follow you next. Read our TikTok ban guide →
A sudden overnight drop in reach usually means one of three things: a shadowban (Instagram is suppressing your content without notifying you), an algorithm change that no longer favors your content type, or a technical issue like broken hashtags. The frustrating part is Instagram never tells you which one it is. While you can try removing flagged hashtags or appealing, the real fix is building an audience channel you control. SMS reach doesn't drop — every subscriber gets every message, with no algorithm deciding who sees what. Read our Instagram reach guide →
You can't backup social media followers directly — platforms don't let you export contact info. What you can do is create a parallel channel. Add a link in your bio that captures phone numbers or emails. Mention it in posts and stories. Make it part of your content: "Want my updates even if this account disappears? Text me." MessageMyFans gives you a personal page that does exactly this — fans enter their number, you get a subscriber list you can export as a CSV anytime. That's your backup. Read our creator backup plan guide →
Only if you already moved them to a channel you own. When Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or OnlyFans bans you, every connection through that platform is severed. Fans can't DM you, can't see your content, and have no way to find your new account unless you told them in advance. The creators who don't lose everything are the ones who collected phone numbers or emails before the ban. With MessageMyFans, you can text your entire subscriber list the moment a ban hits — telling them where to find you, how to support you, and that you're not gone. Read our guide on contacting fans after a ban →
Audience ownership
You own your audience when you have direct contact information that no platform can take away. Social followers are rented — the platform controls the relationship, the algorithm, and whether you can reach them. An owned audience means you have fans' phone numbers or emails, stored in a file you can export, move, and use on any platform. MessageMyFans makes this automatic: every subscriber gives you their phone number, and you can export the full list as a CSV anytime.
No. Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and every major platform lock follower data behind their APIs. You cannot export a list of your followers' contact information. The only way to capture your audience is to ask them for it directly — through a link in bio, a post, or a story — and have them opt into a channel you control. That's exactly what MessageMyFans does.
SMS marketing for creators
SMS marketing for creators is using text messages to communicate directly with fans — sending updates, exclusive content, drop alerts, and personal replies. It works extremely well: SMS has a 98% open rate compared to ~20% for email and 5-10% for social media posts. Fans see texts within minutes, and there is no algorithm deciding whether your message gets delivered. Creators using SMS report higher engagement, stronger fan relationships, and more stable income than creators relying solely on social platforms.
SMS has a 98% open rate, with most messages read within 3 minutes. By comparison, Instagram posts reach roughly 10-20% of followers organically, TikTok videos depend entirely on the algorithm, and email open rates average 20-25%. SMS is the highest-attention channel available to creators because it bypasses every algorithm and lands directly on a fan's lock screen.
For creators
Yes. You can include any URL in your broadcasts — links to your content, your store, your other platforms. Carriers don't restrict URLs in SMS.
We run an automated content filter that checks for carrier compliance violations. This protects your account from carrier fines. We don't read your messages for any other purpose.
In the compose view, toggle from Send now to Schedule and pick a date and time. Your message will be sent automatically. Cancel anytime before it sends.
Go to your Audience tab and click Export. CSV file with every subscriber's phone number, email, tier, and join date. Your data, anytime.
For fans
Text STOP to the number you received messages from. Instant removal. You can also text END, QUIT, UNSUBSCRIBE, or CANCEL.
Free subscribers pay nothing and receive broadcast updates. Paid subscribers pay a monthly fee set by the creator for direct two-way messaging.
If you're a paid subscriber, yes. Your messages go directly to the creator's inbox. Free subscribers receive broadcasts but cannot reply.
Privacy & security
No. We will never share, sell, or distribute your phone number to third parties for marketing purposes.
You can export your full subscriber list — phone numbers, emails, tiers, and join dates — as a CSV at any time, even during beta. Your audience is yours. If anything ever happened to MessageMyFans, you would still have the file and could move your list to any SMS or email platform immediately.

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