Honestly give it 5 minutes on TikTok and those songs will be stuck in your head all day too!
Yep, we’re back with an episode on my new favourite app - TikTok!
So why TikTok? Everyone is 12, no one can get any business from it and it certainly won’t drive traffic or help build a brand, right? WRONG?
In fact, in today’s episode I’m going to tell you why - whether you’re a blog or a brand - you need to be on TikTok!
Whilst you’re listening to this episode, and thinking, alright Vix, I’ll bloody download it but then you open it up and you’re like why is everyone dancing? Why is the Washington Post doing Kardashian quotes? And you’re feeling totally out of the loop… we’ve made a free guide for you to get you started! Head to tiktokwoah.com and download the e-book for all the beginner tutorials and strategy you need!
So let’s dive in on TikTok - I won’t bore you with it’s origins, you can read about that in the e-book BUT there are some things I want to share with you.
Firstly, it currently has 1.5 billion registered users with that number growing rapidly in recent climes.
Of those 1.5 billion registered profiles, 800 million of them are regular users. And those users spend on average 52 minutes a day on the app.
Yes, 60% of those users are 16-24 (and younger I imagine) and you might not think that age group are your target audience or customer, but they will be in a year or two - and that’s why it’s so important for brand building.
Also we’re looking at reports of 26-35% of users being 30+ - that is a huge chunk of audience you could be reaching.
As a creator though, you might be thinking you haven’t got time for ANOTHER app to be getting on with.
But here’s why I think you should spend a little less time mindlessly scrolling Instagram and a lil more time creating on TikTok…
Firstly, TikTok is THE platform for under curation - some of the most popular and viral videos take less than 1 minute to make and post meaning no photographer, editor, photoshoot location and poring over blog like captions - it’s way more instant and the ability to post, go and still grow is exciting.
Secondly, the REACH. With just 100 followers I created a video that has gone on to get 90k views. TikTok doesn’t work like Instagram in that reach is limited (right now), it’s super simple - make engaging content, have it shared further and wider than you can ever imagine.
At 1k followers, I created a silly video guessing the gender and age of the viewers watching with amassed 7k views over night and 35k views within 24 hours, gaining me an extra 1.5k followers in a day - when was the last time you experienced that kinda growth on any other platform?
But even better than that - followers aren’t THE metric to get caught up on! I’ve seen fashion influencers with under 10k on Instagram and 1-4k on TikTok do brand collaborations - SPONSORED - on TikTok.
That’s because the most important metric on TikTok is ‘true reach’ aka how many people have watched your video! And to get more views, your video needs to get early likes, comments, shares and saves to boost it along - but don’t worry I go over this more in the e-book.
So Ok you’re probably thinking - cool another app to collect followers on but how does this translate to traffic, partnerships or growing my brand right?
Well just this month, TikTok began to roll out link in bio for all users - whilst we haven’t gotten enough data to prove that traffic can be referred from this app in a meaningful way - it means it’s coming - just like Instagram in the early days (plus we shouldn’t be relying on TikTok for traffic - that’s what SEO and Pinterest is for)
So how does it help with partnerships? Well I’ve just added it on as an extra service with a package I’m working on with a brand in the next few months - more and more brands, already established on Instagram but wanting to prep their TikToks ready for their next generation of customers are turning to TikTok - that means they’ll need TikTok influencers to partner with.
And how does it help grow your brand? That’s a little trickier to quantify but there are a few brands and personalities absolutely KILLING it right now. The Washington Post is now seen as the COOLEST newspaper because of their presence on the app. Local bakeries are seeing a surge in customers due to sharing their cake making skills on the app and even crafty Etsy sellers whose videos of making things have gone viral, have seen an upswing in interest and sales.
On a personal note, with around 1k followers I was messaged on LinkedIn by a guy who found me on TikTok who wanted to book me to come into his company and consult on influencer marketing, digital marketing and TikTok - this kind of discovery is so exciting.
But you know, maybe you’re thinking now isn’t the right time, you want to wait for more people to jump on, more people your age or in your niche, right? But like Gary Vee once said, do you want to be the first or be the best? Basically, if you’re not the ‘best’ at YouTube or Instagram, you sell have that window to be the first on TikTok - but that window won’t last. Don’t we all wish we were the first at YouTube or Instagram? We still have this opportunity on TikTok.
Hopefully you can see why I love this app so much and why it’s my new favourite! I’d love to know your thoughts and experiences so far…
SO go download the e-book, jump in our free TikTok Facebook group - search for TikTok Woah - and I can’t wait to see what you guys come up with!
