Rev & Reach Episode 8 Transcript

00:08

LORI: Hello, everybody. I’m Lori Jo Vest. Welcome to this episode of Rev and Reach, where we share ways we get ROI using social media and digital marketing for our clients at PopSpeed Digital. So this episode is called “To TikTok or Not: Is TikTok Really Necessary for Your Business?” And I’m here with Kiley Metcalfe. Kiley is our third in charge at PopSpeed Digital Marketing and a social media specialist. So say hi, Kiley.

KILEY: Hi, everybody.

LORI: So we are going to alternate talking about TikTok. So here’s what I think about TikTok. I love TikTok. I try to stay off of it because it’s so addictive, and so many people are on it, creating awesome content. It is really—I mean, are you on TikTok frequently, Kiley?

KILEY: I was. I was on TikTok all the time. I had to get rid of it. The other thing about TikTok, which is true for every social media site, is that you’re inundated with information pertaining to your life.

LORI: Oh, yeah, yep.

KILEY: I’m currently pregnant with my first child. I think I’ve said that, so I was inundated with way too much information. So I’m on TikTok hiatus, personally, but I love it. 

LORI: Good and bad information will come your way. However, in most cases, it will be entertaining, because TikTok is entertaining. Took the world by storm back right around the pandemic, right? So do you need to be there as a brand? Should every business, every brand, every person who wants to promote themselves as an influencer be on TikTok? Well, let’s start with a real basic question. Who’s your audience? If your target market is under 35 years old, you should be on TikTok. If you are selling business to consumer, business to business is still best handled over on LinkedIn. But if you’re B2C, and you’re good at creating the kind of content that TikTok likes, then you absolutely should be there.

However, if you’re not good at creating that kind of content, which we’re going to get into in a little bit, and you can’t be consistent, and you can’t hit the goal of being entertaining or, you know, at least informative in a way that’s really engaging, don’t bother, right? Because there’s a lot to consider. And I’m going to hand this over to Kiley to talk about, it’s not just should you be on TikTok or not, but can you create the right type of content, right?

03:00

KILEY: Yeah, exactly. I think it’s no secret exactly what Lori said, that around the time of the pandemic, I know TikTok started a bit earlier than that, but around the time that COVID hit, everybody’s inside, got nothing to do but watch TV and hang out on their phones. TikTok took the entire social media world by storm and changed the way things are done. We’ve seen since then Instagram Reels pop up, YouTube Shorts, Facebook Reels. They exist everywhere, and it’s all essentially the same type of content. Do people live on TikTok? Yes. Do people still live on Instagram and Facebook also? Yes. So it’s really about considering that type of content and what it looks like.

It’s those short, hard-hitting, entertaining, engaging videos. Are there some other things you can do on TikTok with the sliding carousels? Yes, but at the heart of it, let’s focus on those videos, right? And that type of content is what is working best on every single other platform presently. Whether you’re talking about YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, Facebook Reels—I know LinkedIn even has a scrolling video section now—so it’s everywhere, right? And if you’re able to put together engaging video content in that format, understand how it works and produce it on a consistent basis in a way that really tells your brand story and builds that bridge between you and your audience, you need to not be missing out on the opportunity of TikTok.

And it’s also really good to consider that that type of content is so universal now, so if you’re going to take the time to do it on TikTok, then you’re also giving yourself extra Instagram content, extra Facebook content, extra YouTube Short content, in some cases, maybe some LinkedIn content.

So the reward versus the doubt about whether or not you need to be there can be so great. If you decide to launch a TikTok effort and it doesn’t go your way, or you find that the type of audience that you’re really trying to reach isn’t there, then you kill the effort. You know what I mean? No harm, no foul. But it’s important to look at whether or not you’re going to be there from the lens of is this type of short video content that’s engaging, that catches the eye, that stops an audience member mid-scroll, and gets their attention. If you can produce that, it’s absolutely worth considering.

05:44

LORI: Absolutely, absolutely. And I would say TikTok took all the platforms’ videos to task. Because what used to fly on the other channels will no longer fly. People expect TikTok-level entertainment and engagement, they just expect you to do something that’s going to get their attention. Another thing to consider, if you’re looking at should you be on TikTok, is your brand’s reputation, voice, character? Is it right for TikTok?

And some people will say, you know, you have to be funny, you have to be snarky to make any headway on TikTok, but I’m not sure I agree with that. I think that’s a really great place to go with your content if you can, like Scrub Daddy. I love Scrub Daddy. You’ll always hear me talk about Scrub Daddy’s TikTok. It’s the little scrubby thing with the smiley face. And they do the most hilarious things. They do great stuff. You may find that there’s something you can do that’s appealing on TikTok, that’s not snarky, that’s not funny.

But a really good question to ask is, would your audience trust you more or less after seeing your TikTok content? An example I had, we worked in the dental category frequently, and we were looking at competitors of one of our practices, and this guy is a prosthodontist surgeon, and he had a reel where he was putting teeth he had pulled into a little circle on a tray with bloody stuff hanging off of them. And it was disgusting to me. I wouldn’t trust him more, because I would think he was into cruelty or something, right? I would trust him less.

However, there’s another brand I know of. I can’t say I recall who they are, because I’m not in the market for a private jet. But there’s a company that either sells partial membership, so you kind of share ownership of a private jet, a private jet service, or a company that sells private jets, but they have an executive that’s just a real badass. I mean, he is just out there. He’s got a huge personality, and they follow him around. He happens to be in one of these jets, of course, in the seat, or getting on it, or getting off of it, and he gives really hard-hitting business advice. That is a really cool way to use TikTok and videos. And it’s TikTok-friendly because it’s got some snark to it. It’s got big energy. And it kind of breaks the mold on what you’d expect of an executive giving advice on social.

So if your brand voice can evolve, or there’s something that you do that is entertaining—I mean, let’s talk about the road company that stripes the road. All they have is just video of the stripe being laid down by the machine. And it is mesmerizing, right? So you may have something like that that you do that will let you be a star on TikTok, so consider that before you decide to skip it, right?

09:04

KILEY: Absolutely. I think, moving on to our next point, I think having it really goes to show how important it is to have a team behind you to support an effort, because one of the biggest considerations is the undertaking of TikTok, and whether or not you have the bandwidth for it. I know bandwidth is a buzzword, but it is so important because the algorithm on TikTok is tough. It’s very, very tough, which it has to be, right? There’s a niche for everything, it’s very competitive, billions of people that all have unique interests. And we’re tailoring every person’s “For You” page to exactly what they want to see, right? So it has to be a bit cutthroat, but at the same time, if you’re doing it right, it can be really rewarding.

So if you are not able to consistently, particularly in the beginning, get new content and consistently engaging and solid content on TikTok four to five times a week, I would say at a bare minimum three, you’re not going to see that growth at the rate that you might need to make the effort worth it. You really need to be there on a regular basis. Some people post multiple times a day on TikTok to build their following, so it really is quite the undertaking.

But again, that algorithm can be so rewarding because there are billions of people there, and there is literally, not exaggerating, a niche for everything on TikTok. If your brand is working in any A-through-Z type of industry, obviously, there’s a handful of people there interested in that topic. You’re not the only people in the world that care about what you’re doing.

So I think if you can make that commitment and, you know, put forth a team that is really focused on building that effort, building a following. Because once you get to—I believe the threshold is 1,000 followers on TikTok—then you can start monetizing. Then you can start including links. It makes your advertising dollars a lot more well spent. You’ll see that ROI bit more. So if you can just hit those targets and really put your head down and get there and make that content, you’re going to see worthwhile results there.

And then again, like we said before, you have all of that backlogged content, because you really shouldn’t be posting multiple times a day on Instagram Reels, not really the same type of algorithm. But if you’ve used all that TikTok content, it makes your life a little easier on your other channels when you have that library to pull from.

So is it a lot of work and a massive undertaking? Especially at the beginning? Yes, it is. There’s no other way to slice it. You have to be committed. But is it worth it if your audience is there? Yes, I think so.

12:25
LORI: Absolutely. And I think this is the advice we would give about most channels, however, when we enter a business relationship with a company where we’re serving as their marketing agency, we recommend the standbys, the Instagrams, the YouTubes, Facebook, LinkedIn. TikTok, not so much, because it’s so specific.

If you feel like you really want to give TikTok a shot, make sure you do it right and you give it 60 to 90 days. Don’t expect to see results in two weeks. Do everything you need to do to be successful, including four to five times a week, spend some money. Look at your metrics. Have a landing page or a link or something so you know what’s happening there. Pay attention. Test it and see what happens.

If you make a 90-day commitment and then walk away because you got likes and stuff, but nobody went to your website. You didn’t get anything sold. There was nothing tangible that came from it. Give it up. No harm, no foul. You can walk away from a social channel, just let it go dark and come back later, or don’t come back at all. It’s okay to do that because if it’s not going to work, why spend the energy? You may be better served on a different platform, but if you can find a good angle, you may find TikTok is where you want to be.

So I would give it 60 to 90 days and make sure you strategize and really give it your all for those 60 to 90 days, rather than just kind of throwing it out there to see what happens, and then you’ll know for sure.

14:15

KILEY: I think to build off of that too. Another thing that’s really interesting about TikTok is that it is pretty unpredictable. I would say, in our experience there with our clients, you know, we’ll say over and over again, you can’t just decide one day that you want to go viral and then go viral and virality, ROI, and blah, blah, blah. Is it fun to go viral on TikTok? Yeah, it is. You know, it is what it is, but it’s really interesting.

I remember there’s a client we formerly worked with. We’re not with them anymore, and they were really heavy on TikTok. They had the type of stuff that we could put together for them there was so fitting. And I would say, yeah, it was absolutely worth the grind there for them to be successful there.

But I remember putting together videos for them, and, you know, oh, this one I’m super happy with, and I feel like this is the best one we’ve done yet. And it’d be dismal. It would be like bomb, yeah. I’m like, what is going on? And then there’d be another one that, you know, of course, we’re never putting together bad content, or we’re never going to run with content that we’re not proud of, especially on behalf of our clients, yeah.

But, you know, it’s something maybe we’re less excited about, or I was less proud of than this other one, and it would go crazy. It’d go crazy. A lot of factors work into that. If you’re using audio that’s presently trending, or if you’re jumping on a certain trend and things like that, it ups your chances a little bit. But it’s so funny to see how the algorithm or your viewers pick and choose what’s worth their time and what isn’t.

So it’s another thing—testing versus guessing—because you never really know. You want to see a bit of what works. Maybe, because I know this is—I haven’t looked at Scrub Daddy’s TikTok in a minute, but I know a big thing they used to do all the time was jump on every trend that was fitting, right? Use that trending audio and make it work with their brand. Surprisingly, so many trends did.

If you have a niche like that where your brand is, we’re going to stick with what’s trending and that seems to work for us, then once you try it once and continue down that path, you figure out what works. Particularly in the beginning, I think, kind of using, again, not guessing, but experimenting, because it’s one of those platforms where it might really surprise you what goes really well and what doesn’t go so well.

17:02

LORI: Yep. So make sure you’re trying enough variety in your content. Variety is really important. And the last bit of advice I would have is, if you are considering if you should be there, is to go there, spend time there. Maybe you need to give yourself a limit an hour a day or something because it’s really crazy. However, spend some time on it so that you can see what is happening there. Get familiar with it. Look at what brands are doing. Look up your favorite brands. Look up your competitors. Look up if you’re an accounting firm, look up accounting. Look up tax accounting. See what’s out there before you decide what you are going to do.

You may see some really interesting things that you can make your own and trends that you might be really suited for. You can’t strategize and plan what to do if you don’t spend time on the channel. So I have a timer on my phone that I use once in a while to keep me off.

So that’s what we’ve got for you—TikTok or not, right? We’re going to end with a checklist. Do you think you should be on TikTok or not? Question number one: Do you have a product or service that can be used to create personality-driven, engaging, entertaining, deeply moving content? Are you targeting Gen Z or young millennials? They are there. Can you commit to creating the content that needs to be created? Or will you do two weeks and then you’ll run out of content? You just, you know, you kind of let it float. Don’t do that. That’s not good for anybody.

Do you have someone on your team or a partner agency who can work with you to understand the trends and help you come up with a plan to create and execute that content that really makes a difference for you? If you can say yes to a few of those questions, it might be time to give it a chance. We are here to help you.

Of course, I gotta tell you that at popspeeddigital.com, you can get a hold of us. We do social media, email marketing, website development, and SEO content for websites, and we do it with an ROI focus. So we’re a little bit different than a lot of the digital marketing shops that are out there right now.

You can reach out to either me or Kiley on LinkedIn if you’d like to connect with us there. Suggest a topic that you’d like us to cover. Ask us questions you’d like us to answer in this podcast. We’d love to hear from you. So that’s what we’ve got for you. Thank you so much.

Again, thank you for joining us, and we’ll see you in about a week. Take care.

KILEY: Bye, everybody.