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Unleashing the Power of TikTok: A New Frontier for Business Growth and Brand Identity

• Nicole Harlow: Entrepreneur, Designer, Yoga Teacher, Lifehacker + Author

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Think TikTok is just for kids? Convinced that it's not a platform for serious content? Well, it's time to shed those misconceptions! In this vibrant discussion, we dive into the whirlwind world of TikTok, exploring its potential as a powerful tool for business growth. We debunk the myths around this platform, tackle the challenges it presents, and highlight how its algorithm can tailor content to your audience. Plus, we discuss why podcast producers and social media clients should consider adding TikTok to their strategy for a vibrant and exciting change of pace.

But the conversation doesn't stop at TikTok! We also venture into a comparison of TikTok and Instagram for brands. While Instagram is known for its polished and professional aesthetic, TikTok thrives on raw and creative content. We delve into how to leverage TikTok's unique features, viral trends, and the art of creating snackable content that captures your audience's attention. So, if you're ready to embrace the fun, creativity, and engagement potential of TikTok, then buckle up and let's dive into the exciting world of this social media juggernaut.

Welcome!


I run three award-winning marketing / automations, branding & podcast production agencies for wellness brands, health-based businesses, health clinics and clinician entrepreneurs

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Speaker 1:

So I'm going to let you in on a fun fact. I have a stack of chocolate chip cookies sitting next to me and it is my motivation to get these episodes recorded. So I'm recording this as a series in a single day because you know that I like batch recording my content, so I only have to focus on it once and then it gets rolled out over multiple weeks. So I'm recording this whole series and every time I finish an episode I get a piece of a cookie. Just let you should know that. So this week's episode where you're going through, I guess, the chocolate chip cookie conversation, is probably pretty apt for this episode. We are taking out that TikTok. Yeah, I know I just heard you groan and phase Don't make me go on TikTok. No, I'm hoping I'm going to change your mind about that in this episode.

Speaker 1:

So just kind of dispelling a couple myths right off the bat. Myth number one is that TikTok is only for kids, because it's really not. I mean, some of our clients are highly successful on TikTok, as well as people who aren't our clients, who are well as entrepreneurs, who are killing it on TikTok. It is still and I'm recording this in 2023, september 2023, it's still a Wild Wild West platform. There's a lot of room for growth, there's a lot of hey, get in there and figure it out and see what works. There's a lot of opportunity on TikTok and no, it's not just for kids. And my other second myth is it's not just like you can create serious content on there as well. So I think there's a misconception around TikTok as a channel that's only for being trendy or being memes or being funny. And yeah, that is generally, I would say, is the language of TikTok is more on the more kind of frivolous, funny memes, entertainment side of things. But that doesn't mean that you can't create a TikTok channel that is for serious content, that's for education, that's for building a community that's around your service or your product. There's lots of room to grow there and there's lots of opportunity to share your brand message in a way that's authentic to you.

Speaker 1:

So I just want to get those like dispel those myths to begin with, because a lot of people that I talked to kind of have that feeling that you can only be on TikTok A if you're young and B if you're prepared to dance and generally like make a full out of yourself, which a lot of us wellness entrepreneurs are not really into that. I would say that for wellness business owners, one of the biggest challenges around TikTok content creation one is recording video, because that can be really tricky for a lot of people, especially if you're not used to it. And then I think the other part is really like navigating the culture of TikTok and navigating the trends and creating content that's short. So I would say that that's one of and I know that they're at this point. They're kind of like always like extending the time, like it starts like 10 seconds and then it'll be like 30 second videos and then it's a minute and three minutes and I think just within this last year they've expanded it to 10 minute TikTok videos. So things are expanding all the time.

Speaker 1:

But I think when we're passionate about the subjects, I know even myself can find it hard to feel like I'm confined within a time-bound window. It's what I like podcasting, for this episode could take me 60 minutes to get through or it could take me six, and I like then I have the freedom to make a show that is as long or as short as I want it to be right, and I think you know there's something to be said for like having standards and kind of adhering to at least a little bit of a structure, but when we get to a platform that is time-bound, there can be a little bit of pressure of like I'm not sure how to make content that's short and effective and fits on that platform, and I think that's really just a trial and error. I think what's really helpful in TikTok is just getting in there and just seeing and just exploring, seeing how people are creating, because it is different than Instagram, it is different than Facebook, it is a culture all on its own, and whether it's good, bad or neutral, like I said in the Instagram episode, that's not for me to talk about this. It's not like the culture, the societal, I think I'm conversation around whether it's good or what it's doing to our youth or anything like that. This is about how you can use it for your business. Tiktok is a platform that I am recommending as an adjacent strategy for our podcast production clients and also for our social media clients, and so we're helping quite a few clients right now launch a TikTok channel and I just love that. There's so much room to grow there and I love that there's so much space. It's exciting when there's platforms that are pretty new and you get to carve out your own unique space where an Instagram, for example, can feel very saturated and the Facebook can feel very dated and really not like helping you out with any kind of organic reach.

Speaker 1:

Tiktok the way that the algorithm, how it works. It's a little bit different than what you would see on Facebook or Instagram, and I'm not an algorithm expert, so like this is really just, you know, take this as very general, but the way that you find things on TikTok compared to like Instagram, where you would like find a their username and you would go and you'd follow them a lot of how TikTok works, is it? It's a sophisticated algorithm and so there you have your for you page and when you like, log in and you go to your feed. They're gonna be serving you up a lot of content. That is both that's both the users that you follow, but also a lot of new content that they think that you'll like, that they're putting in front of you. So the algorithm is pretty sophisticated and what's great for us as content creators is there's a better opportunity for Our content to get in in front of the eyeballs of the type of people that we're looking to attract. Much more than a Facebook, much more than an Instagram. Tiktok is a place where we can get a better organic reach and we can get our content, Especially if we can get some engagement on our content and we can get it out in front of a lot more people Without really having to do so much.

Speaker 1:

Tiktok still operates on Hashtags, a little bit like Instagram used to do back in the day. Hashtags are still like a lot more relevant and TikTok and how Stuff gets found and how it gets fed into the algorithm. So there is a little bit more Technique, I guess, and strategy for when you're creating content on TikTok. So a couple things to think about in terms of Creating contents. But that's specific for this channel. Like I said, you know, the culture of TikTok is a little bit more light, it's a little bit more playful, it's a little bit more funny, it's a little bit more behind the scenes, and so things that were relevant on Instagram stories, right, things that feel a little less polished and maybe a little bit more trendy, are great on TikTok, but also short pieces of informational content. So what we like to do for our podcasting clients is have pieces of content from a longer episode, pulled out, audio video, brought over to a TikTok channel and then served up as like a 20 to 30 second video that then advertises the longer podcast episodes. So think about them as, like these are pieces of content that are snackable, that are short To you know, have a more successful TikTok channel.

Speaker 1:

When you're trying to create content, there are a few things that are built into TikTok that helps you take advantage of trends like stitching, for example, where you take a video that somebody else, like another content creator, has produced and you put your own spin on it. Instagram is, at this point, trying to roll out something similar about how you can remix a video and then put your own spin on it, but in TikTok it's called a stitch, and so you have a video that Somebody else has created, and what's really nice about that is we can take videos that that we can capitalize and leverage Other people's content creation. So say, for example, your skill skin wellness expert. Well, you can take videos of other people on TikTok talking about their skincare routine and you can analyze them with your own stitch, and so that's their video, but then you're putting your spin on it. There's also a lot of opportunity in TikTok to take advantage of things like viral Songs and viral sounds. You'll see a lot of that kind of like mimicking Different sounds.

Speaker 1:

You don't have to create content like this, especially if it feels like it's not really appropriate for your brand. I don't personally like to create content like this because it just doesn't really like fit my vibe very much and Anytime that I've tried to create content that's more like the viral sounds or the lip syncing or the dancing, it just really feels like it hasn't felt authentic to me. So I Personally like to stick with content that's a little bit more like Educational or maybe even playful, educational or behind the scenes, because that feels more authentic to me. But there's a lot of opportunity to use dances, sounds, viral content and Hit yourself onto that content as well. So like that's a great strategy for TikTok, but it's not for everybody and not everyone wants to create that way. But even if you're not, you could be Leveraging content that's already been created with creating a stitch, or you can create your own content as well.

Speaker 1:

I would say at this point Tic Tac is still pretty new platform and so I'm curious to see how it grows and expands or contracts over the next couple years, but I think, as a when I'm recording this, in 2023, this is still a great platform for wellness business owners to jump on and diversify. I like Just kind of wrap it up like if Instagram, if Facebook, is kind of your serious, more business card content and just the platform that you have to be on. If Instagram is a little bit of more polished education content, then Tic Tac is a little bit wilder, a little bit more unruly and a little bit more behind-the-scenes content. If it's part of your brand message to be irreverent and playful, this is a perfect place for you to showcase a little humor and silliness. But if that's not part of your brand, that's a great place to showcase little snippets of education, to repurpose longer pieces of content like blog posts or podcast episodes, articles, things like that, webinars. Bring them into micro pieces of content, put them up on a Tic Tac channel.

Speaker 1:

And it's another place where, if clients are searching you out and they're looking to build a relationship with your brand, instagram is a place where they expect you to be a bit more polished and professional and Tic Tac is a place where they expect you to be a little bit more behind-the-scenes. So this is not a place where we want to have a lot of highly polished material. It is a place where we want it to be a little bit more raw, a little bit more DIY and a little bit more like we're in the wild wild west of content creation. So let this be an opportunity for you to stretch your creativity muscles. Try out a new platform. Don't be afraid of it. Start to kind of get the language and the cadence of the platform and have fun creating content for Tic Tac. I will see you next week where we are going to be diving into the ins and outs of creating a YouTube channel for your business.