5 simple ways to step up your business’s TikTok game – The Oakland Press

By KELSEY SHEEHY of NerdWallet
Dan Oliver, founding father of Dan-O’s Seasoning , was slinging his signature blends at commerce exhibits and flea markets across the nation when COVID-19 hit, shutting down his main gross sales channel and forcing a tough pivot. Oliver turned to TikTok, going all-in on the video-sharing platform, and struck gold.
First, a video of him making crab muffins went viral. Daily gross sales elevated sevenfold. A couple of months later, his bacon-wrapped jalapenos caught fireplace (figuratively), catapulting gross sales once more.
Three years, a whole bunch of movies and hundreds of thousands of views later, Dan-O’s Seasoning has expanded from an e-commerce enterprise to a grocery store staple and general income has elevated practically 10,000%.
Dan-O’s success isn’t a one-off case. Thousands of entrepreneurs have seen their companies take off on the social video platform. After all, with TikTok you’re just one viral video away from changing into the subsequent massive factor. But you’ve got to play your playing cards proper.
1. START STRONG
“The most vital a part of your video is the primary three to 5 seconds,” Oliver says. Jump in, make a splash and get to the purpose earlier than folks begin to tune out.

“Start with one thing that’s enticing, like slapping a chunk of meat,” Oliver says. More than a number of of Oliver’s TikToks begin with him dropping a monster slab of beef or pork onto the chopping board (and sure, he’s slapped a brisket or two). “Make it attention-grabbing and don’t waste folks’s time.”
2. PITCH YOUR BUSINESS
Video views are actually price nothing for those who don’t translate them into {dollars}. Sprinkle your business’s worth props into your movies and inform viewers the place to go subsequent, whether or not that’s to your web site, on-line storefront or e-mail listing.
“Social media followers are nice, however you’ve got to strategically transfer folks to your different platforms, whether or not or not it’s your e-mail listing or one other high-leverage pipeline,” mentioned Elise Darma, a advertising and marketing specialist turned influencer who now coaches e ntrepreneurs on how to develop their social media presence, in an e-mail.
3. WORK SMARTER, NOT HARDER
“Batch create content material for those who can,” Darma mentioned. “This is probably the most environment friendly means to use your mind energy.”
What does that seem like? Rather than drumming up concepts and taking pictures movies on the fly, create an editorial calendar that outlines what you’re going to publish and when. Film and edit a number of movies in a single session, slightly than separately. Then, squeeze as a lot juice out of every video as attainable.
“Repurpose one video as a lot as you possibly can — throughout TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts and (*5*) Idea Pins for max influence,” Darma mentioned.
4. DEFINE YOUR GOALS
Any good social media technique ought to be anchored in particular objectives, whether or not that’s views, feedback, clicks or another sort of engagement, says Danielle Wiley, founder and chief government officer of Sway Group, an influencer advertising and marketing company.
“Social media is superb from a metrics perspective — you will get a lot information — however that information is meaningless for those who don’t create objectives,” Wiley says. “If you don’t know what the aim is from the start, you gained’t create the precise sort of content material.”
5. LEAN IN TO WHAT WORKS
Posting something and every part is sensible in the beginning; you want to throw every part on the wall and see what sticks. But when movies begin gaining traction, it pays to observe that thread.
“An enormous factor I see is that when folks see success with one video, they neglect to proceed their momentum by creating movies related to the one which took off,” Darma mentioned. “You know what fashion and what subject resonates with your followers, so make extra of that. Invest in what works.”
For Dan-O’s Seasoning, the thread was recipes. TikToks of Oliver making every part from sushi to deep-fried mac and cheese to parmesan potatoes to prime rib rack up a whole bunch of 1000’s of views. If one actually takes off, like a current video for pulled pork tacos, views are within the hundreds of thousands .
Videos of Oliver sharing his entrepreneur story or scouting out Dan-O’s on retailer cabinets did properly, however didn’t strike the identical chord. So his crew made a strategic choice: The official account for Dan-O’s Seasoning would solely function recipes.
“It’s undoubtedly working. I observe all these different creators, folks we’re in competitors with, and their accounts are form of stagnant. Ours just isn’t,” Oliver says. “We proceed to develop, anyplace from 2,000 to 10,000 followers a day.”
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This article was offered to The Associated Press by the private finance web site NerdWallet. Kelsey Sheehy is a author at NerdWallet. Email: [email protected]. Twitter: @KelseyLSheehy.
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https://www.theoaklandpress.com/2023/06/03/5-simple-ways-to-step-up-your-businesss-tiktok-game/