3 ways to save your TikTok business

If you're a TikTok Creator, here's 3 things I would suggest you do RIGHT NOW to save your businesses (I’m willing to bet #3 is one you haven't heard):

1. Aggressively promote your other social media channels (duh).

This seems obvious but I don't see many Creators doing it yet. 

What are you waiting for? If it was a sign, consider the most divided House ever passing the TikTok divestiture bill a true “Act of God” and get to it.

Start to move as much of your audience as possible off-platform. 

YouTube and Instagram drive the most revenue for Creators relative to audience size, as nearly every Creator I’ve interviewed shows. 

I'd repost all my content on those platforms, and start posting teasers and promo messages on my TikTok aimed at getting my audience to follow there. 

Snapchat is a sleeper platform, poised to take views and brand dollars if TikTok is banned. It’s been struggling, but I wouldn’t write it off given the power it has with Gen Z. If your content appeals to that demo, it may be worth putting extra effort there.

2. Build an owned audience somewhere.

All social platforms are still algorithmically-driven, and prone to policy and strategy changes that affect Creators broadly (see: YouTube Adpocalypses, Instagram shutting down revshare, etc). 

You want to build an audience that is YOURS, even if it's much smaller than your TikTok follower count.

Options for this include:

• Email - check out beehiiv, Substack, and ConvertKit

• Membership - check out Patreon, Fourthwall, and Passes

• Community - check out Discord, Circle, and Slack.

Building and managing owned audiences requires additional ongoing work, which is tough - you probably already have a ton on your plate.

HOWEVER! It's worth the tradeoff, to create a stable and engaged audience that you can reach directly. 

If you’re pressed for time, I’d recommend producing 10-20% fewer short-form videos a week, and using the extra time to write an article or chat with your community members instead.

3.  Connect and partner up with other Creators.

Collaboration through informal engagement pods has historically been the fastest, most effective growth tactic on social media. 

Look at the success of Creators like Brent Rivera and his Amp Studios, or the OG Viners-turned-YouTubers that have collaborated with each other for a decade, like Lele Pons, DeStorm Power, and KingBach.

If I was a TikTokker, I'd reach out to all the other TikTok Creators in my niche who are in my area, and plan to make some epic collab content across other platforms. If I could swing it, I'd try to make the majority of my content collaborative for the foreseeable future, get everyone to tag each other and include mutual follow CTAs, and push to grow together quickly. 

You don’t have to live in a house with a bunch of other Creators to get the benefit of making content together - just plan a couple shoot days a month and handle pre- and post-production remotely. Creator cohorts that do this are sure to see faster growth and end up with larger, more lucrative businesses.

Poll