FILE – This Monday, Sept. 28, 2020, file photo, shows as logo of a smartphone app TikTok on a user post on a smartphone screen in Tokyo. A single viral video on TikTok can launch your business enterprise into the stratosphere. But acquiring — and holding — viewers’ consideration on the video-sharing platform can elude even the savviest business enterprise owner. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)

By KELSEY SHEEHY of NerdWallet

Dan Oliver, founder of Dan-O’s Seasoning , was slinging his signature blends at trade shows and flea markets about the nation when COVID-19 hit, shutting down his key sales channel and forcing a really hard pivot. Oliver turned to TikTok, going all-in on the video-sharing platform, and struck gold.

Initial, a video of him producing crab cakes went viral. Every day sales improved sevenfold. A handful of months later, his bacon-wrapped jalapenos caught fire (figuratively), catapulting sales once again.

3 years, hundreds of videos and millions of views later, Dan-O’s Seasoning has expanded from an e-commerce business enterprise to a supermarket staple and general income has improved almost ten,000%.

Dan-O’s results is not a a single-off case. Thousands of entrepreneurs have observed their firms take off on the social video platform. Soon after all, with TikTok you are only a single viral video away from becoming the subsequent major factor. But you have to play your cards proper.

1. Begin Robust

“The most significant component of your video is the very first 3 to 5 seconds,” Oliver says. Jump in, make a splash and get to the point ahead of people today begin to tune out.

“Start with one thing that is eye-catching, like slapping a piece of meat,” Oliver says. Extra than a handful of of Oliver’s TikToks begin with him dropping a monster slab of beef or pork onto the cutting board (and yes, he’s slapped a brisket or two). “Make it exciting and do not waste people’s time.”

two. PITCH YOUR Enterprise

Video views are actually worth nothing at all if you do not translate them into dollars. Sprinkle your business’s worth props into your videos and inform viewers exactly where to go subsequent, no matter if that is to your web page, on line storefront or e mail list.

“Social media followers are good, but you have to strategically move people today to your other platforms, no matter if it be your e mail list or a further higher-leverage pipeline,” stated 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.

three. Perform SMARTER, NOT Tougher

“Batch develop content material if you can,” Darma stated. “This is the most effective way to use your brain energy.”

What does that appear like? Rather than drumming up concepts and shooting videos on the fly, develop an editorial calendar that outlines what you are going to post and when. Film and edit numerous videos in a single session, rather than a single at a time. Then, squeeze as a lot juice out of each and every video as doable.

“Repurpose a single video as a lot as you can — across TikTok, Instagram, YouTube Shorts and Pinterest Thought Pins for maximum influence,” Darma stated.

four. DEFINE YOUR Targets

Any superior social media approach must be anchored in certain ambitions, no matter if that is views, comments, clicks or some other kind of engagement, says Danielle Wiley, founder and chief executive officer of Sway Group, an influencer advertising and marketing agency.

“Social media is incredible from a metrics viewpoint — you can get so a lot information — but that information is meaningless if you do not develop ambitions,” Wiley says. “If you do not know what the aim is from the starting, you will not develop the proper kind of content material.”

five. LEAN IN TO WHAT Performs

Posting something and anything tends to make sense at the begin you require to throw anything at the wall and see what sticks. But when videos begin gaining traction, it pays to adhere to that thread.

“A major factor I see is that after people today see results with a single video, they overlook to continue their momentum by producing videos related to the a single that took off,” Darma stated. “You know what style and what subject resonates with your followers, so make much more of that. Invest in what performs.”

For Dan-O’s Seasoning, the thread was recipes. TikToks of Oliver producing anything from sushi to deep-fried mac and cheese to parmesan potatoes to prime rib rack up hundreds of thousands of views. If a single actually requires off, like a current video for pulled pork tacos, views are in the millions .

Videos of Oliver sharing his entrepreneur story or scouting out Dan-O’s on retailer shelves did nicely, but didn’t strike the identical chord. So his group produced a strategic selection: The official account for Dan-O’s Seasoning would only function recipes.

“It’s absolutely functioning. I adhere to all these other creators, people today we’re in competitors with, and their accounts are type of stagnant. Ours is not,” Oliver says. “We continue to develop, anyplace from two,000 to ten,000 followers a day.”

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This report was offered to The Linked Press by the individual finance web page NerdWallet. Kelsey Sheehy is a writer at NerdWallet. E mail: ksheehy@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @KelseyLSheehy.

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