By Kaitlyn Simmons
When quarantine first happened back in March, I, like many others, started using the app TikTok. Though I’m not completely obsessed, somedays I do find myself endlessly scrolling through my ‘For You’ Page watching all the different videos. As a dancer of 18 years, I really loved being able to learn the dances that others were posting, and I thought it was, and still is, such an awesome creative outlet. People can show off their video editing skills, insane trick shots, or the different items they use to organize their space.
However, the reason why I personally love this app is because it’s such an amazing platform for small businesses to promote themselves. People who run Etsy, Depop, Redbubble, Shopify and other types of small businesses have been able to promote their items and see their sales increase dramatically. Some small business owners started to post videos with maybe 100 or so sales under their belts, but by the time their video made its way onto thousands of ‘For You’ Pages due to the TikTok algorithm, their sales surpassed insane numbers (one sticker shop I follow started with around 150 orders, now the owner has over 2,000 sales!) I own an Etsy shop myself, SimpleDesignsByKate, and I hope to build a following like that someday.
I think many people love using TikTok because, within the span of 15-60 seconds, you can see a glimpse into someone’s day-to-day life; whether that’s them having learned the latest dance trend, their interests, or having filmed their entire day. With other social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, you only really get to see the perfect picture (or pictures) that have usually been edited or a quick story of a post they shared from another account. Being able to reach out to an audience with the perfect picture is great sometimes, but in others, it’s important to showcase that we’re all human and that sometimes things don’t go according to plan. So, the next time you come across a small business video on your ‘For You’ Page, make sure to not scroll past it right away; the person behind the video will thank you for it later.
Simmons is a junior Marketing major and Entrepreneurship and Graphic Design double minor
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