With the rise in popularity of videos on social media, you may be thinking that TikTok is the perfect social media platform to reach more customers. As someone who has multiple clients on the platform as well as my own personal account, I’ve learned a lot about what you should consider if you want to make sure your time on there is well spent.
Do you have enough engaging video content?
@juliegomenaracing Teaching young horses how to properly jump is an important component of making sure they have a long, fruitful career. Here are five early steps Julie takes to set them up for success. #horseracing #horsetraining #equestrian #potential ♬ original sound – Julie Gomena Racing
We’ve left the age where any video will do. These days if you want to get views, you need to make sure your video is appealing in some way. Sure, a horse grazing in the paddock may make a good ASMR video every once in a while, but most viewers will quickly tire of that if you do it too often. You’re better off coming up with a content plan and trying to execute it rather than just taking random videos throughout the day. For one of my clients, I switch between videos I get from the farm, race videos, and sale videos when possible.
Are you ready to follow trends?
@juliegomenaracing Two years after Risk Taking won the G3 Withers Stakes before running in the @PreaknessStakes, the Medaglia d’Oro son is showing he may have just as much talent over the jumps as he did on the flat! @marylandjockeyclub #CapCut #racehorse #Thoroughbred #horsetrainer #equestrian #horseracing #horsesofinstagram #steeplechasing #JulieGomenaRacing #horsetraining ♬ original sound – Julie Gomena Racing
TikTok is HUGE on trends and editing videos in CapCut (or other video editors – I personally use CapCut since it is easy to take the edited video straight to TikTok). You need to stay on top of it and capitalize if you have videos that fit the trend. This doesn’t mean that you have to put together a video edit for every single video –I only do it for videos that I feel fit the trend – but you do need to keep track and do it often enough to bring views to your page.
Can you post enough to keep people interested?
Something about TikTok that you have to keep in mind is that it works best if you can post consistently. In fact, TikTok punishes you by semi-shadowbanning you from “For You” pages (think of that as the main newsfeed) if you don’t post often enough … though it should be noted that research shows it shadow bans you more if you post every other day vs. if you wait a few days between posts. I personally try to post on clients’ pages AT LEAST once a week, though more than that is ideal. I don’t always get new video content from clients so I try to keep back some of the videos if they’re not time sensitive so I have something to share when it’s quiet.
Getting a lot of video content in one go is actually fairly easy. If there are a few different things going on during one morning at your operation, grab videos of all of it. If you see something that seems interesting, grab video of it then hold on to it until it fits later on. Following this step can give you plenty of footage because you don’t need very long clips to make a good TikTok video.
Can you find replays?
@bluewatersales Bluewater graduate Antonio of Venice romps at Saratoga to break his maiden with fellow graduate Honest Al finishing third! Purchased from our Fasig-Tipton October consignment, Antonio of Venice is trained by co-owner Rudy Rodriguez, who races him with Michael Imperio, Robert Cotrone & Hibiscus Stable. #FTOct #equestrian #racing #racehorse #horseracing #fasigtipton #winner ♬ original sound – BluewaterSales
Definitely don’t steal content from other farms or trainers but if you work in an industry where replays of your sport are a thing, utilize them. Pyrois Media focuses mostly on racing and there are plenty of places where I can find replays of races or even ring time at horse sales so I grab those videos when needed for posts. I do credit where the video came from if it doesn’t say on the video and I strictly do this with race replays from the mainstream racing channels or ring videos from the sale companies, not grab it from individuals. This works well to supplement other content you take and helps promote your results.
Is it going to be fun or feel like a chore?
@melmaesback When you work in one sport but love watching others live, you quickly learn how to multitask so you can do both. #baseball #horseracing #sportsmedia #sportsprofessional ♬ Work Hard, Play Hard – Phat Flava
This is something I always consider before expanding to a new platform and honestly, for a long time I was hesitant to open any TikTok accounts outside my personal one.
Of course, running accounts for clients is work and can feel like it at times but making videos with popular edits is fun to me so it’s something that I enjoy doing. This is something I’ve preached in other blogs as well, but if you feel like it’s something you absolutely have to do and it starts to feel like something you’re not enjoying, your content is going to suffer. So before you commit to starting the account, think very hard about if you’ll enjoy running it or if it’s just going to feel like another task.
If you still want a TikTok but don’t want to deal with the work that is involved or if you don’t know where to get started, contact me at Melissa@PyroisMedia.com and I can either help you manage the account or take a consultant role to get you on your TikTok feet.