It is 2023 and it’s time to launch your brand’s TikTok Channel!
I’ve been talking basically all month, all year so far about it.
But specifically in this blog, I am excited because there are so many businesses and brands who are finally ready to launch their TikTok channel.
And so today I wanted to give you five tips for launching your brand’s TikTok channel in 2023.
I don’t want you to wait until next year.
I don’t want you to wait until summertime or until fall.
No, we’re gonna do this right now, and today let’s talk about that.
Now, you know, I’m biased because I’m obsessed with TikTok, but I didn’t start on TikTok.
I started on Periscopes. Y’all remember Periscope?
And that’s how I built my business in the beginning.
Then I was on Facebook Live, and then Instagram Live came out and I spent years on those platforms.
That was it.
And in 2020 I got onto TikTok because God told me to get onto TikTok.
But watching how things have evolved and grown and my business has done what it’s done, I’ve started to see like, this is what this is and it’s not going anywhere.
And with everybody mirroring themselves after TikTok, of course, I’m compelled to continue to teach people about using it.
And so now, I wanna give you some very specific things about launching your brand’s TikTok account.
Now the first thing that I wanna talk to you about is just the power of TikTok.
So you see me talk about it all the time like I had an episode previously.
This one where I was talking about Chipotle and basically I was talking in a previous episode that Chipotle is changing their menu.
They’re adding a brand new item to their menu because of TikTok.
Because somebody on TikTok started going to Chipotle and ordering a cheese quesadilla with steak and then taking their sour cream and then mixing it with their vinaigrette.
And then they would dip it together, and people have just gone crazy about this thing.
And so there’s a food critic who found out about it, talked about it, and then of course it blew up like crazy.
And as a result, Chipotle was like, whoa, what happened? How did this get back?
And so now they’re adding that menu item to their menu in the month of March.
I don’t know about y’all, but Chipotle stays the same for the most part.
They try new Chandelo flavors or whatever, but for the most part, they don’t add an entirely different menu item just because people on TikTok wanted to finagle something.
So like, is any of y’all familiar with the dragon sauce?
So before I found out that I was lactose intolerant, we would take the hottest Chipotle sauce and you would mix it with their sour cream, and that was called the dragon sauce.
And then you would pour it over your bowl, the greatest tasting thing on the planet.
But your girl is lactose intolerant, I think it puts me right to sleep so I don’t get that anymore!
But they never changed the menu for that item.
Now because of the power of TikTok, the whole menu is changing and adding that to the play.
And so when I think about you and I think about your brand, there are a lot of opportunities there.
First of all, it’s brand awareness.
You may not eat McDonald’s and it’s okay if you do or don’t whatever, but one thing we know about McDonald’s is not just that their shake machine is always broken.
We all know that across the world.
But we all also know that McDonald’s is always advertising, when you don’t see anybody advertising, McDonald’s is always advertising.
And they’re not advertising because nobody knows they exist.
They’re advertising because they want you to always think about them.
When you’re thinking about fast food or burger or fries or whatever, they always want you to think of them.
And so one of the things about you and your brand for TikTok is this is a huge opportunity for brand awareness because there are millions of people, probably billions, that don’t even know that you and your brand exist.
But through the power of TikTok marketing and how it does with this algorithm on the For You Page, you’ve got this huge opportunity where people can get to know you and what it is you do, and what it is you offer.
Absolutely for free.
You know, like we run paid ads all the time and people come in contact with me because of our ads, but we’ve also had millions come in contact with me because of my TikTok videos.
Bumble didn’t know that I existed, or Vistaprint or TikTok, or QuickBooks.
None of them knew that I existed until I started marketing on TikTok, and I’ve been marketing everywhere.
But as a result, they now know that I exist.
And so as it pertains to you and your brand, it’s a really big opportunity because you’re marketing your business.
It’s not the case that you’re not marketing.
You are just not marketing your business in a place that can really explode the awareness that people can have about you, your brand, and what it is that you have to offer.
And so I know that people are still kind of in this space of like, but is my audience on TikTok? Is TikTok gonna get banned or whatever?
Listen, here’s what I’ll say about the ban.
I highly don’t think that it’s going to get banned.
I think there’s gonna be major restrictions that are placed on the app.
I think that they’re gonna have to sell off the USA version to a United States company, so that way we have control over what China has access to due to security and all that type of stuff.
But I don’t think they’re gonna ban the actual app.
I just highly doubt it.
I just don’t think that’s gonna happen.
But also, you know, people are saying like, is my audience really there?
Well, I want you to answer these questions…
Have you watched TikTok videos in the last month?
Have you watched a video on TikTok in the last month?
Have you had someone in your age group watch videos on TikTok that you are completely aware of?
And have you or somebody you know talked about their business on TikTok or talked to you about a product or service or person that they came in contact with, and now follow or love because of TikTok?
I don’t care who you are, you could pretend, pretend all day, but you have had to answer yes to at least one of those questions.
Maybe all of them.
And the reason is that your audience is there.
You know, every time I do a presentation and I talk to people about TikTok, the whole room stands up and says they’ve watched TikTok.
And by the end of it, I said, now how many of you are actually creating content?
It’s about 1%.
And I said, so here’s the deal.
Everybody in here that is over 30 stood up watching content on TikTok.
You’re just not posting because you don’t know how.
And so your audience is there watching, consuming, and all that every single day.
They just are not consuming you because you’re not there on the platform.
So that’s number one, you gotta understand the power of TikTok and get started.
The second thing I wanna talk to you about is what you need to do to really get started on the account.
The first thing is you wanna identify what type of content that you actually want to put out on the platform,
Because sometimes people will go to TikTok or they’ll see videos on TikTok and feel like they have to be A, B, or C.
They have to look like whatever, they have to dance or be goofy or point or whatever.
These things that they have seen that they’re like, I just don’t wanna do that.
Well, that doesn’t mean you have to do it!
Just because you saw that or something that went viral doesn’t mean that’s what your account has to look like.
Doesn’t mean that that’s what you have to do on a regular basis on the platform, but you have to determine what this is gonna look like for you.
Now, I do not recommend that you just take Facebook Lives and repurpose them for TikTok.
No!
I do encourage you to think through some type of content ideation strategy.
So for example, I know people who record YouTube videos one video a week, but they record it in a way where it’s easy for people to cut it into short-form videos.
So what does that mean?
One of the things my editors told me because right now the office that I’m in is small and so my computer and the camera are really close to me.
And so you can’t see a lot of dimensions in my video, like width-wise.
And so she said, when you move into your next space, I want you to build it out to where your camera is a little bit further away.
That gives us a lot more distance from you.
So then we can take the one video you shoot on YouTube and we can turn ’em into short clips
And what that’s gonna do, that’s gonna cut down my content creation time, down by 75%.
Now they’re able to take videos I create every single day for the podcast and for YouTube in general and turn ’em into short-form clips that actually teach an audience how to strategically market and build your brand online.
So you can do that if you wanna repurpose content for TikTok.
But you have gotta be very intentional with how everything looks and how everything is set up to make sure it looks good once you start posting it on the platform.
The next thing you wanna make sure that you have is an updated device.
The last thing you wanna do is to try to create content on short-form video, and you got an iPhone six.
You’re gonna wanna go ahead and update that phone, Sis!
I am not saying that you gotta have an iPhone 14, pro-Max, or whatever is out right now.
It’s probably iPhone 18 right by now but you can’t be walking around here with an iPhone six thinking you’re gonna do a short-form video.
You also wanna have some external lighting and you wanna have a tripod.
Right now, everything looks super lit up where I am.
And the reason is that the office has some lights at the top, but I also have a ring light, a huge 18-inch ring light that is illuminating my entire setup.
And so it allows my background to just look really, really good.
Also if I am up recording something in front of that light, it also has a place where I can put my phone.
I use the “Neewer ring light”. On Amazon, you can type in an 18-inch ring light and that’s what I use.
It already has the phone case inside of it.
I just put my phone in there and all the things and it’s gonna make being able to record videos just awesome.
The next thing you wanna do in this second tip is you wanna determine who is actually gonna be the face of your TikTok account because you need consistency.
I’m not saying that it has to only be one person, but you gotta figure out what this is gonna look like for you.
So there are some accounts I see on TikTok that are brands, and one of them started out with one person creating content, and then over the course of months, it became two people.
And then now there are like five or six different people on this account.
But the content is consistent and it’s always good and it’s always relatable and it’s always selling that company’s products and services.
And so you gotta determine who’s gonna be the face.
Is it gonna be you, the owner, or is it gonna be an employee?
Is it gonna be multiple people?
Either way, it doesn’t matter.
My account is always mine today, but I can’t say if I transitioned my company into a more corporate brand.
I can’t say that I wouldn’t have other faces.
It’s just today, it’s just me.
So you gotta have consistency on the account, but also the easiest way to have consistency is to make sure that you know who’s gonna be creating content.
And that person, they’re just, that’s just what they do.
They may not be their only job but that is a consistency of this is what they do and all the things.
Now what you also wanna do as a best practice in this same second tip is just wanna make sure that you have a plan.
That you have a plan on what you’re gonna be doing there.
Who you’re gonna be targeting and what you’re gonna be offering.
Are you gonna be selling products and services all the time?
Are you gonna be focusing on lead generation?
What is gonna be your thing?
In my bio on TikTok, normally I have a link tree, which gives people an option to be able to grab our free tools and or purchase products.
Now, when we are offering my course called Monetize The Tok, which is a mastermind teaching you how to use TikTok marketing for your business.
When we are in the process of offering that, we only have one link there.
And so that link on my bio will lead directly to that.
So when we have that time, when it is open, which is right now, you’re able to click and it’ll take you right there to the page where you can enroll.
Otherwise, we have a link tree, which gives different options.
And, we change that out as soon as we close the doors to our course, and then we go back to our regular link tree.
Now the third thing you wanna do is you wanna make sure that you’re only sharing content that is of value to the brand.
So what does that mean?
So if your brand is very feminine as it pertains to flowers and pinks, and it is talking to people who love lipstick and makeup and hair, like dainty in a sense or whatever.
So then, you have to make sure that if the main thing you focus on is makeup and lipstick and, and all that type of stuff then you can’t be creating content that is around political content.
If your brand is about lip gloss, lipstick, and dainty stuff, but you have a political opinion, then you have to be aware of who your brand is.
This is what we talk about. This is what we focus on. This is what we don’t talk about. It’s what we don’t focus on.
I am not very political whatsoever.
I am a registered independent, however, I am also African American and I am a Christian.
And as a Christian, as I am, there are certain things that I do talk about.
I do talk about some of the challenges that minorities face.
I do talk about the need to vote.
I do talk about the need to pray and talk to God about voting, about not just voting because it’s this or because it’s that, but just praying because God knows everything and He can help the person that he’s gonna bring into the office.
Whether you agree with who’s in there or not. I say pray and let’s just make a decision that way.
And so that is my brand and that’s been my brand’s position forever.
You know, I just always have been that way and so you won’t see me kind of going against Democrat or Republican, or you just won’t see me doing certain things because one, that’s not who I am.
And that’s not how our brand shows up.
So you gotta make sure you are very intentional with the value of the content of your brand on the platform.
Now the next thing that you wanna do with launching your brand’s TikTok channel is, of course, you gotta make sure that you focus on helping people with?
Like specifically if you are a female coach or course creator, how do you help people?
Because on this account, you wanna be helping people with that because you’re gonna rise to fame in a sense through the algorithm pushing out your content.
And people are gonna get used to you and what it is that you talk about and what it is that you do.
And they’re gonna come to your content, to your account for that, for those things.
And if you are over here one day and over here the next day, then you’re not creating a consistency or a need for what it is you have to offer.
So one of my online friends, Dr. Marie Claire, teaches menopause, perimenopausal, and menopause.
And she’s constantly teaching women, educating women and all the things regarding that.
And so if we have a question about all these things going on in our bodies then guess what.
If there’s somebody specific I wanna go talk to, I won’t go to her because it is all she talks about.
That’s all she is known for.
Every time I wanna see good food to eat in Vegas, immediately I go to Keith Lee’s page.
That’s all he does is he reviews food in Vegas. That is all he does!
There’s a girl in Paris, an American in Paris, and she’s constantly talking to you about what is happening in Paris as an American, and it’s preparing me for my trip when I go to Paris.
And so on my account, you’re gonna hear me talk about business and marketing, how to make marketing, how to make money in your business, and all the things you need to do to have success in your business.
That’s what you’re gonna hear on that account.
There was a time when I was all over the place and I was just like, “all right, you gotta get focused cuz nobody is paying attention to you being all over the place”.
And then that’s gonna help you to be able to sell your products and services a lot easier.
That is how we have been able to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars selling our course, Monetize The Tok, and how one of our students, Mercedes, is able to generate over a million dollars in revenue.
Year because on her account, all she talks about is mystery shopping.
That’s it.
And she has a company teaching people how to become successful mystery shoppers.
And so people aren’t getting these random things on her account.
They’re just getting that about her as a mom, as a mystery shopper.
That is it.
And so if you’re gonna sell products and services and courses very similar to what we do with my mastermind, then TikTok is definitely the place that you wanna do that.
But you gotta make sure that you’re very clear about all the things.
Also if you’re interested, like right now in this blog, the doors are open to our mastermind, which is called Monetize The Tok.
Where we are teaching you all the things you need to know not only to be successful on TikTok but use it as the lead generator that it is to drive hundreds and thousands of leads into your email system so that you can convert them into sales.
We talk to you about making sure you have your funnel set up, your abandoned cart set up, and the opt-ins and upsells, and all those things.
We talk about all of that.
On the inside of this course, we also talk about how you can position yourself as a brand.
How can you position yourself as a brand so that brands, when they see you, will wanna pay you for doing work with you?
For example, I have a mic here, it would be great to do a deal with this company because I’m always using it.
And so if I position myself properly, then I can go and reach out to that brand and say, “Hey, I’ve been teaching people about podcasting, about this microphone”.
Would love to have an affiliate link or do some type of collaboration or whatever.
And then they can go and search me out and go, “oh, she is actually talking to our target audience”
So we’re gonna be teaching about how I do all of that and how we’ve made a million dollars so far from a TikTok platform.
But more importantly, our students have done it.
Faster making a million dollars, and they’re doing it over and over and over again.
And then point number five is you want to learn ways to engage your audience on the TikTok platform.
Because here’s the deal, the thing that all algorithms want, they want engagement.
They don’t just want people watching the video, they want people commenting on the video.
They want people to like the video. They want people to take action every time they’re seeing your videos.
Because the more active people take, the more your video will continue to get pushed out to other people.
The number one way to get engagement on your video is to ask people a question and they will tell you what they’re thinking.
I give tips all the time, or I say, TikTok has this new feature, and at the end of the video I will say, “What do you think about that?”
And people will chime in and say what they think about that.
Some of them like it. Some of them hate it. Some of them like me. Some of them hate me.
But the engagement is happening because I have asked them.
A question could be, are you having problems with this?
What’s your struggle with going from a meat eater to a vegan?
What’s your struggle with going from eating cheese to being dairy free?
Whatever your thing is, what’s your struggle with makeup?
But the more you are asking people and engaging and inviting them to engage, the more likely they are to engage and then you’ll have even more success.
But also what happens is that once people engage in your content, you can go and engage back with them, and that’s the opportunity for you to be able to say, “Send me a DM, grab the link on my, or something like that.”
Or just serve them so well that they come and find you and say, “I wanna work with you”.
But you have to give people those opportunities by inviting them to engage.
So those are my five tips to launch your brand’s TikTok channel. And again, if you need help with TikTok, I will be honored to work with you.
We have this Eight-week Mastermind for TikTok.
It is open right now and it will close in a few days.
It won’t open up again until probably late, late, late fall.
But this is the opportunity to work with me inside of my course as well as eight weeks of live group coaching with me.
And so if you’re interested in that, you can literally just go to Monetize The Tok.
I look forward to seeing you on the inside!