Trends, Likes, and Comments
There is absolutely no question that social media has completely changed how small businesses advertise. Small businesses now have platforms that utilize short-form, attention-grabbing content (like TikTok and Instagram), which ultimately give more freedom to the business in determining their brand. Social media is the main contributor to brand recognition and therefore its level of success. While social media platforms now give brands more freedom to express themselves, it also creates more competition, especially regarding if what you post will become a trend or just another video that someone will scroll past.
Creating or being a part of a trend can completely catapult your business into success, but determining which trend will catch viewers’ attention is the tricky part. TikTok and Instagram utilize short form content, which means that most popular trends are quick and concise. This can be a great way to advertise since it is simple and does not take too much time out of the day.
Popular trends for businesses over the years have shifted from serious and professional into satirical and funny. On our TikTok we try to make positive and funny videos that our viewers will enjoy. Making sure that we understand our audience is key. We are a local tourism company that sells a float down the river; let’s make that experience look as fun as possible and show that our staff is helpful, kind, and outgoing. Our most popular video is of one of our staff members holding as many tubes as possible (we call him Regitube). This was unique and a fun way to show off the tube-carrying abilities of our staff members!
Understanding which content will be worth a like and/or comment establishes the success of a business’ social media presence. Likes and comments take a minimal amount of effort for the viewer, but they have to think that it is worth it. Oftentimes the video that will be most liked is the least expected one. Being funny and lighthearted online is one way to try and get likes. Another way is to talk about something important and turn it into digestible and short content. For example, we make videos on the importance of cleaning and taking care of the river. Making consistent content that viewers enjoy has helped us a ton in keeping our social media following, which therefore gets the word out about our business.
However, there is always a catch. Making content that will be consumed by thousands is difficult since we are trying to predict what the public wants to see. Coming up with these ideas can also be a challenge since we don’t want to continue following trends; we want to try and make some of our own. Keeping our audience engaged and excited about our service is important to us. Commenting and liking shows us how we are doing in this field, but receiving the engagement can be difficult.
Social media is a major contributor to a brand’s level of success and recognition. We value our social media audience and our customers immensely and we hope that they understand that. Creating brand recognition for a small business is important to its ability to remain relevant. If you are a Tube Shack customer, just know that a small like, share, or follow really does mean a lot to us.