a The impending ban on TikTok It could impact millions of small businesses who use short video social media apps to help grow their businesses.
Desiree Hill, owner of Crown’s Corner Mechanic in Conyers, Georgia, started her own business as a mobile mechanic. Sharing videos of her work on TikTok helped spread the word and led her to open a 9,000-square-foot brick-and-mortar store with five employees 18 months ago.
“Every day I get at least two or three customers who see me on TikTok, watch my videos, and want to become a customer,” she said.
TikTok only appeared in 2016, but small business owners are using the platform in a variety of ways, from growing their customer base to advertising and marketing to selling products directly from their site.
If the ban goes into effect, small and medium-sized businesses using TikTok will lose more than $1 billion in revenue each month, according to TikTok’s own estimates.
The Department of Justice has issued a statement against the app’s China-based parent company ByteDance. Sell TikTok by January 19th or face ban in USand cited security concerns as the reason. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the matter in January. President-elect Donald Trump will be inaugurated on January 20th. asked the Supreme Court for a postponement.
If a ban occurs, small businesses will have to move to other platforms to find customers. Instagram Reels, SnapChat, and YouTube Shorts are alternatives. The good news is that your brand may already have a presence there. But reaching the teens who have made TikTok their favorite social media app can be difficult.
Another option is to build a strong database of customers who choose to provide a contact email address or phone number. This allows owners to deliver promotions and other marketing messages directly to customers.
But Crown Corner Mechanic’s Hill said he’s concerned that other sites won’t have the same reach as TikTok. She has a presence on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook, but she said it’s not the same.
“I’m nervous because I’m not ready,” she says. “TikTok occupies a very important position in terms of my customer base and how I reach them, so losing TikTok would mean losing a large portion of my business or my ability to grow.”
Crystal Lister is the owner of Mommy and Me: The Listers in Cypress, Texas, which offers interactive workshops on STEM education. She’s working on switching to YouTube for videos and Instagram Reels for teasers to drive people to YouTube, but said TikTok is easier.
“If TikTok gets banned, it’s going to be difficult because you’re going to lose all the features that you want, like the ability to create videos and the ability to spread information through social media,” she said. “So we have to use many other platforms to supplement what TikTok has done with one platform.”
