We will rip off the band-aid without anesthesia, and say that when the digital presence of SMEs and freelancers is not worked on… Your business simply does not exist. It hurts, we know. But that’s how elementary it is to exist on the digital plane. In the hyperconnected, digital(ized) and multiplatform society in which we live, digital presence is not a matter of survival. It is a matter of existence.
And, of course, there’s also a difference between working the digital presence and working it
well
We are a company with a head, taking advantage of the opportunities that arise before others get to them. This is precisely the great challenge for SMEs and the self-employed, isn’t it? Winning a place among the big companies that go all out… and sweep all before them.
This article explores a breakthrough strategic strategic breakthrough decision to build a good digital presence through social networks. If you are looking to catapult your business, you are in the right place. Shall we start?
Instagram, obsolete or overexploited?
In 2021, data collected by the platform indicated that, on a daily basis, there were 500 million active users on Instagram, and their average time on the social network was only increasing. Add to this the fact that users are increasingly interested in keeping up to date with the latest news from the brands that have built their loyalty. With such mesmerizing numbers, every company falls at his feet. “If I’m not on Instagram, I can never be anything,” they think.
Come on, let’s rip off another band-aid, and unveil the great pantomime of the last few years: when we base the digital presence of SMBs and freelancers on Instagram.we are destined to despair, frustration and disappointment. It is precisely because we want to be where everyone is that, inevitably, building a good online presence is very (very) difficult.
The curse of Instagram
For some years now, Instagram has been integrating more and more services into the same platform: chats, videos in the feed, video chats, reels, stores, and a long etcetera. Experts around the world attribute the collapse (potential/future/imminent depending on the professional you ask) of Instagram to this trend. To want to be… everything. Because you know what they say: when you want to be absolutely everything, you end up standing out for nothing. Here’s another paradox: How do we stand out on a platform that, functionally, no longer stands out for anything?
Here is the story of how Instagram has become the communicative kryptonite (dramatic but real).. This homogeneous business mentality has made this social network an overexploited red ocean dominated by large companies, and consequently, an obsolete platform to grow the digital presence of smaller businesses.
We are not saying that Instagram no longer works, because that Instagram still has a lot of communicative power is a reality. We say that it is a platform that does not fit the communication needs and outreach capabilities of SMEs and freelancers.
But if we have learned anything in this constantly changing digital paradigm, it is that before we realize that a platform is no longer useful to us, there are new social networks to discover. So what’s beyond Instagram?
The power of TikTok for the digital presence of SMBs and freelancers
If we as a company have already assumed that being present on Instagram is not enough to develop a digital strategy to match, our next question will be, “So where do we jump to next?”
Perhaps the following news item will give us some hint (well direct) about their response:
Incredible as it may seem, yes, the social network that started out as an endless stream of dances and challenges by and for teenagers has become the busiest portal in the world. Because we no longer only find people between 15 and 25 years old creating and consulting TikTok. Just as happened at the time with Instagram, people of all ages and interests now find content they like on the platform.
What does this mean? That no business or project will be able to shield itself in that of “I don’t have a presence on TikTok because that’s not where my target audience is.” Yes, they are, stop making excuses and start creating content.
That pretext of the public is usually accompanied by his friend “and besides, I don’t have the means to create content there”.. Sound familiar? We’re not going to kid you, the content on this platform is becoming more and more refined, but the essence of TikTok is the spontaneity, and that is what makes it accessible to all brands. You don’t need to have the nicest offices or a film set to create relevant content on the platform, you simply need to people willing to communicate your product in a creative way and making it reach the right audience.
The charm of TikTok
That it is the most popular digital and social platform in the world is not attractive enough for you? Here are some more truths about TikTok that exemplify its great charm to build a good digital presence for SMBs and freelancers, both to work with organic content and to launch campaigns:
- The communication is fresh, new, and even visionary.. In other words, content on TikTok is driven by day-to-day events, both in the public and private sphere. And visionary because it is often TikTok that creates the trend, that starts the conversation about a particular topic.
No hate, all love
. Unlike the other social networks, TikTok is a virtually hate-free space. It is a place to disconnect and be entertained, without encountering negative messages in a meteoric fashion. In this sense, it is the antithesis of what Twitter has become: the home of criticism.- Engagement, engagement, and more engagement. By far, it is the social network with more engagement; more comments, more likes, more “duets”, more shares. More, more, more.
- Generation barrier… what? When it comes to social networks, the time has come to erase the concept of “generation barrier” from our minds. Neither TikTok is for young people, nor LinkedIn for adults. Don’t believe us? Ask Rosa, the “TikTok’s yaya”.
The 3 commandments for a good digital presence of SMEs and freelancers on TikTok
These principles are what we consider the 3 commandments of TikTok, and they are the key to making your digital presence successful. But, above all, it demonstrates how easy it is to jump into producing content on TikTok; ergo, how easy it is to build a successful digital presence.
“Don’t call me by “you”.”
TikTok is, par excellence, a platform where communication must be informal and spontaneous, so that it can be integrated without difficulty. Users prefer face-to-face content, and without filters (in this case, figuratively speaking), because it is human content (not humanized). They crave and seek to connect with what you teach them, whatever it is; and for this, the best way is to communicate colloquially, as if it were a conversation.
“Either you entertain me or I leave.”
There is nothing better to disconnect from reality than to connect to TikTok. It is a platform born for entertainment in all its forms. This does not mean that, as we said before, there is only dancing and music, on the contrary: it means that, As long as the content is entertaining, what you explain is secondary. Do you want to explain a physical theory? Tell the news of the day? Teach a product? No problem, as long as you camouflage it with entertainment.
Love for the homemade
Yes, the content on TikTok is being refined little by little, but the content that seems more homemade always prevails over any other. Just so we understand each other, simple and “crappy” videos attract much more attention. An audiovisual super-production is nothing more than a barrier that formalizes the brand-user dialogue, and goes against the spontaneous nature of the platform.
To sum up…
We know that the wound left by Instagram hurts a little: developing the digital presence of SMEs and freelancers is a challenge in such a competitive and atomized market. But it’s better to cure it, let it itch, so it can heal, right?
Making the decision to go with TikTok is not a question of capabilities or skills. We’ve seen that user demands on this one are minimal, so the only thing standing between TikTok and you is the courage to step out of the comfort zone that is Instagram. A comfort zone where nothing is born anymore, is it really a comfort zone? I don’t know, we’ll leave the question open and you’ll let us know.
They say that every rule has an exception, and this is the one that proves the rule. Well, perhaps this is the exception to the phrase “the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t”. The day is coming to take Instagram down from its pedestal, to get to know this new platform. TikTok, tick-tock. What are you waiting for?
