Let me let you know a narrative a few daring thought, a courageous staff, and a platform filled with 17-year-olds dancing in Crocs.
Spoiler alert: I’m no Mr. Beast. I’m no Preston. And we didn’t break the web.
However the web did nearly break us.
The setup
It began when Kelsey (our Prez), Andrea (our cautious however fearless advertising director) got here to me and stated:
“Mike, we should be on TikTok.”
Ugh. Are you certain?
Now, I’m not anti-TikTok. I’m pro-growth. Professional-attention. Professional-not-being-obsolete. And if which means making an attempt out a platform recognized for lip-sync battles and chaotic cooking movies, I’m recreation.
Andrea had a plan. A superb one, too.
She’d been finding out TikTok traits, gathering inspo (did I simply say, “inspo”?), and constructing a technique that might carry The Cash Behavior, Repair This Subsequent, and Revenue First into the feed-scrolling minds of a brand new era of entrepreneurs.
And we have been all in.
We known as it “The TikTok Experiment.”
It was going to be sensible, proper? Proper?
Spoiler alert #2: It was one thing.
The plan
Andrea lined up a posting schedule.
She skilled herself.
She bought me on digicam doing issues that may by no means be unseen.
We danced (badly).
We used trending sounds (questionable).
We gave critical enterprise recommendation whereas sporting sun shades and making an attempt to seem like we understood Gen Z slang.
The hashtags? FIRE.
The lighting? Impeccable.
The dedication? Unmatched.
We have been able to go viral.
We hit publish.
The outcomes
…crickets.
Effectively, not precisely crickets.
One video of me lip-syncing to a sound about “getting wealthy sluggish” did okay.
One other clip of Andrea dancing whereas explaining the Revenue First method really caught some consideration.
After which, then got here the feedback. The Poisonous TikTok I had heard about was illustrated. Too nicely.
Let’s simply say, TikTok customers are artistic of their suggestions.
We bought roasted.
Affectionately, savagely, relentlessly roasted.
One individual stated I appeared like “the accountant your mother warned you about.” To notice, I’ve by no means been an accountant!
Another person accused Andrea of being a bot (which she took as a praise).
One other simply wrote, “OK Boomer,” which, for the document, I’m not. Although they did level out that I had Skechers on. I used to be strolling by means of the woods in that clip, man.
However us being us, we saved going – as a result of experiments aren’t imagined to be secure.
They’re imagined to be actual. Even when they harm actual dangerous.
Our meltdown (and breakthrough)
Round week three, the staff had what I’ll kindly name a “artistic breakdown.”
Andrea was within the workplace, surrounded by ring lights, empty espresso cups, and a pile of rejected sound clips. She checked out me and stated, “Mike. What even is our model on TikTok?”
A good query.
As a result of someplace between making an attempt to be “cool” and making an attempt to remain on-brand, we realized one thing:
We weren’t failing as a result of TikTok didn’t like us.
The pivot
So we stopped chasing traits.
We stopped making an attempt to sound like a 19-year-old entrepreneur with a hoop mild and a six-pack.
We began doing what we do greatest:
Telling the reality.
Educating what works.
Laughing at ourselves alongside the way in which.
Andrea led the shift. She scrapped half the calendar, took a breath, and stated, “Let’s simply be us, however sooner and weirder.” I can try this.
We began making movies that have been a bit of offbeat, a bit of uncomfortable, and very us:
- Explaining monetary rules as I scribbled notes onto a authorized pad
- Breaking down advertising myths whereas power-walking by means of the workplace
- Speak about burnout, dangerous launches, and funds remorse, with zero filters and questionable lighting.
And guess what?
Individuals began watching.
Not thousands and thousands. However hundreds.
Individuals began commenting issues like, “Lastly, one thing actual on this app,” and “I didn’t count on to love this, however right here we’re.”
It wasn’t viral. But it surely was sincere. And it was working.
After which there was the algorithm
Oh, the wonderful, mysterious, emotionally abusive algorithm. Someday, we’d submit one thing that felt like gold, and nothing. Whole silence. The following day, we’d add a shaky, last-minute clip of my son and me on the Ultimate 4, and hundreds of views. No rationalization. No logic. Simply TikTok doing TikTok issues. It grew to become a operating joke on the staff: “Submit it and pray to the algo gods.” Actually, it felt like courting in highschool – sizzling at some point, ghosted the subsequent. (I imply, that’s what I heard.)
What we discovered
Right here’s the reality about making an attempt to go viral:
Should you’re not clear in your voice earlier than you hit publish, the algorithm will eat you alive.
We went into this experiment considering, “Let’s go viral.”
We got here out of it realizing, “Let’s go actual, and let the fitting folks discover us.”
That’s advertising.
That’s management.
That’s what Andrea taught us by surviving what we now name the Nice TikTok Breakdown of 2024.
So… Would we do it once more?
100%.
With Andrea in cost? 200%.
As a result of right here’s what most individuals don’t notice:
Advertising and marketing isn’t about being in all places. It’s about being someplace authentically.
You possibly can fail fantastically in entrance of hundreds of strangers and nonetheless win in case you be taught, adapt, and cease making an attempt to be a duplicate of another person’s viral second.
So in case you’re a enterprise proprietor questioning if TikTok is price making an attempt, I say sure.
However not since you need fame.
Since you need connection.
Since you’re keen to experiment.
As a result of possibly, simply possibly, you’re keen to look a bit of ridiculous within the course of.
And in our case? Mission completed.
No less than at the moment.
-You’ve bought this (even when the web tries to interrupt your spirit).
-Mike
P.S. Should you see a video of me explaining The Revenue First method whereas holding a blender filled with gummy bears… simply know Andrea made me do it.
And I’d do it once more.
@mikemichalowicz
