Here is a transcript generated by Otter.ai of The Global Marketer podcast episode about launching a TikTok channel for your brand:
Paula Uccelli 0:00
I think the good tip is to follow influencers like Tiktok, content creators that are doing the trends all the time, and also key brands. The report strategy is based on trends. So I think that if you follow those people, then you can do a quick scan, and you don’t have to spend five hours watching Tiktok until the trend magically pops up. I don’t know if you follow 10 content creators and five of them are doing the same trend. That maybe it’s something that you should keep in mind. We’re
Shaheen Samavati 0:30
seeing that like TikTok is changing the platform to become a little bit more like YouTube. It’s allowing like longer form videos. I wonder what you think is that gonna like ruin TikTok I
Paula Uccelli 0:39
don’t know if it’s gonna ruin TikTok, you will have to sell it to Elon Musk to ruin it. You will have to change so many things to ruin it right now, because it’s really like one of the most used apps, and like it’s growing so much and so fast.
Podcast intro 0:54
Welcome to The Global Marketer, where your hosts, Shaheen and Kegan, give you the tools that you need to make an impact in international markets. This podcast is brought to you by global content agency, VeraContent. Welcome
Shaheen Samavati 1:07
to the Global marketer, the podcast that helps you achieve success in international markets by learning from marketers on the ground and the tactics that have and haven’t worked for them. This podcast
Kegan Gates 1:16
is brought to you by VeraContent, an agency specialized in creating web and social media content for brands across multiple markets. Multiple markets in multiple languages, with a focus on key European markets. I’m Kegan gates, marketing specialist at VeraContent,
Shaheen Samavati 1:29
and I’m Shaheen Samavati, CEO of VeraContent. So if you follow VeraContent, you might have noticed that we’ve rebranded this podcast. We’re now called The Global Marketer, which we feel really reflects what we want to get across on this podcast in each episode, Kegan and I, well, actually, Kegan is new to the podcast, I should say. So welcome Kegan. It’s great to have you on the show, and I’m looking forward to hosting more of these episodes together. So as we relaunch the podcast, part of the new approach is that every episode is going to be a three way conversation between me, Kegan and another person, sometimes from our team, and sometimes an external guest. So in
Kegan Gates 2:02
today’s episode, we have a really great chat with our colleague, Paula, who helped us launch our TikTok so we’re rebranding our podcast and launching a new Tiktok channel. We’re going
Shaheen Samavati 2:12
to be talking about how Tiktok has evolved over the years, how to keep up with fast moving trends, and what to keep in mind for launching your own Tiktok channel. So that said, let’s jump into the interview.
Kegan Gates 2:26
So I’m really excited to have Paola on the podcast. We’ve been working really closely together launching our new Tiktok channel for Vera content, and we wanted to share some of our learnings and things to keep in mind if you’re considering watching a Tiktok, because it has been quite the process. But first, Paula, before we dive into all the details, do you want to introduce yourself? What you do with us aware content and kind of where you’ve come from in the
Unknown Speaker 2:49
past?
Paula Uccelli 2:50
Yeah, sure. Hi Kegan. Hi Shaheen. Well, hi everyone. I’m Paula, and I am a social media expert with seven years of experience. For the past three years, I’ve been diving into Tiktok and helping brands to develop strategies for this new platform. Now I’m a social media project manager at their content and this means that I work with a team of great people for cool and creative clients, and I love creating strategies and content that gets people talking.
Shaheen Samavati 3:20
So we’re like looking forward to hearing the details about some of the particular projects you’re working on, as well as what you’re doing with Vera content Tiktok channel. But before we get into that, I just wanted to ask you, like to give us a bit of a history lesson on Tiktok, and kind of what makes Tiktok different than the other platforms. Well,
Paula Uccelli 3:38
actually, Tiktok is not as young as most people think it was launched in 2016 but it wasn’t until 2020 with the pandemic that it became, like, massively popular, because people were at home and they haven’t. They didn’t have much to do. So they just like, were on the phone all days. And basically it combines a short format video with very powerful algorithm, so you are consuming very quick and very tailored content. And I think that the big difference with the other platforms is that the content that is produced and that is consumed is not as curated as in other platforms, and the trends move way faster than they do on Instagram. So
Kegan Gates 4:23
when you’re saying short form, just how long is like an ideal length of a Tiktok video, then compared to embryo or,
Paula Uccelli 4:32
well, it kind of like developed from the binds video that there were only, like around five or seven seconds, and it started at very short videos, but right now you can do a video up to 10 minutes. It depends on what is like your strategy on what are you looking for with those videos? What is your goal with that video? But the main attention that you get from the users is within the first two seconds. So. So there’s not a length that will work for all the brands or all the accounts. I think it depends on case by case and what is your goal.
Shaheen Samavati 5:08
I guess as part of the history lesson, we can give some context on what’s what is the vine?
Kegan Gates 5:15
Oh, what’s the vine? Okay, that’s,
Paula Uccelli 5:17
that’s, that is not deep internet, but it’s there. Well, mine was a video platform that where you can only upload very short video, and people started using that to do, like, very quick humorous videos. And it got very viral. Then it kind of lost its purposes. And, like, it got lost, yeah,
Shaheen Samavati 5:38
it was a project from, from what was formerly known as Twitter, right? So it was, and it was a bit ahead of its time, and so it was like the predecessor of tick tock. Tick tock, I think when it started out, was kind of similar, but it’s evolved over the years. Like tick tock today is not the same as tick tock when it first started,
Paula Uccelli 5:56
right? No, it just started. Well, actually started as musically. The first name that the app had was musically, when the goal was to, like, do lip sync with music and to upload videos based on music. And then it kind of shifted into using other users sounds to create your own video. And kind of like the same concept as the meme, where you have a structure and then you put in your content. It became a platform for sound meme, or audio memes, and that’s
Shaheen Samavati 6:30
still a really key element of Tiktok today. Like
Paula Uccelli 6:33
one of the things that it’s very key on Tiktok is the trending audios and how you can use it and how you can adapt it and, like, giving it your take to it, not just, like, replicating something. Yeah,
Shaheen Samavati 6:46
absolutely. I wanted to say, like, um, like, Instagram now has copied a lot of the functionality of Tiktok. So like, we see trending audios on Instagram as well. We see reels which are essentially look the same as Tiktok videos more or less like for brands that are already on Instagram and doing reels. Is there? What should they keep in mind if they want to maybe adapt that strategy for Tiktok? Or do you think they would need to create a totally different strategy for Tiktok? How different are the platforms?
Paula Uccelli 7:15
Well, I think that you can replicate content from Instagram to Tiktok. I don’t think that you should. I think that actually Instagram is trying to become more and more like Tiktok. So if you have content that was tailored and created for Instagram, and Instagram doesn’t want to look like Instagram anymore, and you’re using that content on Tiktok, it’s like you could be some steps behind. So I think that in terms of strategy, I don’t think that you have to create a full new strategy for your brand for social medias. I just think that you should adapt correctly your strategy to the different platforms. So let’s say that your brand wants to come across as funny and approachable. You can create more curated content for Instagram with carousel, or more graphic design or a more edit video, and still have a tone of voice that is fun and is relatable, but then have with the same tone of voice have a more human based strategy. What works on Tiktok, or videos with people?
Kegan Gates 8:25
So then, do you think that you know if you’re going to use this content over between platforms? Do you think that every brand should be on Tiktok? Like, what do you think marketers need to think about before launching a Tiktok, or before deciding, like, okay, like, let’s join this
Paula Uccelli 8:40
I think that’s that’s a great question, because it feels like whenever there’s a new platform, everybody should be on it. And I think that Tiktok is a great example that first you should evaluate whether that’s aligned with your tone of voice and with with your brand purpose, and also if your audience is there. First of all, because I don’t think that all brands should be on Tiktok. Honestly, I don’t think that Instagram or Facebook are gonna disappear anytime soon. So if you’re already connecting with your audience in one of those platforms, then maybe you should amplify that instead of moving toward another channel where your audience is not where your content is not relevant for that audience. And after that, I think that, and this is something that we do at Vera content, if you decide, or if you already know, that your audience is on Tiktok, that’s a great, great way to connect with them, and a great platform to engage with them. So before jumping into them, I think that first you have to understand your audience, know what they like, not know why, what they are consuming, and understand a little bit of the behavior that they having on Tiktok. Are they buying through Tiktok? Are they making a buying decision through Tiktok, or they’re just taking more info. They’re looking at reviews and looking at people. Sharing their opinions about a product, so how they’re behaving on Tiktok is key, and then you should have a content strategy that it’s aligned with your tone of voice and it’s original to your brand. This means for me, don’t copy Ryanair or don’t copy Duolingo. Just because they are brands that are working good on Tiktok. The fact that they are having a success on Tiktok does not mean that every brand should behave like that on on, say, on the platform. I think that you have to understand what’s your tone of voice, and how can you adapt that, and after that, I think that other key thing is to understand the resources. So tick tock advice to both twice a day, which is a lot, and let’s say that you don’t have the capacity, or you don’t have the interest in to be that present in the platform, but at least you should have eight to 12 videos a month, at least, at the very least, and so you will need the resources to record that video that could be internally, like we’re doing for the Vera content account that we found two stars on the rising. We have our pm here, and we also find Scott one of our PMS that he’s great camera. It’s just great. Sam, yeah, so you’re gonna need that internal resources to record the videos, or you’re gonna have to have a content creator strategy where you outsource the the recording of the videos. But I think that those are the the main points that that you should keep in mind for jumping onto tick tock. And the last thing is, since it’s a platform that focuses so much in trends, I think that you should also decide whether to jump in a trend or not if it’s that relevant for your brand, if it makes sense with your tone of voice, if you have the capacity to record it, and if it will be relevant for for your audience. We actually did a video on this, and this is it in our tick tock if you want to check it out again and give some tips about how to jump into a trend.
Shaheen Samavati 12:14
So Well, I wanted to ask you more about that, but first, I will want to touch on localization, because obviously what we do at Vera content is localization, and a lot of the projects we work on are with meta channels, Facebook and Instagram and those, especially Facebook, has tools for localization. It’s like there’s a global pages feature which lets you have the content in one languages and kind of redirect to the to the local page for the different markets. So a lot of brands are already like creating content for separate pages on meta channels. I was wondering if that makes sense on Tiktok or, like, do you think you need to have separate channels for the different languages you might be working on? Or can you do it all through one channel on Tiktok? Like, what have in our experience with that so far? What have been your observations in that one
Paula Uccelli 12:59
of tiktoks key is its algorithm, that it’s like, super aggressive in the sense that if you like Taylor Swift, it will show you Taylor Swift content.
Shaheen Samavati 13:13
So Keegan can attest to the Taylor Swift content, because my
Kegan Gates 13:17
Tiktok is only Taylor Swift, which like, Listen, I’m a fan, but come on, that’s what my ticks lift. And then like ways to incorporate Taylor Swift into weddings. Ways to incorporate Taylor Swift into like, anything that I talk about with my friends is now aggressively on my text, which
Shaheen Samavati 13:33
mine is, mine is only babies.
Paula Uccelli 13:41
Not only shows you things in terms of the things that you like, it will also show you videos that has to do with where you’re based. And we actually seen this in our account, in our own account, when we posted from Portugal, because we were there on our annual retreat, and we uploaded the video from Lisbon most. Most of our views came from people living in Portugal. Like it was. Almost 85% of people were watching that video for Portugal. So if you’re thinking about localized strategy and you want to be relevant within a market and within a community, having a local community manager that not only understands the local trends that are happening, but can also post from the location where your audience or your goal audience is, that’s key. That’s going to be key for your strategy. Yeah,
Kegan Gates 14:35
it happened when I was in the States too, and I posted a Taylor Swift video and that like, I think it was similar 80. 85% of our audience in that video was from the United States. And so that’s just yeah. Great tip there. And
Shaheen Samavati 14:49
something to keep in mind too, is like, when you’re posting from a certain location, you probably want to post in the local language in that country, although it depends on exactly on your audience that you’re targeting. Well.
Paula Uccelli 14:59
So yeah, you will use that language. You can also do a setup on Tiktok. So for example, kigan, you’re from the US, but you live in in Spain, so maybe you set up your Tiktok to only get content in English. So even though you are based here, it’s more likely for you to get English content uploaded near you. So that’s also key. But I think that when, whenever you target a specific market, talking in that specific language, or producing content in that specific language, it’s, it’s super important. Like, it’s, it’s, even before tick tock, like, and it should be that way.
Kegan Gates 15:41
Next I get Spanish videos that sneak in. And I also get a lot of like, I’m an American living in Spain. Here are the best places to visit, videos, which is just so curated to, you know, the places I go with my American friends. But then I also get some Spanish videos in there, like shop at Zara, because here’s what I found, you know, like you said, the algorithm is aggressive, and I think that that’s something that’s definitely necessary to keep in mind when creating the content that you’re creating, like you said,
Shaheen Samavati 16:11
I wanted to I’ve seen definitely like both approaches in terms of having one page, and I’ve seen some brands like that have one page and post multiple languages on the same page, and I think you can kind of get away with that on Tiktok. And I like, because, as you’re saying, it’s like each video kind of stands on its own. It like shows up in people’s feed based on the algorithm. It might not be like, people don’t have to follow you to see the content, basically. And like, I feel like your followers. I mean, on meta platforms, it holds like, more weight versus tick tock. Like on tick tock. You know, they have watched similar videos, they’re going to see your video. So you can post, like a really diverse, really diverse, different videos on the same channel, if you want to at the same time. I’ve also seen brands that are, I mean, there, there’s also, if someone really likes one video, they might want to go to your channel follow other things. If they go there and they see things that are completely not relevant in other languages, they might not follow you. So if you want to build a following, it probably makes sense to like post things from the same location with the same language and have a really concerted strategy for that market at the same time, depending on what you want to do, maybe just if you’re trying to get viral videos and you want to test things, you could test them all in one channel. And that’s kind of what we’ve been doing on our channel
Kegan Gates 17:22
asking you a question. Shaheen, actually, why did then Vera content? Like, you know, you’re a CEO, so you get to make big decisions. Why did we decide then to launch a Tiktok and like, what we’re doing with our Tiktok? What was the what was our purpose?
Shaheen Samavati 17:37
Yeah, so well, as as we’ve been kind of talking about, we’ve been increasingly offering Tiktok services to our clients. So we thought it was like due time that we actually have our own Tiktok presence. So, and it’s also been a chance for us to use it as kind of an experimental testing ground to try different things and see what works and doesn’t work, because harder to do that on, obviously, on client. So So yeah, that was the impetus. And also we’ve been growing our video services. So we really wanted to showcase the kinds of videos that we can create.
Kegan Gates 18:06
So then, Paola, what was the creative process, and how’s the creative process been on your end, as the product manager of the Tiktok, of the Social Media Manager of our Vera content social media, Tiktok, to decide how to position the page, the strategy we were going to take and the content compared to other accounts.
Paula Uccelli 18:25
Well, I think that the challenge with beta was to come across as approachable and show that we are a very fun team, that we actually are, but also, at the same time, establish ourselves as professionals and as experts in this this subject, so I think that that was like the our biggest challenge developing this strategy to kind of find the correct tone of voice and to see how much are we interested in showing all our services and all the professional stuff that we do, But in a platform that makes more approachable, and it’s more fun and it’s more relaxed. So I think that that has been a great challenge, but the good thing is that we actually have professionals, very good professionals, that they’re also very funny. So it was a challenge, but it’s not impossible, because we also understand that, like Shaheen was saying, this is a great place for us to use it like as a playground and test out different things. And yesterday, we were just discussing this, about a video that it performed well, but people were leaving the video at one point. So it’s like, okay, can we just re upload this video without that intro, and see if that impacts on the on the KPIs. And I think that that’s a great test that we can do ourselves. And like Shaheen was saying with a client, we don’t have that capacity to do it. So since it’s a relatively new platform, we still like to test some things. But. We’re also aware that clients, or freelancers, they will take a sneak peek on our channels before working with us. So we also want to share like, all the services that we have, that we’re experts on this, that we’re professionals. Yeah,
Shaheen Samavati 20:16
I wanted to say like, going back to the challenge that you were talking about, of like, like, for Vera content, for example, main social media channel is LinkedIn. I mean, we’re a B to B services business, so it’s kind of like the logical place to be. We can obviously really speak to our target audience there, and it’s a place that people go for, like, more professional, practical information. So the kind of content we share on LinkedIn obviously doesn’t work at all for tick tock. And I think we had to really rethink, like, Tiktok is a platform that people use really more for entertainment, and like scrolling and like they want to be entertained and see things that are funny or so, was curious. Paula, what you think I mean? Also you mentioned, like, you have some, like, the big, kind of famous case studies, Duolingo or Ryanair that are doing this kind of, like, funny content, personifying the brand, doing really outrageous content. And that works really well for some brands. But have you seen other examples of like, and putting you on the spot for coming up with an example, but maybe not, doesn’t have to be a specific example. But like, what are the kind of approaches that you’ve seen? What else works? Because I’m sure there’s a lot of other, like, I don’t know more traditional businesses out there that want to, want to have some kind of presence on Tiktok, or thinking about it, but it’s like, okay, well, I can’t do silly, outrageous stuff, but that just doesn’t fit with my brand. So like, what other kind of approaches could there be?
Paula Uccelli 21:34
So I think that the brands that are putting putting the focus on their employees are also getting a lot of success because they’re showing the behind the scenes, maybe, or they’re showing the value that they add with their employees, and it’s still very, very relatable content. And also, I think that you do say that, I mean, this is a platform to to be entertained. But there’s, there’s a lot of account that there is a lot of accounts, and even more and more now that they are also given valuable information, even though the format is more entertaining than maybe reading through a LinkedIn post or watching a 10 minutes or a 30 minute YouTube video with very technical information. There are a lot of pages that are doing great with sharing very quickly and very digest information about a topic, and even doing part one, part two, part three, or whatever. I think that there’s a really cool account that I like that I shared with you at one point, I think it’s called DTS. So this account is the graphic design studio, and they are doing, for example, weekly videos on trends, on visual trends that are happening on internet. And I think that that’s very valuable content, and they’re performing very good on on its on tick tock, some of their videos have gone viral. And obviously it’s not the same viral effect that you will get with a funny Ryan air plane talking about how you can, like, I don’t know, say space or whatever, but within the niche that I think that is also something important on tick tock. Like you can get a very trending video, like the new video that, like, just exploded all around or like the Brad summer concept. Like you can have very viral videos that they are more universal, let’s say, but then you can go viral within your niche, like you don’t need to have 3 million views for a video to go viral. But I think that that brand is doing something interesting, because they are sharing valuable content in a very entertaining, entertaining format, and the performing right?
Shaheen Samavati 24:03
It is DTS, by the way, I just Google it. You’re
Kegan Gates 24:07
right. You got it. You got it. Yes,
Shaheen Samavati 24:08
trends,
Kegan Gates 24:09
adding this content, this is kind of an off the wall question, back, kind of back to like up to you have about 10 minutes, but you said you lose users in about three seconds. Sometimes, do you think it’s better to just try and get like everything you want said within the first five seconds, or is it just depend on how you hook it, or what’s like? What’s the the strategy there?
Paula Uccelli 24:30
Well, I think that, again, it depends a lot on what you’re going to do with the video, but what, what is your goal with that specific video? But there’s a lot of videos. For example, they they start in the middle, like they start where the good thing is, let’s say like they go right to the chase and or they show you two seconds of the best part of a five second video, which is half a second. They just show you the thing that they know is going to cut your attention. And then you. Watch the entire video. And other thing that I think is important is that we’ve been seeing this with our videos. When you’re introducing baby wiki series that you’re doing that needs to be very quick, that needs to be on the right position on the video, because maybe if you put it too soon, people will leave, and if you put it too far away, people will understand that this is Siri. But I think that that also it’s something that you have to test out with with your account and see what is retaining your audience and what is making your audience leap
Unknown Speaker 25:32
so much
Shaheen Samavati 25:34
like related to that question, I’m and we’re seeing that like tick tock is changing the platform to become a little bit more like YouTube. It’s allowing like, longer form videos, and it’s there, I heard, I don’t know if it’s happening yet, that they’re gonna start allowing for uploading thumbnails. I wonder what you think is that gonna like ruin Tiktok? I don’t
Paula Uccelli 25:51
know if it’s gonna ruin Tiktok. I think Tiktok is like at its best right now, and I think that they will have to, they want, they will have to do a lot of changes to ruin it. They will have to sell it to Elon Musk to ruin it, another episode by itself, but you will have this, like, you will have to change so many things to ruin it right now, because it’s really like one of the most used apps, and like, it’s growing so much and so fast.
Shaheen Samavati 26:26
Yeah, what we’ve seen is like, even in countries, because we’ve been posting a lot of content recently about like, which, which apps are used most in different countries, and even in the countries where it’s not the most used, it’s like, where the people spend the most time, often times it’s like, the platform that, like, it’s just really addictive, and people just spend a lot of time
Kegan Gates 26:43
on it, embedded at 11 o’clock, and next thing I know, it’s 1am and I’m like, What am I doing? How
many Taylor Swift videos? And I’m watching one
Shaheen Samavati 26:56
night? Just know you too well.
Kegan Gates 26:59
They have me. They have me down pat. But no, no,
Paula Uccelli 27:03
and I think that it’s very easy to consume. And the fact that all the other platforms are adding the short video format, like YouTube is doing with short Well, obviously Instagram, with reels, LinkedIn is also setting up a short video option. There was a running joke that it was like, Okay, what’s next? Video Shorts on spreadsheets. Like, we don’t need video shorts on every platform. But the fact that all the platform are testing this, I think it means that that’s where the the user behavior is going. So adding longer videos could help in the sense that instead of having your YouTube channel and your Tiktok channel, you will see everything in the same platform. But I don’t think that. I don’t know maybe they’ll pick up this video in five years and say, How wrong was I, but I don’t think that that’s gonna happen, because I think that even though the app can be super addictive. I think that the way that the content is produced on Tiktok and on YouTube, and the way that the content is consumed in those different apps is completely different, like the way that you go to find the information on YouTube or to watch a stream on YouTube. It’s completely different than the behavior that you have when you go onto tick tock. So I think that we’ll just have to see. My guess is that that’s that’s not gonna like tick tock is not going to become YouTube, and YouTube is not going to go away anytime soon. This is the clip that they’re going to show once tick tock
Shaheen Samavati 28:39
YouTube, right? But it seems like strategically, like tick tock wants to take on YouTube, and they’re trying to, like, copy some of its functionality and and also become like people say, like, in terms of like search functionality, that tick tock is kind of like competing now with with YouTube. People search for videos on tick tock instead of YouTube. So it’ll be interesting to see
Kegan Gates 29:01
the platform.
Paula Uccelli 29:02
I think that that’s another key difference between tick tock and Instagram. You can search and find things on tick tock, and that is not possible on Instagram. That’s nearly impossible to find something that you saw on Instagram, you’re not going to find it again that tick tock. And I also think that this is a key thing when you’re producing content, also reads all the things that you’re saying on the video. And with that, it kind of like classifies the content of your video, so all the things that you’re saying in all the text that you’re adding to your video, it will help position it. It reads, okay,
Kegan Gates 29:41
so, okay, so you’ve created other or launched other Tiktok accounts, or worked on other Tiktok accounts other than ours, that are content in building that what were the initial problems you ran into, or the main problems that you still ran into when starting a new Tiktok page, and how can our listeners avoid doing this?
Paula Uccelli 30:01
Uh, the main challenge is always, whenever you’re launching a new account in any platforms, is to get a following base. Like to get followers, I think with Tiktok, like we were discussing, people are consuming it differently. So you’re it’s not like Instagram if I don’t follow this account, I’m not going to get this content that is relevant. I know that the algorithm knows me on Tiktok, so if I think this content is relevant for me, it’s going to show it to me whether I follow this account or not. So following that account, it’s more it takes even more steps on Tiktok, and that’s always a challenge for new accounts, because obviously all the accounts want to get the followers, they want to build a community. And to build a community, you need to be able to engage with with the audience that that you want, and you need to have that audience in your following base. So I think that to avoid this. First of all, you should be patient. Starting a new channel in any platform is that easy, but I think that some of the things that you can do is, for example, leverage your existing audience. If you have a newsletter, you can share your videos there, and you can encourage people to follow you on Tiktok, or even if it’s a company internally, to invite all the employees that this is something that we do with Vera, it’s time we launch a new video. We share it with all the Vera team, the big beta team, so we can get, like, some starting views right before, right after it’s posted. And other key things like I was saying is using relevant hashtag and by creating relevant content and adding that reading content to the in asset caption that you’re going to put on the video editing on the same app, or in a trusted app by Tiktok like capcut, because if you edit on Instagram and you download that Video and you upload it on Tiktok, it will know that it’s not from Tiktok. It will know that it comes from Instagram, so that might like reduce your chances of that getting more views, obviously, engage with the community, talk to your audience, like their posts, leave comments like follow relevant people on the same industry that you are and really engaging with them. And I think that that’s all the organic part. And you should also think about the amplification of your content and your account that that includes working with influencers. That the influencer marketing on Tiktok is completely different to the way that you’re doing doing it on Instagram. So approach that with a very specific strategy for influencers and also to do paid ads the paid ads platform, I think that what they did is they check everything that was wrong with meta business ads, and they fixed it, and they created a very user friendly platform where you can actually do a new followers campaign, so you can get new followers by pay at and they are super the campaigns are super detailed, so you can target the people that you really want to be your on Your follower base,
Shaheen Samavati 33:20
and they’re actually people who will engage with your content. Because I found, yeah, with with meta ads, you can do a new followers campaign and you get some vanity followers, but in the end, they’re not people who engage. Is that not the case?
Paula Uccelli 33:35
I think that has to do with two things. One, the way that you are setting up your campaign, if you are targeting the right audience, that audience should find your content relevant and in the same way, but like, the other way around, if you are finding the right audience, but if you your content is not relevant for them, it doesn’t matter if they the right target, like you need to provide them relevant content.
Shaheen Samavati 33:59
Yeah, I always wondered, who are these people who are like, they’re getting that they’re just saying follow, just because they’re getting it served up, but like, and then don’t engage. It’s like, why do people like follow the meta promotions for this, it’s a mystery. Anyways, glad to hear that it works better on Tiktok, though. We’ll definitely have to play with that. I had a question for Keegan. I mean, we were as the main content creator on bears page. From the content creation perspective, you have any challenges to share and kind of like, what goes into starting a new channel?
Kegan Gates 34:29
Yeah. So for me, it was really just getting comfortable on camera, honestly, because, you know, it’s very, it’s very weird to record something and then have to record it again. Or, like, you know, sometimes you pull faces that you don’t know you’re pulling. And I’m like, Why did I make that face? Or sometimes, all of a sudden I have like, a weird southern accent, and I’m like, where am I from? So just really getting comfortable on camera, and then the editing process is on, like, Thank goodness I have help from the team, but it’s tough, and having to listen your voice over and over and over again, you know, I’m like, okay, mute. Right? Nobody likes their own recorded voice, but so I give a lot of credit to the content creators out there. We’re actually doing this as a full time job, because, really, I feel like it’s such a time consuming job. And and, you know, you do all of this for what, sometimes like, 200 views, and it’s what, you know, I feel for them. And so, yeah, I guess my biggest challenge was getting comfortable on camera, and, like, learning to go through the process and being like, okay, like, it’s not as bad as it seems like. I don’t sound as terrible as I think I don’t, you know, lot of self confidence, probably the biggest challenge as a content creator on that side. But like I said, I’ve had a lot of help from the team and building the right script and saying the right things and and it’s been able to kind of, you know, boost that for me too. But it’s, yeah, I
Shaheen Samavati 35:44
mean, definitely easy tick tock. And it looks like such easy content a lot of times, because it’s like, I was just filming that on your phone. But it’s, there’s a lot of actually make content that’s worth watching. It’s not so no, so simple note, and
Kegan Gates 35:57
the production behind it, like, really just being like, Oh, shoot. Like, I turned this way. And then if you’re using a green screen, sometimes I’ll get, like, my earring will catch you the green screen. And then it’ll be like, shoot, I have to refilm that because, like, or my hair, like, if my bang falls in my face, it’ll cut my face at half, you know. Like, it’s a lot of really small details that you don’t really consider when you’re watching these tiktoks or scrolling past them, you know, so I find myself watching them a little longer, just for the sake of the content creators, because I’m like, I know you worked hard on this. I’m going to see it through. That’s why
Paula Uccelli 36:29
you say that. Until 1am watching videos, because you watch them all through the right all
Kegan Gates 36:36
the way. I don’t skip anymore because I’m like, I understand what this what this did to you. This was hard. So, yeah, and the transition ones are so impressive because, like, and it’s really interesting, actually, if you want to go down a dark rabbit hole to watch, like, creators show you the transition work behind it, like, behind the scenes of it. And like, how they put their shoes down and then they put tape to mark where their shoes were. Like, you know, the different ideas of how they had to, like, stand exactly the same and how they set up their camera. It’s so intricate. And you’re like this for a four second video, like Holy Hannah. It’s, it’s a lot, it’s a lot, totally, you must credit and power, because she’s really, really, like, heading the team. Here she is. She’s the coach. She’s like, No, do it again. Nope. Like, okay, follow whatever you need.
Paula Uccelli 37:29
That’s now how the conversation sounds, how it sounds, but I think it sounds different, because for me, it’s like, Hi, could you please do it again?
Kegan Gates 37:39
It’s true, it’s true, it’s true. But it is a very it’s like, it is good to know that, like, as a team, that we’re doing it together. We’re doing it together, you know what I mean? And so I know that I’m not going to be up till six in the morning trying to edit these videos to for, you know, no end like, I’ve got Paula, I’ve got, you know, other team members that are weighing in. We’ve got the approval process. Like, it’s just going it’s a team effort, and I think that’s actually been really fun. And so, you know, the challenge is getting used to it, but the fun part is working together and working closely with Paola and getting to really learn a new skill, I guess.
Shaheen Samavati 38:18
Yeah, absolutely. Which goes back to kind of the core of what we do at Vera content is like setting up these processes for ongoing content creation and making it kind of, yeah, like smooth and scalable for our clients. So yeah, and
Paula Uccelli 38:31
the process, we’re also learning a lot of what’s the best way to work with someone created the content in one part of the world, because km, you could be in your house, or you can be in the States, or whatever, but create, like, getting that raw content, and then edit that content, and what is the best way to get that? Like, we set up, like this idea that it’s like, okay, each thing will be film, very like, a short paragraph, and you will have a number, and if you do two or three versions of it, then you can also add that to the name. So the editing process has been very streamlined for the past videos because we have a system right now, and it took us only, like one month to find that quick
Shaheen Samavati 39:18
salad. Yeah, totally agree. And I wanted, so I think, like, getting to the end of the episode, Paula, just wanted to give you, like, one last chance for any, like, parting advice you want to give to anyone who’s thinking about creating a Tiktok channel for their
Paula Uccelli 39:33
brand, find your original voice. Don’t copy. Check everything that is working in the platform, yes, but to get inspired and to find the voice that talks about your brand, it could be it could be something new. It could be something similar to what someone is doing, but it first should be interested and. Um, possible for you and your brand? Well,
Shaheen Samavati 40:05
actually, one thing we didn’t really talk about is, like, the approval process. Actually, that’s something I wanted to bring up. Is that, like, with with tick tock, it’s like the like, keeping up with the trends, obviously, is like, super important when, then, when a new trending audio comes out, like, you want to post right away to like, ride the wave of the trend, but at the same time in if you have, like, an approval process, and several people on the team need to see it, you need time to, like ideate get approval all of that, like, how do you find the balance on, on, like, keeping up with the trends, but also like making sure everything’s in line with the voice of the brand.
Paula Uccelli 40:34
I think that if you’ve been working with the brand long enough, you will see first of all whether the trend is relevant or not, and if you have the correct team, I think that those those things come like very easily. It’s like, we should jump in, into this trend with this brand, and not with that one like this is relevant, and this should happen right now. And I think that the trends sometimes are very like for a training thing, it’s not very complicated to reproduce the trend. First of all, I think what we’re saying in the video that we have on our channel, you need to evaluate whether it’s relevant for you or not. And like I was saying, if you’ve been working with the brand long enough, and you have their ton of voice and their goals very clear, then you’re going to know very quickly whether that’s a trend that the brand should join or not. And then with the approval process, I think that you can propose this very like the client should be open as well, to know that sometimes you’re going to suggest something with a very short approval time that is like, Okay, we will send you the script this afternoon, and by tomorrow, we need to know whether you’re interested or not, because we have to record this tomorrow and to be edit the next day and have, like, a very quick approval process. So review the script and we can start producing this. And I think that with some clients, we find that that’s possible, and some of the clients, they will always need to review the content for by different departments. So we maybe avoid suggesting jumping into a trend if we think it’s very quick, because if the client needs five days to review the content, and we think that this trend is not going to be relevant for like, a week from now or 10 days from now, I think it’s best to like, kind of let that one go and maybe jump into something that it’s more like, more on the long run. And I think the other key thing for that is to do some research about what is happening with the trend. Is the trend starting and it’s going up? Is the trend like on the mainstream area, where everyone is doing it, and yes, you can do it, or is the trend like already fading a brand doing something about the bread summer in late September or October, it will be completely irrelevant, and maybe it took them all that time to process the video. But I think that you need to know whether your brand will be able to adapt quickly to that or not. So if the brand is doesn’t have the capacity to adapt quickly, then maybe not even suggest that trend as like, just wait for the next one. And one part is the approval process,
Shaheen Samavati 43:15
and the other part is also like the production time, like you were saying. So I think sometimes the decision has to be made. Do we want to just do something quick to respond to respond to this trend? Or do we actually want to, like, do a fully produced video that might take, I don’t know, a week to produce?
Paula Uccelli 43:30
I think that aligns with the brand tone of voice. If all your videos have more production and have different settings and everything, then you know that it takes this amount of time to produce a video, and that’s also something that you should take into account before jumping into a tournament, right? And
Kegan Gates 43:47
that’s the beauty of companies like us, is that you don’t have to do it alone, because we can support you, and you know, we will help you through it and
Paula Uccelli 43:59
have people watching Tiktok until 1am on top of the trends,
Kegan Gates 44:06
just so on top of trends like, well, the trends that are relevant to me again, yeah,
Shaheen Samavati 44:11
that was actually something I was wondering. Like, how do you how can brands make sure to like, know about what’s like, the thing trending right now, if Tiktok is so tailored to like each person’s own experience. Are there trends that like we just that are just like, not even in our Tiktok world, that don’t, don’t cross our hemisphere?
Paula Uccelli 44:28
I think a good tip for that is to follow the right accounts on your Tiktok like, follow influencers like Tiktok content creators that are doing the trends all the time, and some of the trends will like take on on some of them won’t, and also key brands that their whole strategy is based on trends. So I think that if you follow those people, then you can do a quick scan, and you don’t have to spend five hours watching Tiktok until the trend. Magically pops up on your for you page. But I think that you can do a quick scan of like to take the temperature robot. What’s happening like, is there something in common between all these account that I’m following? Like? Is this something happening like they’re all, I don’t know if you follow 10 content creators and five of them are doing the same trend that maybe it’s something that you should keep in mind. And maybe, let’s say, Okay, I’m gonna give this sound a week and see if some of this already, all the content creators are also picking up on this, and that could be a good way to keep updated. Yeah, for higher agency, they know, I don’t know how they do. I think it, it just come. It’s like a verse, right? They know about trends. They just know. It’s
Kegan Gates 45:49
like, they’re new trends. And I’m like, I don’t even know what that word means.
Paula Uccelli 45:53
And like, if you suggest something, like, I saw this, and they’re like, that’s from, like, two weeks ago, like, sorry, I had to apply my retina right now. Bye,
Shaheen Samavati 46:08
yeah, so have at least one Gen Z member of your Tiktok team. Wow, yeah. Which we do? We have a couple we do. They keep us on our
Kegan Gates 46:17
never stop skills. No, they done again. You just aged yourself. And I’m like, Okay, well, all right, hi millennial, thanks. With ankle socks,
Shaheen Samavati 46:28
all right, so with that, I think we will see we will actually end the episode now. It’s
Kegan Gates 46:32
been fun chatting with you about this. Bo, yeah, it
Paula Uccelli 46:36
was very fun. Thank
Kegan Gates 46:36
you for your expertise.
Unknown Speaker 46:38
Yeah,
Paula Uccelli 46:41
I’m glad that the podcast is kick it off.
Shaheen Samavati 46:45
Yeah, thanks for being on our first new version of the podcast with the global marketer. So we’re excited to keep producing more of these episodes specifically about global marketing topics, and also take the chance to shamelessly plug our other channels. So for all of you who want to know more about global marketing, make sure to check out the Vera content blog, our newsletter, and, of course, social media channels, including tick tock of the wall,
Kegan Gates 47:12
head over there. Now you.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai