TikTok is addicting. If you're like me you've been watching, learning and laughing at TikTok for a good while now. Well, recently at Moonshot we decided to try our hand at making TikTok content. And it turns out that too is addicting.
We've been having a ton of fun showcasing various board games, answering fan questions, and making bad dad jokes. We started posting regularly on April 27th, 2022 and less than three months later we have over 20,000 authentic followers. Our TikTok community is very engaged and we've had multiple groups travel to Downtown Noblesville because they "found us on TikTok." One group came down from Canada. Pretty crazy, right!
But how?!?
My background is in digital marketing and small business development, so naturally I've had loads of people ask me for help in "getting more business from social media." Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Youtube...that's where consumers hang out today, so it feels obvious as a business owner to want to have a presence on those platforms. I wanted to share a few thoughts on how best spend your limited time and money.
You could take a super serious approach and track every click, ad, hashtag, share, etc...and A/B test everything you do...and push/pull levers to optimize every facet of your efforts. In corporate America, this is the way. If you have a large marketing budget and a team of folks managing your social media accounts you MUST be thinking like this. Use data to guide you. Understand tangible values for cost-per-acquisition, lifetime value of the customer, return on ad spend and more. These data points become barometers to guide decisions. Use them well and you can create a machine-like approach to value creation.
When I start talking about things in this language to most small business owners I'm quickly reminded that they have to: run the shop, handle HR, be the janitor, manage their books, make all purchasing decisions, deal with various issues that pop up...all while trying to contribute to a family and maintain some semblance of a social life. So...in short, they ain't got time for perfect. The followup question is usually: what can we do now that moves the needle?
For TikTok the simple answer is twofold: 1) create something interesting and authentic, and 2) be consistent. I tell our team at Moonshot to shoot for three TikTok videos every day. And to have fun! We don't just post our weekly specials or blurt out all the things we want our audience to know. Instead we have fun on camera and our community engages with us. We take fan suggestions and work hard to answer every question that they send our way. Think of it this way: instead of "how do I use this platform to push my stuff," try "how do I use this platform to create a conversation."
If you don't already follow @moonshotgamestore on TikTok...now is the time.
@moonshotgamestore Replying to @codydrapeaux Hayden struggles with a very special edition of #namethatgame #boardgames #tabletopgames #localgamestore #guessthegamechallenge #indianatreasure #noblesvilleindiana ♬ Sia - Xeptemper