What Would a TikTok Ban Mean for Digital Marketers?
TikTok briefly shut down last month after a federal law banning the app came into effect. The service was restored after the inauguration of the Trump administration. However, it is currently living on borrowed time, as the law mandating the sale of the app’s US operations is still live. TikTok has been a boon for savvy marketers who could harness the power of short-form video to reach a young audience. So, assuming that the app isn’t sold, what would a full TikTok ban mean for digital marketers?
We did get a glimpse of what to expect during the short shutdown period, so let’s explore the effects and learn how to prepare.
The Loss of a Key Social Platform
First, it’s important to understand just how devastating a total ban would be. Marketers and businesses invested a ton of time and money into their TikTok efforts for a good reason. TikTok boasts over a billion users worldwide, most of whom are teenagers and young adults. It was arguably the best platform to reach younger audiences. And businesses would lose all of the work and effort they put into their TikTok channels.
Marketing teams would need to move quickly to find new homes for their content, but the inevitable splintering of the TikTok user base means that it would be difficult to replicate TikTok success on any one platform.
New Short-Form Video Platforms Take Center Stage
The loss of TikTok would mean that young audiences would need to find a new platform for short-form video content. Currently, that would mean either YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels. We were already seeing some content creators and businesses starting to diversify and adding their TikTok content to these platforms before the ban. And there’s also the chance that brand new platforms might come in to fill the void that TikTok lost.
It means that digital marketers will need to keep an eye on the data as well as the news. There’s no doubt that they’ll need to learn new platforms and how they function. Every social media platform has its own unwritten rules of what kinds of content works well and how to reach users effectively. Just because content worked well on TikTok doesn’t mean it will also be successful on YouTube or Instagram.
Platform Diversification
A ban on TikTok would also completely change how users spend their time on social media. Instead of spending hours browsing TikToks, young people might end up splitting time between a variety of different apps.
It would mean that digital marketers shouldn’t expect to throw all of their eggs in one basket, so to speak. They would need to spread efforts across a diverse array of platforms and be ready to move should one platform start growing in popularity.
Content Diversification
Finally, we can’t discount the possibility that a ban on TikTok could mean that users actually abandon the short video content form entirely. A ban could herald a shift in user preferences and new content forms would take center stage.
After all, TikTok arguably birthed the short-form video content trend. As younger users gain access to these platforms in a world where they didn’t have TikTok, they may start to prefer other content forms – and this trend could shift to the wider social media user base.
Final Thoughts
The specter of a TikTok ban might appear scary to digital marketing experts, especially those who have found a lot of success on the platform.
However, there are two points to keep in mind. First: there will almost certainly be new opportunities for businesses and marketers to find success on other platforms. A spirit of adaptation and learning will be necessary, but those that find new ways to engage their audience will be okay.
Second, we’ve seen this story before. Social media platforms have come and gone, and many have had cycles of popularity. The goal of social media, however, has always remained the same no matter the platform: we aim to connect with customers and users in a meaningful way.
With this in mind, we can be confident of our ability to engage users – no matter where they may end up.
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