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A potential TikTok ban has raised concerns among small business owners on TikTok, who have found success and built sizable audiences without having to pay for marketing.

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When Aparna Singh first heard about a potential TikTok ban, she "immediately went into panic mode."

"With the majority of my sales coming through TikTok, I definitely was thinking, 'Is this going to be the end of my business?'"

Singh is the owner of a small business called Indian Goddess Boutique, which sells Indian-inspired jewelry and accessories. The social media app has been an "integral part" of her business, said the 33-year-old.

"I get 90% of my sales through TikTok. Everyday I try to post at least one video about my business. Days I do not post, I see a decline in website traffic and sales."

That is the same worry on the minds of some small business owners on TikTok, who have found success and built sizable audiences without having to pay for marketing.

Their concerns come after TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was grilled by lawmakers on the app's addictive features and whether data from U.S. users could end up in the hands of the Chinese government through its China-based owner, ByteDance.

Politicians have also threatened a nationwide TikTok ban unless ByteDance sells its stake in the app, a move China said it "strongly" opposed. The app is already banned on government-owned devices in countries like the U.S., Australia and the U.K.

Concerned about a potential ban of TikTok, small business owners told CNBC Make It why they think the short-video app should stay.

Like many other content creators, Singh started a TikTok account during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 and began advertising her business on it.

"I previously was focusing on Instagram to grow my business. Unfortunately the Instagram algorithm has changed so much over the years, I was barely getting any engagement," she explained.

On Instagram, she was "barely making any sales" maybe five to 10 orders a month, she said.

"Hashtags weren't helping. It just wasn't helping me reach the broader audience I needed."

But everything changed for Singh when she started using TikTok one video of her wearing a nose ring she sold went viral and sales "skyrocketed overnight."

In 2020 the year she started using the app she made $20,000 in sales. One year later, Singh said she made $350,000, while "spending $0 in advertising."

"That video showed me what product I should be focusing more on and what my customers really like," she added.

That's the beauty of TikTok, according to small business owners that CNBC Make It spoke to it has helped them find their customer and community "faster than any other platform."

"I love how the TikTok algorithm boosts your videos to more people even if you have a small following, as long as the content is relatable to who you are trying to reach," said Teena Ho, who sells stickers with original designs via @kawaiiflavor.

"When I created my TikTok page, my very first video reached thousands of views whereas on other social media apps, it would only be under 200 views."

Renee Powers, who runs Feminist Book Club, an online community and book subscription company, agreed. She said TikTok has been "brilliant" for identifying a niche audience and a foundation for growth.

How does a small brand like ours reach them without investing thousands of dollars in traditional media advertising? That's what TikTok helps us do.

Renee Powers

Entrepreneur, Feminist Book Club

"For small businesses, it is the overwhelming leader in discovering the perfect audience for your brand how does a small brand like ours reach them without investing thousands of dollars in traditional media advertising? That's what TikTok helps us do."

She said each time a TikTok video gains over 50,000 views, her business sees a "30% to 50% influx in traffic" on the company's website and followers on other social media platforms.

"It got to the point last summer that we had to upgrade our website host because our traffic was consistently much higher."

TikTok has raised fears over privacy and security concerns including claims that U.S. user data could fall into the hands of the Chinese government.

In April, TikTok was fined $16 million in the U.K. for misusing children's' data, after it allowed 1.4 million children under the age of 13 to use the app in 2020.

Despite the security concerns, small business owners have expressed frustration over the possibilities of a complete ban. Those that CNBC Make It spoke to said a ban is not the "appropriate measure" to safeguard the privacy of users.

"As a former National Science Foundation fellow in Electronic Security and Privacy, the privacy concerns are not lost on me That's not to say I don't have concerns about TikTok, but I do think the benefits outweigh the harm," said Powers.

"A ban on TikTok is not the answer to this issue. Rather, TikTok has become a scapegoat for data privacy concerns. Bytedance is not the first, nor will it be the last, company that misuses our personal data."

She added that if the government "throws the book at TikTok," it needs to do the same for all social media platforms.

Back in 2018, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg was questioned over the social network's role in the 2016 presidential elections and how it handles data though no ban was proposed.

"What truly needs to happen is not a ban, but a nationwide user data protection policy that is platform agnostic and enforced by a dedicated independent organization," Powers said.

Bytedance is not the first, nor will it be the last, company that misuses our personal data.

Renee Powers

Entrepreneur, Feminist Book Club

Singh added: "If I was this concerned about this [privacy] issue, I would not have any social media apps or [use] technology."

TikTok is "helping millions of Americans be able to provide for their families in such a hard time in our economy. Why take that away?"

Without TikTok, small business owners say they will be at risk of losing growth momentum and that their company's income will be "taking a hit."

"We have a team of content creators that contribute TikTok videos, podcast segments, and blog posts," said Powers.

"Obviously, without TikTok, we would have to let go of our TikTok creators. Without the organic brand awareness that TikTok brings, we would have to sink money into more traditional marketing strategies."

Singh added: "I currently have one employee, my sister, so this ban will take a toll on my family. If the TikTok ban takes place and I will have to pivot my marketing in another direction."

For now, Ho and Powers are looking to Google-owned YouTube shorts a short video rival to TikTok as an option.

"Start making contingency plans now. Grow your email list. Let your followers know where they can find you if the ban is approved," Powers advised other small business owners on TikTok.

As for Ho, "building a strong community" online will be all the more essential.

"If TikTok were to be gone one day, your community will follow you to the next platform," said Ho."It's important not to put all your eggs in one basket."

The business owners also stressed the importance of not solely relying on TikTok for sales but all other platforms as well. That includes optimizing email marketing, ads on Google, Instagram and Facebook, Singh said.

"TikTok is not the only place to support small businesses. We're on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Yelp, Google, Etsy," Powers added.

"TikTok may make it easy to discover new-to-you small businesses, but if you're passionate about shopping small, please put in the extra effort to find us."

Don't miss:Here are the top skills you will need for an A.I.-powered future, according to new Microsoft dataLike this story?Subscribe to CNBC Make It on YouTube!

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Benefits outweigh the harm: Worried about their livelihood, small business owners push back on potential TikTok ban - CNBC

Social media platforms have become an integral part of peoples lives. Over 4.48 billion people worldwide are estimated to stay glued to social media regularly, making it a highly effective channel to reach and engage with a large audience. By leveraging social media, businesses can tap into this vast user base and increase their brand visibility.

Trends come and go, but in social media marketing, its important to stay on top of trends. What will make it a lot easier is our guide to social media trends. By being aware of these trends, you can create a more effective marketing campaign.

Take a look at our picks for the best and longest-lasting 2023 social media strategies and trends to use in your marketing campaign.

If marketers want to keep on their users good side, they should avoid a lot of controversial opinions. But one issue that is pretty much universally accepted is climate change. No one wants the world to die, so if you can show your users that you are taking steps to do your part, youre going to get a lot of fanfare.

Modern users are always on social media, either researching or supporting their favourite brands. And they will research you. They will look into your business practices and look at the ingredients on your items to make sure that they dont see any immediate red flags. So, save them the hassle and put it all over their socials.

Its becoming more and more accepted to make your websites, apps, and social media posts as accessible as possible. The differently abled need to use the internet too, and likely they might want to buy your products too, so why would you exclude them? Simple moves like high-contrast text, alt text for images, captions on videos, audio descriptions, etc., will all make your content more accessible to a wider range of people. This is particularly important in B2B social media strategies, which have a narrower audience pool.

Its the buzzword of the social marketing industry: authentic. Everything has to be authentic. And its true, users are tired of the polished look that was touted by Instagram (so much so that they protested it), but there is more to the authentic idea than putting a grainy filter over your photos. It does allow you to bring the quality of your camera down, but not your content. As long as its truthful and offers something human to it, youll have hit authentic.

Short-form video content has taken off, and it is everywhere now. Its on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. But in order to cut through the noise of these platforms, you need to remember one rule: make it entertaining.

Entertaining is a broad term, so you dont have to put on a skit or make a full production for a 30-second video. Instead, make sure you hit something like laughter, satisfaction, learning, etc. All those pool cleaning TikTok videos go viral because its satisfying to see something clean. Recipes you will never make are watched because youre learning something. Reddit stories are currently going viral because theyre juicy gossip about someone youll (hopefully) never know. If you make your content entertaining, youre making it engaging.

So, whats not entertaining? Being marketed to. No one on TikTok or Insta wants an advert explaining all the buzzwords youve come up with for your super-duper product.

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These social media strategies will help businesses take a flight to ... - Dazeinfo

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For six years in a row, Finland has been named as the worlds happiest country. Now, as part of an initiative to drive tourism, the countrys tourism bureau has been offering people the chance to be trained in being happyand has received more than 150,000 responses through social media.

The initiative, led by Visit Finland and developed by agency SEK, will offer a select group the opportunity to participate in a four-day masterclass in Finnish Lakeland to help Find Your Inner Finn.

Featured in the masterclass are four key themes: nature and lifestyle; health and balance; design and everyday; and food and wellbeing. Helping participants to connect with nature, the masterclass takes place at the Kuru Resort in the Finnish Lakeland, a luxurious destination surrounded by fragrant pine forests.It will also be made available as an online resource in the fall.

We believe Finnish happiness is a skill that can be learned: Anyone can connect with nature, learn about a more balanced approach to life, and discover their inner Finn. With this masterclass, we want to give more people the keys to happiness, explained VirvaKatajala,head of marketing at VisitFinland.

A 45-second campaign film outlining the opportunity to win a place in the masterclass was also released across social media platforms, showcasing the natural landscapes of the country.

To get involved, social media users on Instagram and TikTok were encouraged to share the first thing that came to mind when thinking about Finland to win the chance to attend the masterclass. Influencers around the world were tasked with joining in to drive awareness of the initiative, too.

We encouraged people to create Reels on Instagram and Duets on TikTok. This allowed us to experiment with the strengths of the two channels; at the same time, participants could have a lot of creative freedom and fun, said EnomaEdevbaro, socialmedia and influencer marketing lead at SEK.

We gained lots of organic traffic, and the message of Finnish happiness reached diverse communities from all over the world, she added.

Having begun in March, the social campaign led by Accenture Song using the hashtag #FindYourInnerFinn drove around 150,000 video entries from more than 190 countries, and more than 20,000 social media challenges were received. It was supported by PR outreach which has, so far, generated coverage across 900 media outlets including CNBS and CBS News.

Continued here:
Visit Finland's Happiness Masterclass Drives 150,000 Entries - Adweek

The NFLs first television sponsor in 12 years is thinking social first with its activation plans, and is also considering bolt-on deals with EA Sports and league media rights holders Amazon Prime Video and YouTube.

TCL, the Chinese television maker that has increased global market share in recent years, wants to supercharge its brand recognition and sales in the United States specifically focusing on its gargantuan 98-inch models and their potential role in the life of a football fan.

Weve got aspirations to be the best-selling 90-inch-plus television brand in America, and thats what were focused on, said Chris Hamdorf, an electronics sales veteran hired by TCL in April 2022 to guide its growth ambitions. Thats going to create a halo effect for the rest of our line.

The terms of TCLs sponsorship deal are unknown, but Hamdorf called it one of the companys most significant marketing expenditures globally.

TCL went big in the NFL to promote its giant 98-inch televisions.

TCLs giant TVs had a prominent spot during the NFL Draft telecast, when they served as the backdrop for red-carpet interviews done by ESPN analyst Mina Kimes. However, the brand is now focused on the regular season part of the calendar that accounts for 55%-65% of all television sales, a period that coincides with holiday shopping. Theyre considering activating around the Aug. 3 Hall of Fame Game as kickoff to TV-buying season.

Social media, a marketing channel still in its infancy when market leader Samsung left the NFL fold in 2011, will play a key role in, as Hamdorf puts it, giving the consumer permission to consider the 98-inch option.

TCLs vision for social marketing is to create short-form content showing their products in the lives of NFL players and teams. Imagine, for instance, an Instagram reel showing players entering training camp in August and being wowed by new, giant TCL televisions showing highlights, or playing video games on a TCL screen.

Thats one of the things where we have an intersection with a lot of the players, younger players especially they love to game, Hamsdorf said, floating the possibility of working with the Madden video game series produced by EA Sports under contracts with the NFL and NFL Players Inc.

So far, TCL has done team deals with the Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Chargers and Seattle Seahawks. Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf and Chargers safety Derwin James Jr. will appear on packaging. TCL will shoot a commercial with Herbert in June, Hamsdorf said.

To the brand awareness end, the NFL rights allow TCL to show NFL broadcast footage on its display models in retail (Best Buy, Costco and Walmart are key distributors). The company is also in talks with Amazon and Google to specifically promote and display Amazon Thursday Night Football or YouTubes Sunday Ticket in stores.

In 2022, TCL narrowly edged out rival LG to become the second-largest TV brand in the world by units shipped, according to a February report by research firm Omdia. However, its estimated 11.7% share remains far behind Samsung, at nearly 20%.

A television this big and wide is a premium product. But with economic uncertainty roiling U.S. consumers, TCL will make a value pitch to football fans, Hamsdorf said: its 98-inch screen TV has a typical price of around $6,000, similar to other brands 85-inch models.

Read more:
TCL leaning on NFL sponsorship to turbocharge growth ambitions - Sports Business Journal