Community vs Virality: Which Strategy on TikTok Is Best For Your Business?
Are you struggling to find the perfect TikTok strategy to help your business succeed on TikTok? Well, welcome to the ultimate TikTok strategy showdown, folks — community vs virality. These are two very different approaches that lend very different results. The question is — which one aligns with the goals of your business?
If you know me, then you’ll know which one I stand for. Let’s watch these strategies battle it out, getting down and dirty with what separates them and what makes one outshine the other. There can only be one winner — which one will it be? Keep reading to find out!
Community vs virality — what’s the difference?
First, we’ve got to get a few things straight — what is a virality approach, and what is a community approach?
The essence of a virality approach is the goal of becoming viral. Every decision you make steers you towards the viral quest of getting your content on the For You Page (FYP) and blown up across the internet for one hot second. Most businesses will assume this gives you a booming business and brand awareness. However, these 30 seconds of fame are like a summer romance — it burns bright, but it burns out quickly. Your TikTok growth will be characterized by fast peaks and just as fast falls — no steady incline.
While you may be rapidly gaining followers as you extend your audience, are these the right followers for your business? The goal for any business on social media is to find qualified leads — leads within your target audience that have a high potential to engage with your business and make a purchase. Most of the followers that virality gives you are the furthest thing from your target audience. It’s like entertaining ‘fake friends’ that aren’t interested in who you are or what you have to say — it’s just wasting everybody’s time. So if virality isn’t the key to a booming business on TikTok, what is?
Community! The essence of the community approach is the goal of building a powerful and loyal community that champions your brand. This growth may not be as rapid as virality, but trust me — in the long run, you’ll end up on top. By centering your content around your community, you’ll be able to foster an environment that’s perfect for cultivating qualified leads, boosting not only your TikTok account but your entire business. If you still aren’t convinced that community is the way to go, here are 7 reasons that will quickly inspire you to catch this wave!
7 ways community can drive your business’ success on TikTok
1. TikTok rewards engagement
And how do you get engagement on TikTok? Community! A community that genuinely loves your brand and what you stand for will be eager to engage with your TikTok content. TikTok loves this because they want people to engage with their platform. And the TikTok algorithm rewards you for it — a win for TikTok is a win for you!
2. Increase brand awareness
TikTok rewards you by helping you reach a wider audience that fits within your niche. TikTok not only boosts your brand awareness but also directs it at the right people — people who are the perfect match for your community. This newfound community will connect with the brilliance of your brand and spread the word.
3. Qualified leads
With this increase in targeted brand awareness, you’re likely to find not just any new leads, but qualified new leads. These leads will instantly fall in love with your brand and are ripe and ready to fall into your sales funnel and make a purchase.
4. Boost your profits
The math is simple — an influx of qualified leads can only lead to a gush of leads down your sales funnel, resulting in more sales and higher profits. As a business on TikTok, this is your ultimate goal, and a powerful community will get you there.
5. Establish long-term relationships
You have to look at the big picture — virality lasts for a second, community lasts for a lifetime. By centering your TikTok around your community, and maintaining constant engagement, you’ll build an unbreakable bond of trust and respect. This comes with ever-lasting relationships, a loyal fanbase, and returning customers, plus a constant stream of income for your business.
6. Connect with your people
One of the best things about your community is that it cultivates an environment for like-minded people to thrive. Your community will be filled with people with similar interests, lifestyles, hopes, and dreams — the perfect place to connect and make new friends. You not only find a community for your business but for yourself as well.
7. Promote healthy mindsets
Lastly, a community-based TikTok strategy forces you to value the right things on TikTok and avoid the wrong ones. If you’re constantly obsessing about your views, followers, and watch time, you’ll soon find your mental health drifting down to the gutters. These volatile metrics don’t reflect your value or your success. By focusing on community, you’ll value relationships and connections — helping you take the first steps towards a healthy mind and fulfilling life.
Examples of badass TikTok creators that prove a community-based TikTok strategy works
If you weren’t sure before, it’s clear I’m in Team Community. But I don’t just talk the talk, I walk the walk. Here are a few of the many TikTok creators I’ve worked with to help establish community within their brand on TikTok. And to say they’re now kicking ass on TikTok is an understatement!
Jamie’s TikTok is a hotspot for wholesome and helpful content, enriching our lives with videos of dog training, reviewing products so you don’t have to, her life with disabilities, and raw-feeding her animals. After a 1:1 session, Jamie shifted her focus to building a great community on TikTok and managed to grow her community by over 10k members in only 1 month!
Brad uses the art of puppetry to share intimate and enlightening messages with the ultimate message — you matter! It might look like it’s for children, but something about a puppet telling me that I matter just hits different. With only one 1:1 session, Brad was able to establish a powerful community and double his follower count!
This luxurious antiracist Asian skincare brand uses TikTok to share must-have skincare secrets in a way that’s inclusive and celebrates diversity. The small brand has blossomed on TikTok, earning over 8k followers in only 3 weeks! Since building a community filled with ideal customers, Sabbatical Beauty has watched its sales thrive.
The value of a community-based TikTok strategy is limitless. Don’t miss out on this extraordinary opportunity to grow your brand on TikTok and guarantee your business’ success. If you want to learn more about how to build a powerful community on TikTok, click here.
Virality isn’t entirely irrelevant either — it can still play a minor role in your TikTok success. If done correctly, it’s a great way of throwing the net out and seeing what you might catch. You can do this by recreating all the hottest trends relevant to your niche and audience. Sign up for the Inside Scoop here and never miss a trend!
Here’s to building a loyal fanbase, connecting with your powerful community, and watching your business thrive on TikTok! Go forth and make waves, friends.
