Before bringing you the information on this, I wanted to be sure that it would be worth your effort. Even moreso, I wanted to bring you only what’s working right now specifically for actors.
Something that I’ve been getting a lot of questions about since the start of the year, is TikTok.
Most actors, perhaps rightfully so, ignored it for a long time, seeing it as just another app that would have its 15 minutes in the spotlight and be gone before long.
However, it’s morphed into so much more than that. It’s taken on a life of it’s own and that presents a huge opportunity for you as an actor.
In fact, when it comes to building your acting career, I would go as far as to say that TikTok is probably the most powerful of all the social media channels.
This current situation we’re in has served TikTok well and it’s introduced many, many new users to the app, most of whom wouldn’t have bothered with it just a few months ago.
You might think TikTok is for teens, but the biggest user base is the industry’s coveted 18-24 year old demographic. This is why studios are going in on TikTok big time.
The thing is, if you want to be successful on TikTok as an actor and use it to build your career, you can’t just approach it like every other social media channel.
You have to do a few specific things very differently, if you want to skyrocket your acting career using TikTok.
You have to get in on it now, because I’m watching (in real time) as CDs and other industry decision makers are joining TikTok specifically to search for talent.
Here’s how...
First, you have to understand the nature of the beast so to speak.
TikTok isn’t Vine (RIP Vine), it’s not Facebook, instagram, or even it’s close cousin Snapchat.
That means the nature of your TIkTok content has to be different too. However, that doesn’t mean that you are now going to be bogged down with another social media channel to create content for, but we’ll go over that in a moment.
What has made TikTok so successful so quickly is that it is built for viral content and it takes the best features from all of the other social media channels and puts them into one app.
It has a sophisticated search system that is built to discover content you would be interested in and puts it right onto your feed, much like YouTube.
Facebook and Instagram try to do this too, but you have to go a little bit of the way to find it. TikTok puts it right in front of the user. That seamless content discovery makes it super simple for users to find new creators (like you) to follow.
Perhaps, the biggest advantage that TikTok has over the other channels is that it’s an incredibly easy “ask.”
Here’s what I mean by that. Consider that, whenever you are putting out content (regardless of the platform) what you are essentially doing is asking the viewer for some of their time.
TikTok strikes the right balance of that “ask” with the most intimate form of content (video) and forcibly puts it into short-form.
Think about it, when was the last time you clicked on a 15 second YouTube video? It doesn’t happen often because YouTube is built for long form content, multiple minutes in length.
What almost everyone gets wrong about TikTok is that they use it as a one stop shop. In reality, TikTok is an introduction and you should use it to draw viewers to your other content where they can get to know you better.
This is what I was talking about earlier in this report.
Your content doesn’t have to be unique to TikTok. If you’re putting out videos on Instagram or YouTube, use TikTok to promote those videos.
Think of it kind of as a place where you can showcase trailers for your other content.
This is also a great place for your reel. I get so many messages from actors who want their reel to go viral on YouTube.
It’s not likely to happen. Instead, what would be more effective is to draw the viewers in with the most exciting 15 seconds of your reel and move them over to YouTube to watch the rest. Then from YouTube, you can move them to Instagram to get some behind scenes content for example so they can continue getting to know you.
This is actually a trust building exercise very rightfully called “bouncing.”
Steve Jobs was famous for taking staff on walks around the Apple Campus as a way to build trust.
Don’t start with TikTok in mind, if you want to be successful there and build your acting career. Instead start by getting clear on where you ultimately want viewers to end up and then reverse engineer your strategy with TikTok as the first point of contact.
Casting Directors tend to be very early adopters of new social media channels. They use them because they are always looking to discover the next big thing.
Just posting dance videos isn’t going to cut it though, because you have to showcase your talent also. You have to make the CDs want to see more.
Of course, getting more views and interaction from the general audience will help you immensely when attracting a Casting Director’s attention. Here’s how I can help with that.
It works as social proof and makes industry decision makers feel much more comfortable about bringing you into a production.
In their mind, popular actors will lead to a popular (successful) production. That’s why you see so many Instagrammers and YouTubers crossing over into mainstream productions also.
Remember, because you want your social media channels, along with YouTube, to feed one another, I created a way for you to boost all of them at the same time. Click here to get the details on that.
Most importantly, don’t overthink it!
Content on social media in general has a short shelf life and content on TikTok probably has the shortest, so just get started.
In the coming weeks we’ll talk more about how to pivot your channel even more towards your acting career. Things will be changing big time, so stay tuned!
In the meantime, make sure your industry reputation matches your goals. If it doesn’t, CDs and industry decision makers won’t take the next step with you and you’ll have a much harder time building your acting career.
Things are changing really fast on TikTok, so I know you’ll have questions. Leave them in the comments below or shoot me an email. I am always eager to lend a hand however I can, so that I can...
See you at the top,
Scott