Using Short Videos to Grow Your Business

[Andy Black]

A short video seeming to do ok on LinkedIn (for me anyway):

• It's Friday and I posted this video/article on Monday to TT, YT, LI, and FB (page).
• It bombed on TikTok and YouTube, but has still been picking up Likes today on LinkedIn.
• Interestingly, half the Likes are from 2nd degree connections. Normally it's 100% 1st degree connections.
• I wonder if it's because I tagged Blaise and maybe his followers/connections saw it, or his reply?

1,902 impressions of the post.
596 views of the video (a view is more than 3s view of the video).
166.5 mins divided by 596 views is 16 sec average view time, which is about 50% of the video.
Not bad I'd say.

Shame LinkedIn can't give us these analytics, but the job title stuff below is interesting.





Here's the article/video if you're interested:
Andy Black on LinkedIn: #businesstips #businesstipsandtricks #businesstips101

 

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[Andy Black]

Thought this was interesting. She suggests that it's better to use native TikTok captions as the platform can read the text and it will help with SEO.

Oh, and her video description is huge. I know TikTok increased it recently but I've not really paid attention before.

TikTok is pushing search a lot now, so it make sense to do whatever we can to make out videos rank better and be categorised easier too.

Explore - Find your favourite videos on TikTok

Discover the latest TikTok videos on our Explore page. Stay up-to-date on the latest trends and explore your interests here!

vm.tiktok.com

 

[Xeon]

TikTok shows my videos in the UK and Ireland. YouTube shows them in the US.

I wonder why TikTok does that, and how I'd get my videos to show in the US. Would they get a lot more volume over there compared to the UK and Ireland?

Because you're in Ireland, UK. If it goes viral, it'll then be shown to Europe and the rest of the world.

I'm currently experimenting with bypassing this geo-location issue, having failed all other methods (VPNs, USA eSIM numbers, Android emulators on PCs physically in the US running on US ISP network). The latest method I've found with the highest chances of success (at least what I read online) is using a US SIM card. I've bought one and am waiting for it to arrive, then I can test it.

 

[Andy Black]

Because you're in Ireland, UK. If it goes viral, it'll then be shown to Europe and the rest of the world.

I'm currently experimenting with bypassing this geo-location issue, having failed all other methods (VPNs, USA eSIM numbers, Android emulators on PCs physically in the US running on US ISP network). The latest method I've found with the highest chances of success (at least what I read online) is using a US SIM card. I've bought one and am waiting for it to arrive, then I can test it.

I heard about US SIMs.

I also wondered:

1) What happens when you use a scheduling tool like buffer, hootsuite, or repurpose.io?

2) Can you get someone in the US to upload the videos to your account?

3) Is this an account thing, or an individual video thing?

 

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[Xeon]

I heard about US SIMs.

I also wondered:

1) What happens when you use a scheduling tool like buffer, hootsuite, or repurpose.io?

2) Can you get someone in the US to upload the videos to your account?

3) Is this an account thing, or an individual video thing?

1) Not sure about Repurpose.io, but I had the same thoughts about this previously and came across this post on Later.com (a tool just like Buffer and Hootsuite):

If I post on TikTok with Later, will my TikTok video be shown to the country of Later's servers?

As everyone knows, TikTok is entirely location based. If you're in Sydney, Australia, your video will be shown to people in your town/city and if it does well, it gets shown to the rest of Sydney then to the rest of Australia, then to Oceania and Asia, and if it does well, to the rest of the...

community.later.com

Also, publishing with these tools don't give you access to the huge TikTok music library, which is a big minus for many. One trick I've heard people use to boost views is to use trending songs and setting the volume to 0 while your own video volume to normal.

2) Of course, but this is giving up Control. I won't be able to sleep soundly at night. If your TikTok account grows big, there's always the fear that the guy in the US will take over the account for himself and you're screwed.

3) It's a TikTok thing. They deliberately limit this by location and made it as local as possible so that viewers will be more engaged. E.g. if you see a dancing video of someone within the same town as you in Ireland, you'll have that sense of familiarity and can relate better, leading you to engage and participate on the app more, compared to say, you seeing a video of some guy in Asia or Africa talking in their own local slang etc. This is one of the reason why TT grew fast.

In the event your video gets high engagement, they'll then show it to the rest of the people in your country, then region, continent, globally etc. This is why larger countries with big populations have an edge in this regard.

 

[Andy Black]

1) Not sure about Repurpose.io, but I had the same thoughts about this previously and came across this post on Later.com (a tool just like Buffer and Hootsuite):

If I post on TikTok with Later, will my TikTok video be shown to the country of Later's servers?

As everyone knows, TikTok is entirely location based. If you're in Sydney, Australia, your video will be shown to people in your town/city and if it does well, it gets shown to the rest of Sydney then to the rest of Australia, then to Oceania and Asia, and if it does well, to the rest of the...

community.later.com

Also, publishing with these tools don't give you access to the huge TikTok music library, which is a big minus for many. One trick I've heard people use to boost views is to use trending songs and setting the volume to 0 while your own video volume to normal.

2) Of course, but this is giving up Control. I won't be able to sleep soundly at night. If your TikTok account grows big, there's always the fear that the guy in the US will take over the account for himself and you're screwed.

3) It's a TikTok thing. They deliberately limit this by location and made it as local as possible so that viewers will be more engaged. E.g. if you see a dancing video of someone within the same town as you in Ireland, you'll have that sense of familiarity and can relate better, leading you to engage and participate on the app more, compared to say, you seeing a video of some guy in Asia or Africa talking in their own local slang etc. This is one of the reason why TT grew fast.

In the event your video gets high engagement, they'll then show it to the rest of the people in your country, then region, continent, globally etc. This is why larger countries with big populations have an edge in this regard.

So if you were a marketing agency with clients across a country you'd need someone locally posting TikToks in each location for your clients? I bet grey-hat folks have figured out workarounds. Or maybe it's an opportunity for local marketing agencies to pick up bits of work for national businesses.

This localisation is a pain if your target market is abroad, but great for local businesses.

Most of my DFY clients and students are in the US, so if I was trying to sell via organic TikToks then that would be an issue. Maybe I go super niche topic wise for a bit and see if that shows me further afield geography wise.

 

[Andy Black]

Another example to show you don't need millions of views and thousands of likes to have an impact and get conversations going...

Just now:

 

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[mikecarlooch]

Another example to show you don't need millions of views and thousands of likes to have an impact and get conversations going...

Just now:

View attachment 45456

This is awesome.

One of the biggest mistakes I feel I made the past couple years on social media is that I refused to view it as a cocktail party, and instead I viewed it as a numbers game.

For some reason, places on the internet like this forum feel like a place that is "better to interact" than other places, but the realization I've had is that it doesn't really matter.

I was posting waiting for the people to come to me, waiting and hoping..

But it was never about getting more views & followers, it was about making other people feel important.

Views and followers may act as a great credibility statement, but what's also amazing is going and being the biggest supporter someone has on their small page.

What we do on this forum is exactly what social media should be treated like, it was just always so hard to see it that way with all the noise.

 

[Andy Black]

This is awesome.

One of the biggest mistakes I feel I made the past couple years on social media is that I refused to view it as a cocktail party, and instead I viewed it as a numbers game.

For some reason, places on the internet like this forum feel like a place that is "better to interact" than other places, but the realization I've had is that it doesn't really matter.

I was posting waiting for the people to come to me, waiting and hoping..

But it was never about getting more views & followers, it was about making other people feel important.

Views and followers may act as a great credibility statement, but what's also amazing is going and being the biggest supporter someone has on their small page.

What we do on this forum is exactly what social media should be treated like, it was just always so hard to see it that way with all the noise.

That was the second person wanting to have a chat.

I posted the first a few days ago in this post in this thread.

 

[Surf16]

I have all of these followers on that account some even follow me religiously (DM's on instagram and everything..) but I don't know what to do with the audience..

Do you have any tips?

I'm reading the thread and saw this one Mike. I stopped to check out your tik tok. I noticed you train in jiu-jitsu. Maybe start doing some training videos. I compete in Jiu-Jitsu Worlds this weekend in Del Mar, CA!!!! OSS!

 

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[mikecarlooch]

I'm reading the thread and saw this one Mike. I stopped to check out your tik tok. I noticed you train in jiu-jitsu. Maybe start doing some training videos. I compete in Jiu-Jitsu Worlds this weekend in Del Mar, CA!!!! OSS!

Have gotten so many requests for this ha!

Good luck at worlds! What belt are you?

 

[Surf16]

Have gotten so many requests for this ha!

Good luck at worlds! What belt are you?

Thank you brotha. I am a 4 stripe white. I've been involved in MMA for years but did't put on a GI until April! I love it.

On another note. After starting this thread I checked my Tik Tok that I posted 2 days ago and it has been the best received by far.

Here is the post!

TikTok - Make Your Day

www.tiktok.com

It was my first real tutorial and I guess I know what I will be posting more of for sure!

 

[Andy Black]

Hold on...

I was scrolling through TikTok on my computer.

I'm obviously watching fitness stuff for this to pop up in my feed, but that's not what's interesting.

1) It's landscape.
2) It's 3 minutes.

TikTok - Make Your Day

www.tiktok.com

 

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[MartinG]

For those who create long form content on Youtube, Shorts can be a great way to validate a video idea, whereby you can adjudge the performance of a Short to decide on whether or not there is sufficient interest to spend the time needed to make the long form video. A great time saver!

 

[Andy Black]

I love TikTok but if I had to only pick one platform then it would be YouTube.

1) TVs come with YouTube installed.

2) YouTube is competing with TikTok with YouTube Shorts.

3) Google is heavily prioritising video on its search engine.

4) Google has waaay more ad revenue and experience running ads than TikTok.

5) TikTok videos show locally first, and maybe in ither coutries if you do well. My TikToks show in the UK and Ireland only. My YouTube Shorts show in the US where most of my clients and customers are based.

6) I've heard it's hard to get TikTok ads to show outside your country too, but I've not tried it yet.

7) More Google Ads advertisers are running ads on YouTube without needing to create videos. The new Performance Max campaigns will create videos from images uploaded. They're not great, but not bad either.

8) TikTok is becoming a search engine and introducing longer and landscape videos. So they're becoming more like YouTube, and Google's got a lot of experience, data, and algorithms related to search.


Saying all that, I'll still post everywhere.

 

[StrikingViper69]

This thread has convinced me to give shorts/TT a try. Editing my last music video into 2-3 shorts and seeing how it works out.

Edit: 45 minutes of trying to make things that should be simple work, I remembered why I hate social media

 

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[MitchC]

TikTok shows my videos in the UK and Ireland. YouTube shows them in the US.

I wonder why TikTok does that, and how I'd get my videos to show in the US. Would they get a lot more volume over there compared to the UK and Ireland?

There are agencies that do this, maybe someone on upwork could do it for you

I’ve also seen dropshippers using multiple phones, multiple sims and multiple accounts because some will just randomly hit the algorithm way better.

It makes sense too since you aren’t really building a following on the platform, why not just have 5 different accounts on 5 different phones and post the same video, that’s 5 more chances of it hitting the algorithm

Almost like a DIY Andrew Tate

Also I notice you seem to be ignoring Instagram reels, they are crazy right now for free reach across Instagram and Facebook, you may as well be posting there too if you already have the videos made. I follow a lot of business service companies that I’ve found from Instagram reels and I’ve hired one too.

Here’s an example of one that keeps popping up on my explore. I think she teaches reels actually.

Becky | Social Media Manager and Coach (@thegoldsocial) • Instagram photos and videos

46K Followers, 372 Following, 558 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Becky | Social Media Manager and Coach (@thegoldsocial)

instagram.com

No affiliation to her at all I don’t even follow her but I see her reels all the time

 

[Andy Black]

There are agencies that do this, maybe someone on upwork could do it for you

I’ve also seen dropshippers using multiple phones, multiple sims and multiple accounts because some will just randomly hit the algorithm way better.

It makes sense too since you aren’t really building a following on the platform, why not just have 5 different accounts on 5 different phones and post the same video, that’s 5 more chances of it hitting the algorithm

Almost like a DIY Andrew Tate

Also I notice you seem to be ignoring Instagram reels, they are crazy right now for free reach across Instagram and Facebook, you may as well be posting there too if you already have the videos made. I follow a lot of business service companies that I’ve found from Instagram reels and I’ve hired one too.

Here’s an example of one that keeps popping up on my explore. I think she teaches reels actually.

Becky | Social Media Manager and Coach (@thegoldsocial) • Instagram photos and videos

46K Followers, 372 Following, 558 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Becky | Social Media Manager and Coach (@thegoldsocial)

instagram.com

No affiliation to her at all I don’t even follow her but I see her reels all the time

I've not done Reels yet because I couldn't figure out how to upload my videos there from my desktop!

I'll figure it out when I get back into creating short videos. I'm showed under with inbound leads at the moment. I think the recent referrals came when I started publishing a few videos and reminded people I was still knocking about.

 

[Andy Black]

Also, as a consumer on Facebook I find the videos and content it shows me aren't targeted well at all, and are designed for the lowest common denominator and to create arguments.

In my feed just now. Don't even bother reading the comments.

 

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[MitchC]

I've not done Reels yet because I couldn't figure out how to upload my videos there from my desktop!

I'll figure it out when I get back into creating short videos. I'm showed under with inbound leads at the moment. I think the recent referrals came when I started publishing a few videos and reminded people I was still knocking about.

You can’t, you need to do it from mobile app and make sure you select reel not post, you’ll need camera access enabled before it will let you

Yeah Facebook is like that, Instagram is much better

My video that went viral has 5.5m views on Facebook, it’s mostly people in the comments mad they can’t afford what the video is about, I knew it would get that reaction and go viral so I feel smart for getting it right, I just underestimated how absolutely worthless that audience would truly be.

 

[StrikingViper69]

Also, as a consumer on Facebook I find the videos and content it shows me aren't targeted well at all, and are designed for the lowest common denominator and to create arguments.

In my feed just now. Don't even bother reading the comments.

View attachment 45572

Reading this gave me a mental picture of @Kak running around the FLF Summit with a Santa sized sack of cookies. Ironically, if he did have 999 cookies, I imagine he'd be selling them rather than hoarding them

 

[Andy Black]

There is no doubt that one of the social networking sites with the quickest growth and most users today is YouTube.

Additionally, it supports faster business growth for those who use it.

One of the best strategies to increase traffic to your YouTube videos and expand your channel is to optimize your films for a wider audience.

Keep your audience interested in your material by creating YouTube content that is algorithm-friendly.

Nobody will click on your video if it appears in the suggestion list when someone is watching a video and has a subpar thumbnail.

A YouTube user sees your thumbnail just after the video's title. Your thumbnail must therefore be noticeable.

Don't forget to include thumbnail titles as well.

Lee Carter...

The way you write raises red flags in communities. If you're genuinely here to engage with other forum members then consider changing you're writing style to something more conversational and authentic.

As it is I can't help thinking you're using AI to post poorly formed articles.

 

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[Ocean Man]

If you have the time, consider viewing:

I think MrBeast has some good talking points about YouTube Shorts.

 

[Andy Black]

If you have the time, consider viewing:

I think MrBeast has some good talking points about YouTube Shorts.

I might have watched that one. My conclusion is we should do both.

 

[Andy Black]

I pasted a screenshot of the important tweet in this thread:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1514331662074761220

View: https://twitter.com/onlytapa/status/1514331662074761220?t=pVpsZX_CtE_tUDlGGtCu1Q&s=19


Screenshot:





And this was in the comments (note the date though):

 

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[Andy Black]

My current favourite TikTok account.

No captions.
No mic.
No lighting.

Just great story-telling and personality.

And the guy runs a business about sceptic tanks of all things!

TikTok - Make Your Day

www.tiktok.com

 

[LifeisSuffering]

Thanks for this thread as it's in my mind to start creating content.
a question: is there any way to create content without showing yourself talking
not because I'm shy, but because I have no phone (yes, it exists)

 

[Edgar King]

Thanks for this thread as it's in my mind to start creating content.
a question: is there any way to create content without showing yourself talking
not because I'm shy, but because I have no phone (yes, it exists)

I think there's Tiktok for desktop?

 

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[Andy Black]

Thanks for this thread as it's in my mind to start creating content.
a question: is there any way to create content without showing yourself talking
not because I'm shy, but because I have no phone (yes, it exists)

It's just vertical video under 60 seconds. Not all short videos are talking head or even of people.

 

[LifeisSuffering]

It's just vertical video under 60 seconds. Not all short videos are talking head or even of people.

there's some video that I'm producing using just canvas and video stock about stories related to your niche, I will be trying this week and seethe results

do you know any TikTok accounts that make videos without showing their head?