TikTok – What’s The Strategy For Christian Personal Brands?
Updated: Jan 27, 2022
One of my business partners walks into the office and says “Hey dude, you gotta get on TikTok, it’s the funniest thing ever! People post videos of themselves in extremely creative and entertaining ways.”
I’m curious. So I check it out.
He was right.
It’s fun. It’s addictive!
People WILL BE INFLUENCED by the content creators on it.
The question is: what’s the best strategy for us Christian entrepreneurs to develop our personal brands on TikTok so that our message can be one that is heard…even if it’s a younger demographic.
What is TikTok?
We all have teenage and early-twenties friends that have mentioned TikTok, it’s the newest rage.
And it’s not just for teens. God brought this powerful branding platform for us Christian personal brands the same way He allowed for Instagam, YouTube, and Facebook to exist.
Welcome to a Christian entrepreneur’s introduction to TikTok through the perspective of leveraging TikTok for growing your God-first personal brand and influence for the Kingdom.
TikTok is a Chinese social network that puts video first. People can post short videos, edit them, add music, and post them to their TikTok followers. It’s estimated that over 500 million people use TikTok, meaning the network is larger than Twitter and Pinterest. WOW!!
TikTok (Douyin抖音) is an amazing platform to promote our Christian personal brands because if it is true that spreading our message is our calling, then short videos give us the chance to influence others with our skills, art, abilities and inspired ideas in a fast and smart consuming way.
I use TikTokmyself for 2 main reasons:
To promote my @DailyGodpreneur Personal Brand
To study this trend and adapt my B2C marketing strategies to brands that I consult and my own companies
In personal branding and marketing, things change quickly and we can’t rely on a single platform. Today we need to concentrate not only on Instagram and YouTube, but also on Tik-Tok to reach new communities online with Kingdom-minded thoughts and inspiration.
The bible says,
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” (Mark 16:15)
Our primary calling as Christians is to spread the word. Our SECONDARY calling is to use our business and personal brand as a means to do that.
I’ve put together a mix of strategies, tips, and advice on building a Christian personal brand on TikTok.
We focus on China, a powerful country that offers incredible possibilities for foreigners able to adapt to the social media ecosystem. For more insight about Personal Branding for Christian Entrepreneurs, click here.
Who is Behind TikTok?
TikTok is for short videos mostly 15 seconds long, but with the ability to make 60 seconds long clips. While using this platform, you’re supplied with a number of songs and many filter options to customize the videos.
TikTok is owned by ByteDance. That’s the privately held company, founded in 2006, that is, according to reports, now the most highly-valued tech startup in the world. It just raised a $3bn round of funding that valued it at $75bn. So TikTok has a lot of capital behind it, which could make it more difficult for incumbents to quash it.
TikTok burst out in 2018 and became the most downloaded iPhone app, getting the nickname of “China’s Snapchat”. Chinese adore it and they use it to show their life, passion, and talents.
Its audience is extremely young and active. According to a survey, nearly 67% of TikTok’s users are under 30 and 56% of them are students. At the same time, data shows that 43% of users live in first and second-tier cities, the developed metropolitan areas.
There are so many users and they are so different, different ages, different income, different interests that almost any Christian brand could find here its target and any creator — his audience.
As far as it’s a short-video app, it is often compared with Vine (remember that!?) Vine was actually acquired by Twitter in October 2012 prior to its official launch. In 2016, however, thanks in part to growing competition from other apps including Instagram and Snapchat, it was shut down.
Vine became popular with content creators who used it to create comedy and music shorts, and it eventually grew to 200m active users. Not surprisingly, brands were eager to get in on the act as well.
6 Reasons Why You Should Use TikTok for Your Christian Personal Brand
1) Videos are easily “digested” by your fans
People love video. Our society is hectic and TikTok offers quick bits of consumption without unnecessary complications. Short videos force you to show interesting things about your talent without tricks; the storytelling must be simple and the skills easily recognizable. This makes the platform extremely natural and interesting to follow.
15-second videos are an extremely easy way to promote your inspired ideas, make people think and awaken their interest. People adore these videos because they are easy to understand and can help them to relax.
By you recording your day-to-day business life and sharing unique points of view on God via vlogs, Christian entrepreneurs can boost their personal brands and fill an unsatisfied educational, motivational, or entertainment niche in their industry.
2. Your Fans are Millennials
You can just use simple in-app tools of TikTok and create original and authentic content which immediately will be delivered to a huge number of users and your customers.
Are you looking for a fresh and young audience? They’re looking for your brand here.
With the average age of a TikTok user being 13- to 24-years-old, mostly girls, TikTok is a gold mine when it comes to getting your #GodFirst message in front of Gen Z’ers.
Very creative and active, they will promote you to their friend and families, if they like you. They are looking for new things, so you can absolutely find new followers and customers here.
3. Personal Branding to Buying Your Products – Making the Switch
Ok, you’ve started and got your first audience. And what’s next? Enjoy the easy conversations with them! This audience is so affable you can receive feedback as soon as you post things.
The fastest and easiest way to engage them is by using daily challenges and a wide network of hashtags. Some of the big western brands already have created their own highly welcomed challenges.
Not so long ago fashion brand Guess launched its #InMyDenim hashtag challenge, the first-ever branded partnership with TikTok. Guess posted several “Official” videos accompanied by Bebe Rexha’s “I’m a Mess,” and then let the content creators do their work. NBC Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon lauded the app and created the #Tumbleweed Challenge. Users posted more than 8,000 videos using this hashtag.
If you want to be involved with something buzzy, something shining brand new, operate in a different way and on a platform that has the potential for visibility in a less-crowded space. TikTok was definitely created for you.
4. Learning as a process on your Personal Branding Pilgrimage
After downloading the TikTok app you’ll find yourself in the brand new world of lifestyle and culture. Actually, it’s a good way to understand the 15-24 year-olds, what they want, what they’re looking for, what they are used to. Just spend some time scrolling through videos and soon you’ll understand how your potential audience thinks.
5. Christian Speakers: use TikTok as your Online Stage
Do you have the gift of teaching? Simply show it.
Film a few short videos about yourself, your life, your work. Let people get to know you as a speaker and exhibit your skills of influence. You can take short videos when you’re at an event, you can even have your team go LIVE with you on stage.
6. Collaborate with Other Christian Entrepreneurs
Nowadays young, highly-influenceable Christian entrepreneurs are presented with a lot of options and alternatives of similar type teachings. So we have to collaborate to present new and innovative thoughts to those that will listen.
I’ve been collaborating more with other Christian business influencers, it’s definitely on the rise within our industry. If you want to TikTok together, let me know! Since we share common goals, values, target market, and business objectives, it’s a no-brainer. Together, we could reveal the one thing our audiences never done which could transform their business life forever. Everyone wins!
Conclusion and Tips on using TikTok for Christian Personal Brands
At the moment, TikTok is a new and unfamiliar territory for us Christian business owners. Many companies are still afraid to step on unstable soil. But for Christians who want to spread their message to the world, especially the young, the return on investment might be high for the months to come! I suggest approaching the platform with a Personal Branding Strategy that leads to a clear God-First Business Branding Focus. Step by step. Don’t be boring on TikTok, be influential!
TikTok has the potential of being a major platform like Instagram and Facebook and shouldn’t be easily dismissed.
The app is still in its infancy, but the number of users joining is impressive. It’s still too early to tell the future of the app, as it may continue to rise in popularity or it could plummet.
If you are looking for your way to reach a young, new audience, an easy way to understand it and gain some interest from it TikTok is for you.
Get more Tiktok fans and strengthen your brand on this platform by checking out this infographic from Digimush.
P.S. I did a Business bible study called 7 Steps to Launching Your Christian Personal Brand. Check it out:
This business Bible study will help you launch a God-first personal brand that will help you strategically, financially, and personally.
Developing your personal brand starts with launching something new and completely different from what you already have.
Also, coaches and Christian business leaders, you can use, edit, and repurpose the teachings for your own tribe! Check it out.