How to become a TikTok crafter
Social media plays a huge part in most of our lives and the majority of us are aware of Facebook and LinkedIn. However, those of us who hail from the older generations might not be quite as conversant with new players on the social media block. One such player, it would be fair to say, has shaken up everything in its field (and in the world of crafting too) becoming a major player on the social media scene. I am of course referring to TikTok.
The rise of TikTok
The reason why TikTok has become so popular is that it works purely on a short-form video format. In other words, you don’t need to write anything to get your point across, you can just make a video about it. This has meant that there is a whole new audience out there to reach and also to view. Initially, people used TikTok to put out amusing videos about aspects of their lives or even their pets’ lives. This has given rise to an army of content creators who are all vying for the attention of the public and an ocean of entertainment for young people to dive into, only to surface at mealtimes!
However, this social aspect has started to run alongside the business applications of the app as well. Goods and services can easily be promoted through TikTok without the need to spend any larger amount of money on advertising and marketing. The question of Where to sell handmade crafts UK-wide or anywhere else for that matter has another answer: it can be sold on the internet via a TikTok account.
What is TikTok exactly and how can it help you?
It was created in September 2016 by a Chinese company called Bytedance and allows users to make and share videos over a short period. The average length of these videos is anywhere between 15 to 60 seconds, which might be a contributory factor to short attention spans. There is also the option to discover new videos as well as make them, enabling people to spend entire evenings watching short TikTok videos instead of regular television. TikTok has captured the younger market initially as it seemed like a good alternative to Facebook which had become dominated by older generations. However, the same situation (the encroachment of savvy oldies) has begun to occur with TikTok and a more mature audience is beginning to understand the technology and use it to its advantage. As with any social media, the algorithms behind the app begin to sense what the viewer likes to watch. Every time that someone is on the app it registers what they have seen and begins to offer these as a preference later on. Therefore, if you produce a video based around your crafting there is an excellent chance that people who have already viewed it once or viewed similar content will be directed to you again. This means that the question of where to sell handmade crafts in the UK, or internationally, becomes considerably easier as you will be reaching your target audience without even having to look for them. If you can produce a TikTok video of you making something, rather than having to reach out to your existing and potential customers, there’s a good chance that they will come to you.
The advantage of TikTok is that it features a particularly user-friendly interface so that it is simple to pick up quickly and use effectively. It also has a wide back catalogue of visual and sound effects that you can utilise and, if your video is picked up by a considerable amount of people, it offers the chance for an idea to become viral quickly and reach huge numbers, globally, in a relatively short space of time.
This gives the crafter an immense opportunity to be able to sell and exhibit their wear without even having to leave their crafting studio. We have already talked about the advantages of having an online shop for your products, but this is one way to enhance sales dramatically.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be able to take people through your process? Many people ask if they can see how you create your work. It’s not the case of revealing secrets, but simply showing people how you can achieve the wonderfully artistic results that you do. With TikTok, you can begin to show people how you produce a piece of work and if you have already sold something you can review the stages of the commission to your customer as you go through.
TikTok acts as a marketing tool so people can see the amount of work, effort, skill and love that you put into everything that you produce. This will convince them that your product is worth purchasing because it has so much credibility behind it. The premise would be that you would release a short video at each stage of your production or produce a longer video and fast-forward the process with additional captions to show where you are in the making of the product. Given TikTok’s global reach, the possibility of being able to show your work to people outside of the UK and beyond becomes an actual reality. It also allows you to be able to communicate with people who are doing similar work in our country and beyond.
If you can follow the principles of using TikTok and make sure that you consistently put out videos with content, you will begin to gain a following. People will want to know where your products are, so knowing where to sell handmade crafts (UK) becomes a much easier prospect. Watching the platform will also allow you to understand what trends are out there and what your contemporaries are creating so that you can adapt or follow suit.
Using TikTok will allow you to be able to become part of a much wider community and also allow you to influence others in what they make and produce. The short videos will also bring authenticity to your work that simply inviting someone around your workshop or merely talking about at a craft fair could never hope to reach in the numbers that this platform can.