Four things creators can do when social media channels fail

By Isabelle Shee, CFO of GROW and 1/2 of @sheesisters < /em>, digital creators specializing in golf and the art of living.

As you've probably heard, TikTok is at risk of being banned in the United States again. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew and more than 30 creators recently flew to Washington D.C. to speak on behalf of the platform.

Whether this is your primary marketing channel or not, the idea can be frustrating for creators who have invested time and energy in building an audience and platform on TikTok.

I'm a firm believer that there's a silver lining to almost every negative event, and sometimes we just might need a fresh perspective. On that note, here are four ways to get through a possible TikTok ban in the US, but more importantly, future-proof your social media presence when it comes to any platform. /p> 1. Drive your TikTok followers to other platforms

We should always direct our followers to our different accounts and create curated content for each platform, but let's face it: it's a lot of work and sometimes we want to have a life outside of content creation.< /p>

What many of us are guilty of doing is pouring all of our effort into a single killer reel and posting it on TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and calling it a day. This is a great short-term gain as the content will likely get more attention, but it has a long-term effect as it doesn't drive subscribers to follow your various platforms.

This might be a good wake-up call to start directing your TikTok followers to your other platforms like Instagram and YouTube Shorts. One way I recommend is to start some kind of giveaway on TikTok and encourage followers to follow your other accounts to enter the contest.

2. Use a VPN to Expand Your Audience Demographic

A ban on TikTok in the US would mean that most US users would no longer be able to access TikTok. However, there are still countries that have not banned TikTok to the public. Right now could be a great opportunity to use a VPN and grow an international following outside of the US.

A VPN, or virtual private network, is an encrypted internet connection that hides your IP address and physical location. For example, if you are looking to grow an audience in London, you would enable your VPN to show you connecting from London so that the algorithm is more likely to show your content for that "local" area. I've personally used ExpressVPN, but there are countless other great options like NordVPN and Surfshark, to name a few.

3. Solidify your presence outside of social media

Now might be a good time to start thinking about what life is like outside of social media. If one of our social platforms was erased one day, what would your social footprint be? Would it look like it never existed? Or would you still have news articles, personal websites, or TV appearances that exist outside of your social platforms?

Maybe it's time to start investing in a broader PR strategy and using an updated business plan that includes things like TV appearances to keep you from putting all your eggs in one basket.

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