DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE NEW
We were so afraid of TikTok for years. We weren’t sure how to market and build Local Laundry on it. It was this new and scary platform that we didn’t understand.
“I don’t get it”
“It’s all kids on there”
“I’m not cool enough for TikTok”
“I don’t want my face out there”
“I could never do that”
These are all things I said about TikTok. We were comfortable with the existing platforms. We knew how they worked, what to do, what not to do. TikTok, however was this whole new world that seemed to break all the rules. We thought that if we ignored it long enough, it would go away. We tried to convince ourselves that it was a trend or fade that eventually the growth we experienced in our early days would come back to the same old platforms we always used.
When we started Local Laundry back in 2015, Instagram was the hot new social media platform. Most people were on Facebook or Twitter. No one knew how to use Instagram or how it could be used to grow their business. Some people hopped on, threw spaghetti at the wall, saw what stuck and dove further into the platform. While others watched from the sidelines, wondering if they should market their small business on it.
By the time they decided it was time to get on Instagram for the sake of their business, it was too late, the wave where huge organic growth was possible for the average person or small business, was gone.
After that, it was all about digital marketing. Facebook ads, Instagram Ads, Google Adwords, SEO etc. Prophets like Gary Vee were talking about it being the early age where digital real estate was cheap. Again some companies invested time and money into it and saw the returns. But soon the infamous iOS 14.5 came through and changed that. By then those, like us, who hopped in after watching from the sidelines, didn’t see the same return or growth for their business.
We were determined to not miss out on the current wave of digital media growth. When Instagram and Facebook stopped showing us growth, when digital ads weren’t giving us the ROI we needed, we thought we’d give TikTok a try.
It was scary, putting yourself out there, showing all the cracks and scars of your business. But we found out that was what people wanted to see. TikTok rewards the authentic, the imperfect, the nitty and gritty daily grind of owning a small business. TikTok celebrates the raw and unfiltered lives of it’s users.
We’re not doing highly choreographed dances and jumping on every trend. We’re doing what we do best.
Tell stories and building community.
The community that soon developed around our brand, that had never heard of us, that shared our values and wanted to see us succeed, was absolutely incredible. We were blown away by how supportive people of all ages are on the platform. They want to see us succeed and are actively helping.
We’re not sure what works and what doesn’t work, but the main thing is we are investing time and energy into and seeing the returns we once had in the early days of Instagram. We aren’t afraid of it anymore and our business is all the better for it.
When we tell other entrepreneurs and business owners, both big and small and tell them about the growth we’ve experienced, they look at us like we crazy or juvenile. Then they all say the exact same things we used to say.
“I don’t get it”
“It’s all kids on there”
“I’m not cool enough for TikTok”
“I don’t want my face out there”
“I could never do that”
We aren’t sure how long this growth wave of TikTok will last, if it will last or what the next big digital marketing wave will look like or what platform it will be on.
We just wished we had gotten on TikTok sooner. You better believe when the next wave does come, we won’t be sitting on the sidelines in fear. We’ll put ourselves out there and connect with others, sharing our story of being Canada’s most caring clothing company.
