Why TikTok needs to be on your crisis comms radar

When I talk to clients about their PR options, where they need to think about protecting their reputation and where they might find opportunities to tell their stories – I always get the same responses when I mention TikTok. “Isn’t that a silly dancing app?” “I think you lose credibility being on an app like that.” “I can’t see how that will help us grow”

I’ve been on TikTok for 7 years now and I’m a big advocate for it as a PR tool as part of your wider PR and social media strategy. And let me tell you – it is one of the most important platforms to monitor, even if you don’t create content.

If you say to me “We don’t need to be on TikTok.” The first thing I’m asking you is “But what if that’s where your reputational crisis starts?”

Last week a chef at Soho House made a TikTok where he revealed that after being pressured to replace labels on out of date food and making a complaint – he had been sacked after essentially whistleblowing (even though the business says he was terminated for other reasons – which causes a further lack of trust from a comms perspective).

It was his first TikTok, and 8 days after he posted, there are 2 million views on his original video and over 100,000 views on a follow up – just on his original TikTok videos. The video has been picked up by news organisations like BBC News, The Guardian, The Telegraph and a whole host of huge press outlets. That means the reposts, reshares, articles, tweets and Facebook comments have reached far more than just those figures from his video.

It's also led to the private members club being investigated by the local council for its food safety and hygiene practices. And I wonder how many of Soho House’s celebrity patrons will want to continue eating there – or even carry on their membership after this?

That one video on TikTok, by a brand new account has caused significant reputational damage to a long standing brand – which is already struggling financially. In fairness to Soho House they did put out a fairly decent statement – but can that counteract information that’s already been seen by millions of people?

This is why it’s so important to be across all platforms and monitoring – even if you aren’t using it as a marketing and PR tool. If you don’t know what people are saying about you and where, you can’t act on these sorts of things quickly to recover your reputation.

So what do you mean you don’t need to consider TikTok in your PR strategy and crisis comms plans? Want to know more about TikTok and crisis comms - or just how to use TikTok in general? Let’s chat.