WWW.BRODOUGH.CA
by Jenna Movsowitz
THE “SECRET” TO TAKING OVER TIKTOK
ERICA RANKIN, BRO DOUGH
H
aving your small business go “viral” on social media often sounds as probable as winning the lottery. While we regularly hear of viral marketing success stories, it’s easy to feel detached from them. It’s as though the subject simply “cracked the code” or is in on a “secret” that the rest of us couldn’t possibly understand. Rather than spending all of our time trying to figure out a formula, it feels safer to focus time and money on marketing techniques that guarantee ROI — missing out on a potential overnight success story in exchange for steady growth. But what if “going viral” wasn’t such a secret? When Erica Rankin founded her own protein cookie dough business in 2020, she never could have predicted the immense impact that a little new app called TikTok could have on her one-woman business. In just two short months, the Founder and CEO of Bro Dough watched her business’s TikTok account skyrocket from zero followers to 40,000+ followers and her sales doubled — without ever hiring out or spending a dime on ads. Today, her TikTok account has reached over 130,000 followers, which she notes “is four times the size of [her] hometown.” Now, she is eager to share her best TikTok tips with the Startup CPG community. You’re going to want to grab a notepad for this one.
Post and engage regularly
THE BASICS
On other platforms, posting every day, let alone three times a day, would be a faux pas. But on TikTok, the more you’re posting, the more likely you are to go viral. Erica posts one to three times per day, and has found that regular posting was the key element that took her account off the ground. Regular posting makes you more likely to end up on someone’s For You Page, or the discovery page on TikTok where users spend most of their time. The more content, the merrier. When it comes to regular engagement, Erica sets aside 20-30 minutes a day to reply to comments and messages in the platform. This quick effort can have a huge impact. It demonstrates Erica’s devotion to customer service and builds a community that feels personally connected to the person behind the brand.
People-first content
Use viral sounds
Erica focused on putting her face in front of the brand. Her videos show the behind-the-scenes of owning a small business or tell her personal founder story through humor. While her product is featured in many of her videos, her most viral videos never feel like an ad. In fact, 33% of TikTok’s top performing ads break the fourth wall with a narrator who speaks directly to the camera (source: TikTok for Business). While TikTok is an entertainment app, users expect people-centric content with a user-generated feel, rather than a professional, studio feel. And though TikTok may feel unapproachable, this fact alone is precisely why small business owners on TikTok have the potential to be just as successful, if not more, than household names.
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The TikTok algorithm rewards those that stick with the trends. While you may get excited by the wealth of sounds you can use as audio for your TikToks, your favorite songs or DIY sounds likely won’t get you discovered. Instead, Erica rec-
33% of TikTok’s top performing ads break the fourth wall with a narrator who speaks directly to the camera
