Hartford Business Journal

HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | APRIL 29, 2024 15 Andrew Falce is the director of social media marketing at Glastonbury-based marketing and advertising firm CashmanKatz. HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL PUFFER 'Be Prepared' Some CT businesses keep wary eye on proposed federal TikTok ban 'Backup plan' Experts say that most businesses using TikTok should be able to pivot quickly to other platforms. That doesn't mean they are happy about it. "I think the U.S. banning TikTok is absolutely stupid," said 27-year-old Kayla Murphy, an influencer with 195,000 TikTok followers. "I think it's really ridiculous. I think there's way better things they could be doing." Murphy grew up in Connecticut. She lives in New York, but most of her content is still centered on the Nutmeg State. She began her career with editing and design jobs at local Connecticut newspapers, including the Bristol Press and Republi- can-American in Waterbury, then moved into marketing. Her journey to becoming an influ- encer began on March 8, 2020, when she downloaded a short video about a visit to Silver Sands State Park on the shoreline in Milford. The video took off in popularity, receiving 30,000 "likes" and enlisting 8,000 new followers for Murphy, who previously had 10. In 2021, she got her first paying gig — $100 to make a video clip for The Adventure Chal- lenge, a scrapbook that directs partic- ipants to take photos accomplishing different prescribed activities. Since then, Murphy said she's received sponsorships from Purina, Stop & Shop, FX, Hulu and others. In January and February of this year, Murphy generated more than $5,000 in social-media sponsorship revenues. She said she doubts a federal TikTok ban would survive a likely court challenge. But if it does, Murphy expects a comparable platform to emerge quickly, noting similar offer- ings already exist on other platforms. She has more than 50,000 followers on Instagram and 13,000 on YouTube. "You did bad business if you only limited yourself to TikTok," Murphy said. "You shot yourself in the foot if you did that." Paddi LeShane is the CEO of Hartford-based Sullivan & LeShane, which offers both lobbying and PR services in separate companies. LeShane said her firm represents several private schools and colleges that make use of TikTok. Private schools can no longer count on the children of past graduates to maintain enrollment. So, they must reach out to prospective students, as well as parents, through various methods, including an active social media presence, LeShane said. "If they don't engage in TikTok, they can't engage their populations," she said. LeShane said her firm also stresses the need for a diverse online presence, although she has not heard any concern from clients about the potential ban. "You always have to have a backup plan," LeShane said. "Like the old Boy Scout motto: 'Be prepared.'" By Michael Puffer mpuffer@hartfordbusiness.com A s federal lawmakers contemplate a potential ban on the Chinese-linked, short-form video hosting service TikTok, Glastonbury-based ad agency CashmanKatz is reminding clients to diversify their use of social media platforms. "We tell our clients at Cash- manKatz it's very important to diver- sify your content; it's very important to be all over social media because things like this happen all the time," said Andrew Falce, director of social media marketing at Cash- manKatz. "We see social media platforms shut down all the time." Usually, that's because a once- trendy platform suddenly falls out of favor. The U.S. House of Represen- ta tives and Senate in April voted in favor of a bill that could lead to a ban on TikTok, if the company's China- based owner doesn't agree to sell the company. In an unusual show of bipar - tisanship, lawmakers from both major parties agreed that China could use the platform to gather data on Ameri- cans, or try to influence their politics. Connecticut's seven-member Democratic Congressional delega- tion all supported the bill. President Biden has said he'd sign the measure into law. Falce said having a diverse social media presence is standard advice, but it's a lesson his company is reinforcing with clients. A TikTok ban wouldn't be a big problem for large Connecticut businesses, which either use the platform sparingly or maintain a sophisticated and diverse social media profile. It's more likely to hit "influencers," small retailers and diverse cottage businesses launched through the platform. "For instance, somebody who likes plants, they start creating short-form videos about plants and offering tips on how to care for your garden. And then they start selling plants through TikTok and grow a following, that becomes their small business and their identity," Falce said. According to Searchlogistics.com, TikTok is by far the fastest-growing social media network, and is up to more than 1 billion active monthly users, including more than 150 million users in the U.S. It's been so successful that other social media platforms, including Facebook and YouTube, have adopted its vertical video format and style. Paddi LeShane

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