MARKETING
Meet Three of the Capital Region ’ s Top TikTok Influencers
It ’ s no surprise that the Capital Region , home to a flourishing creative community of makers , entrepreneurs and artists , boasts an impressive crop of TikTok creators . They span categories like lifestyle , fashion , food , travel , comedy , self-love and crafting .
@ davidsuh : Sacramento photographer David Suh has amassed 3 million followers since he began posting consistently to his TikTok channel in March 2020 . With a background in content creation on Instagram and YouTube , Suh says he ’ s long been in the practice of building a brand in tandem with a business . “ TikTok is where I found a big audience ,” he says . Joy emanates from Suh as he shares light-hearted video tutorials on how to take photos with boba or wearing a blazer , how to pose cool or for a mirror selfie . The photographer often goes all-in with his demonstrations , getting upside down on the floor or shimmying into a dress .
@ samisgoldie : Men ’ s fashion influencer Steven Henderson , who has about 64,000 TikTok followers , shares his personality through voiceover talent as well as his streetwear ensembles . Since April 2020 , he ’ s been curating fashion content , like roundups of sneakers he deems to be overrated and the occasional dance video where he dons a stylish OOTD ( outfit of the day ). About 10 percent of his content is sponsored , he says , as he partners with brands like Poshmark to promote the clothing items he styles . Henderson says he ’ s using his TikTok personality to build his brand , with plans to seed content to his YouTube channel and eventually launch his own clothing brand , podcast and networking collaborative for influencers .
@ itzabennie : Taylor , a Latinx woman in tech , describes herself as a “ charisma-based creator ,” and her TikTok account , which has more than 540,000 followers , as a coming of age story . Her top viewed video is a skit wherein she plays both parts of two people dating — one who ’ s ready for a relationship , the other skittish about commitment — with an arc that illustrates how the former needn ’ t wait around for the latter to be ready . “ I want to share my lessons and encourage others to share theirs in the comments . … The comments sections in my videos are incredible ,” says Taylor . “ It ’ s like a little community . I feel really grateful for that .”
To read more in-depth profiles of the Capital Region ’ s TikTok influencers , visit comstocksmag . com .
– Vanessa Labi
Lopez says . “ You have an unlimited number of posts to share this . Just pick one small aspect , and share that . Worry about adding other stuff later .” This is one reason why the Sacramento History Museum ’ s posts are specific , short and pegged to one delightful moment , as opposed to trying to convey the sweep of the history of printing .
The results of a poorly executed post can be disastrous . Burger King U . K . had to apologize and delete a Twitter post earlier this year that said “ Women belong in the kitchen .” The fast-food chain was attempting to promote its new scholarship program for female employees to increase women in head chef roles on International Women ’ s Day , but the tweet was criticized for being tone-deaf .
The potential for a firm ’ s message to go viral is a double-edged sword . “ Fact-check yourself and your own unconscious biases ,” says Pierce , who strongly recommends including a range of voices . It ’ s of the utmost importance , he says , to work with “ experts who represent a diverse perspective , and have a cultural competency that is relevant to the audience we are trying to communicate with .”
iii . Hand over the mic
What ’ s the one thing better than when your content lands with your audience ? When your audience freely gives you content . “ That ’ s the ultimate goal ,” says Pierce , “ when you have such loyal brand advocates that you don ’ t even need to create content , because it ’ s already being created for you .” Take the recent Adult Swim trend on TikTok , where hundreds of thousands of users — without any official prompting — created their own version of the “ bumps ” ( short video clips ) that run between Adult Swim cartoons . “ That ’ s the golden nugget ,” says Pierce .
UC Davis found its own version of this golden nugget . “ The biggest key to our success is that we hand over our microphone regularly for people to tell their stories ,” says Poggi . “ We don ’ t overedit it , we don ’ t script it , and we allow people to be who they want to be online .” UC Davis ’ TikTok channel is run primarily by the students . In one campaign , students post videos of
44 comstocksmag . com | August 2021