Ask a Square Champion Anything: Candid Experiences on TikTok & Social Media

[Tom]

Hello Seller Community!

Looking to learn from business owners like yourself? I'm thrilled to introduce a new pilot event series: Square Champion "Ask Me Anythings (AMAs)." 

Square Champion AMAs are “Ask Me Anything” style forum discussions where you can ask real-life business owners and experts about their strategy and lived experiences. Each event will feature a different Square Square Champion  and have an accompanying theme where they're knowledgeable. On Tuesday, February 7, we focused on TikTok and social media with Sugar Lab Bake Shop.📱

Meet Ali, the biologist-turned-owner of Sugar Lab Bake Shop (@sugarlab in the Seller Community). Ali and her mother have been in business since April 2012. They've found success promoting and managing their business marketing on TikTok over the last few years — with multiple viral posts reaching millions of viewers! Learn more about how they started their business here. 🧪🍰

Ali shared her experience and shared her tips for getting started, maintaining relationships, and social media strategy.

Please note that Sugar Lab Bake Shop is not an employee or consultant of Square. The information they provide solely reflects their views and is not endorsed by Square. This Q&A is limited in scope and is only intended as a high-level overview of the topics discussed.

[SMArcher]

How long did it take to get a large following on tiktok?

Do you pay someone to do your tiktok posts?

What tips do you have to get started?  

[rjonin]

I love this @Tom!

[bela2]

How does having a business account compare to having an influencer account? Is it better to have one of each?  It seems like there aren't any music options for the business account I started with.  It was a great experience switching to an influencer account, and now I have access to all the top releases in music.   

[JUYBoutique20]

Yessss.....My question as well....

[sugarlab]

Hey @bela2 and @JUYBoutique20!

It is true that the business accounts don’t have access to the same music library. Here’s what I found from TikTok explaining it:

The Commercial Music Library, or CML, is a collection of 1,000,000+ songs and sounds that have been pre-cleared for commercial use. The library features songs from emerging and experienced artists, empowering businesses and brands to embrace creativity and authenticity alongside the TikTok community. Through our tools and resources, Commercial Music Library enables brands to create their own TikTok trends without the lengthy process of obtaining licenses on their own.

I would think if you’re having fun with trending sounds and not doing them to obviously sell a product, I think you’re be ok. But then again, I’m not a lawyer so I can’t say that with any certainty. I have a personal/creator account if that’s helpful.

[301drinks]

Love this

301drinks.com

[Indolentlynx]

Has anyone become profitable using their square online website? 

Just finished setting my site. It took a year to build and I haven't gotten actual sales from it.

My website: https://www.indolentlynxgift.com/

[doc_choc]

Unfortunately for the majority of online retail businesses there is a lot of marketing required to firstly drive awareness of your business, so reaching your target audience and secondly to build confidence in your business ie you are reputable and reliable etc.

So now you have the technical aspect with the help of Square Online nailed, it's time now to market your company to get those customers landing on your site whether that is through social media, mailing lists and newsletters or more traditional marketing methods. 

Also SEO may be worth working on to get yourself better visibility with the search engines.

Good luck 👍 

[Indolentlynx]

thank you @doc_choc for the reply. Yes I've been on the edge wondering before if Square or Shopify is a good ecom platform.. I decided why not test both? I see that square website is good especially for those who sell food or goods. 

marketing is definitely important when it comes to online retailing. I spent a year learning how to build up the gift shop with square so I'll be keeping it around. 

I'm still interested if anyone have a square website that are doing well. would love to featured them on my upcoming blogs!

[doc_choc]

Good luck 👍. 

[JUYBoutique20]

Last year I had a real boost with people going to my website but like @doc_choc said it was because of marketing.  I put my website on everything...business cards, banners, flyers, social media, etc...

[Indolentlynx]

That's good. did your online website made any good sales? I see square is mostly good for brick & mortar store.

So I'm catering selling online but I'm still new. My brand specializes on selling press on nails and mainly trendy women products.

if you are ever interesting in stocking my products I do wholesale them! you can find it on my blogs or check it out my main shop.

thank you. I'm actually going to market as well once I get both of my websites finish

gift shop: https://www.indolentlynxgift.com/

main brand (still in the making): https://indolentlynx.com/

blog site (still in the making): https://indolentlynxblog.com/

I

[sugarlab]

Hi @Indolentlynx,

I think @doc_choc has the right start with this. Being on social media can help drive people to your site. In this climate, it’s almost a necessity to be on some social media platform.

[HollywoodPhoto]

Hello. I’m a local photo studio. So I need local clients come in the store and I work with them face to face. How do you focus your reach to local clients. We don’t use TikTok because of how time consuming it looks but if we could benefit locally, could be one way to drive business. ( is that almost two questions:)

[sugarlab]

Hi @HollywoodPhoto!

I actually follow a few photographers on TikTok. They show behind the scenes of prepping their space for clients, posing techniques, or time lapses of editing. While you may not initially reach a local audience, I certainly have seen followers travel a ways to have a photographer they found online photograph them. Could be worth looking into!

[HollywoodPhoto]

Thank you! Will check out some and perhaps get some ideas 🙂

[Jamilla]

What have been the best content planning strategies for you this past year?

What apps/tools do you use to organize and plan what you’re going to post?

[sugarlab]

Hi @Jamilla,

Wait, people plan things? HAHA! It’s always a work in progress. For TikTok, I haven’t found a specific calendar to go with. I mainly just try to post every day if I can. There are some people who will say you need to post at least 5 times a day. That’s probably true for content creators/influencers who want social media to be their full time job. But for businesses, it just isn’t practical.

[mommaspantry]

It’s hard to keep up with work and content creating. What are some strategies you use for time management? 

Also, are hashtags important for views on TikTok? If so, what are some hashtags you’d suggest? 

[sugarlab]

Hey @mommaspantry,

I film everything! It takes a little bit to get used to setting up your phone to record something, but you get the hang of it pretty quickly. What’s great about TikTok is how people love to see how something is done, like in progress shots, behind the scenes, day in the life, packing orders, etc. Something so simple and mundane can be part of a cool video.

For hashtags, I have my own (sugarlabbakeshop) and then I tag my city, sometimes my county or state if it makes sense, but mainly focusing on who I want to see the video. So like cakedecorating for a tutorial video or cakelovers for a customer focused video.

[ATG719]

How would advice an Independent Home Remodeling Contractor to promote content ie before and after pictures or videos?