NEW YORK — If TikTok were to be banned in the U.S., content creators and corporate executives would likely make videos about it, with Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” as the soundtrack.
Businesses that have focused on TikTok and advertise their products there would rather not have to switch to a different app. Smaller companies and independent entrepreneurs would feel the impact more. But if the popular video-sharing service stays under Chinese ownership and is banned by Congress, many companies would find a way to manage.
There are still many uncertainties surrounding a bill that the U.S. House passed this month. It would require ByteDance, the Beijing-based parent company of TikTok, to sell its stake in the platform within six months or face a nationwide ban. It's not clear when the Senate will consider the legislation or if it will approve a ban.
Major brands that have used TikTok to reach younger consumers don't seem to be panicking as they wait to see what happens in Washington. However, they have started to make plans. Some are adjusting promotional campaigns that were originally meant for TikTok. Many are experimenting with alternatives and focusing on working with influencers who have large followings on multiple social media platforms.
Jeremy Lowenstein, chief marketing officer for the makeup brand Milani Cosmetics, said, “I’m not the kind of marketer who wants to put all their eggs in one basket anyway.” He added, “We can always change direction. And like any technology, there will always be something new to try.”
Certainly, brands like Milani, based in Los Angeles, will lose a valuable tool if TikTok is no longer accepted in the U.S. Last year, sales of a new Milani mascara soared after The Lipstick Lesbians, an influencer couple, posted a TikTok video about it, according to Lowenstein. He has already explored alternative apps like Flip, a lesser-known shopping platform that lets users earn money by reviewing beauty items and then purchasing them from featured brands.
Another cosmetics company, e.l.f. Beauty, based in Oakland, California, had a viral success with a 2019 TikTok campaign that used an original song to explain that the company’s name stood for “eyes. lips. face.” E.l.f. was also among the first beauty brands to join TikTok Shop, the platform’s e-commerce section, during the U.S. test phase.
Kory Marchisotto, chief marketing officer of e.l.f., said that the in-app shop, which allows viewers to purchase products from seller accounts and videos, is performing well. However, she pointed out that Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and other platforms also offer short real-time videos, unlike when TikTok was the only one.
“We’ll take that incredible muscle that we built and develop and go with it wherever our community wants to go next, and they have always been the signal that has carried us,” Marchisotto said.
Some marketing agencies are advising brands to take basic precautions in case Congress ends up banning TikTok. Billion Dollar Boy, a New York-based influencer marketing agency, has urged clients to allocate their influencer spending across platforms, according to Edward East, the agency’s founder and group CEO.
Well-known TikTok influencers, including experts in beauty and fashion, continue to post regularly on the app. However, they are also sharing exclusive content on Instagram or YouTube or focusing more on their other social media accounts, according to Nicla Bartoli, the vice president of sales at The Influencer Marketing Factory, an agency that works to connect content creators and brands.
Jasmine Enberg, a leading analyst at research firm eMarketer, believes that a TikTok ban would have a larger impact on businesses today compared to a few years ago. Despite competition from Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts, they have not yet mastered the successful formula of creating TikTok videos that drive sales, according to Enberg.
“Although you can replicate the technology, you can’t truly replicate the culture, and people aren’t necessarily behaving in the same way as they do on TikTok,” she explained.
TikTok does not generate the same level of ad revenue as Instagram and Facebook, based on data from eMarketer. However, the firm predicts that this year, it will surpass the other two in terms of the percentage of users making at least one purchase originating from the platform.
“I believe the impact will be widely felt” if TikTok disappears, Enberg stated, “But it will be much more significant for small and medium businesses, as well as businesses founded by creators.”
Toy company Cepia LLC, known for the 2009 holiday hit Zhu Zhu Pets, began investing in TikTok ten years later with the release of Cats vs. Pickles, a collection of plush toys. Compared to other social networks, the platform has proven to be the best for showcasing product stories and building a community of fans, according to Laura Frerichs, Cepia’s head of marketing.
To launch Decora Girlz, its new fashion doll line, the medium-sized company based in St. Louis, Missouri, invited 30 influencers with a strong presence on TikTok – most of them children – to FAO Schwarz in Manhattan this month.
Since the launch event, the doll line has gathered over 53 million social impressions — the number of times Decora Girlz-related posts were viewed across social media platforms, according to Cepia.
However, the toy industry is accustomed to adapting, Frerichs noted, and would do so again in a post-TikTok market. Until 10 years ago, Cepia focused its advertising on three TV channels — Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and the Disney Channel.
“The world has really changed now very quickly,” Frerichs remarked.
Deborah Mayer, who has sold new and pre-owned handbags and other designer goods from her New Jersey home for 16 years, understands that all too well. Early last year, TikTok engaged her business for the live component of TikTok Shop.
Mayer says her sales have increased by 50% since October mainly due to purchases made during Debsluxurycloset’s live-streamed displays, which can attract over a thousand viewers. She estimates that 60% of her revenue now comes from TikTok, which would make a ban “devastating.”
“We dedicated a lot of time and effort to building up this platform,” Mayer, 52, said. “It would be a year of work down the drain.”
A classified Senate briefing on TikTok held Wednesday prompted several senators to say legislation that would compel ByteDance to sell on national security grounds was urgent. Others indicated they would prefer to consider a variety of proposals rather than rush to pass the House bill.
Some senators are suggesting that it might not be popular to take action in Congress against TikTok, so they are proposing to publicly talk about the potential risks of the app.
