By Tianna Mick,
Business Development & Industry Relations,
Dealer Synergy
A Time Before TikTok
Formally known as Musical.ly, in 2018, the name we're all familiar with today, "TikTok," was born! After being bought out by a Chinese internet technology company, ByteDance, the entire app transformed and transported all "Musical.ly" content and users to the now-renamed TikTok application.
Bottomline: Musical.ly lets users create videos lip-synching to songs approved by the music-focused app. TikTok changed the game by allowing users to use any soundbite (from songs, TV shows, movies, etc.) and for users to upload their videos, no soundbite needed. They were taking the application's focus off of strictly creating music content to encourage users to create their own funny and relatable content.
This change allowed more people to want to use the app by broadening and allowing others to create any content they want instead of forcing them to use specific song bites. Because of this rebranding, it skyrocketed from 500 million active users to over 1.5 billion active users per month and still growing.
What Is TikTok?
TikTok defines itself as an "entertainment platform," not a social media platform. This gives the user a paradigm of using the application to create video content rather than written text content.
The best way to understand TikTok is to look at the platform as a way to pass information to others. TikTok offers snippets of advice, tips, and promotion. Automotive, music, beauty, fashion, personal finance, cooking, etc., are all popular topics for informational videos. The format guides users through providing their knowledge on a subject - rather than focusing on 'socially connecting' with other users… and, if done correctly, the easiest and most efficient way to promote and sell products without coming off as a sales pitch.
T Got Your TikToks
As an automotive showroom sales consultant, TikTok was one of the many software applications I utilized to generate leads and continuously sell cars without relying on the dealership traffic! When I began my TikTok journey, I was overwhelmed. Over time I uncovered specific tactics and tools which rocketed my career from 0 TikTok Followers to over 25 thousand followers with over 2.5 million views making me officially 'Internet Viral!"
However, being viral is one thing; being able to convert those social interactions into profit is the real secret! With just one of my videos going viral, I sold 10 cars in my first month using TikTok. In my second month, another eight cars sold solely from TikTok, and soon I had my own automotive TikTok sales pipeline, which encouraged me to continue making content and start encouraging others to join with me.
Walk the Walk & Tik the Tok
Did you know that highly engaged customers spend up to twice as much money with their favorite brands? Did you also know customers who join a brand's online community spend, on average, 20% more than those who don't? This is why if you aren't already utilizing TikTok, the #1 engaging social platform, you're surely missing out!
How exactly do you get started in your TikTok journey? First, you need to find your purpose and stick to it! Every good business, brand, and dealership can agree that your business's core purpose is vital to keeping your brand banded together. Ensure you know your overall purpose for creating your TikTok - it's not always sales. Your mission could be to drive more service conversions, inform your customers about your products or new products, connect and relate to your customers, and more!
Get out of your head that "we're just here to sell a car." Can and will you sell cars by using these strategies? Yes, but what we're talking about is more significant than instant sale gratification! Only 3% of car shoppers are entirely ready to purchase a vehicle; these strategies focus on the other 97% of people not in the market purchasing immediately, so when they do become the 3%, they are already aware of you, know you, like you, and will purchase with you!
After deciding your purpose, and with that in mind, you need to find your audience! Dealers need to remember who their content is for. You need to start thinking, "what do my customers search for online" or "what content would attract people interested in purchasing a vehicle." For example, if your TikTok is about showing off all your dealership's sports cars and high-class vehicles, you will attract consumers solely in the market for those high-ticket items! Vice versa, if your TikTok shows tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your trade-in or car deal, then the audience you'll attract will be more customers in the market who are conscious about their trade-in! Start thinking from the shoes of your customers.
Lastly, start creating content! Don’t get hung up on 'being perfect' or not knowing how to create the 'right content.' The best way to get better with the platform is to use the platform. In the book Atomic Habits, the author references an experiment where a photography professor tests the quality vs. quantity debate on his students:
The Danger of Aiming for Perfection
On the first day of class, Jerry Uelsmann, a professor at the University of Florida, divided his photography students into two groups.
He explained that everyone on the left side of the classroom would be in the “quantity” group. They would be graded solely on the amount of work they produced. On the final day of class, he would tally the number of photos submitted by each student. One hundred photos would rate an A, 90 photos a B, 80 photos a C, and so on.
Meanwhile, everyone on the right side of the room would be in the "quality" group. They would be graded only on the excellence of their work. They would only need to produce one photo during the semester, but to get an A, it had to be a nearly perfect image.
At the end of the term, he was surprised to find that the quantity group produced all the best photos. During the semester, these students were busy taking photos, experimenting with composition and lighting, testing various methods in the darkroom, and learning from their mistakes. In the process of creating hundreds of photos, they honed their skills. Meanwhile, the quality group sat around speculating about perfection. In the end, they had little to show for their efforts besides unverified theories and one mediocre photo.
Quality comes with quantity; the more TikToks you make, the more you perfect your skills. So, hit that 'plus' button at the bottom, choose a funny TikTok sound, and start posting! Happy TikToking!
FAQTs (Frequently Asked Questions to Tianna)
We all know your story of gaining over 2.5 million views on your viral TikTok video & then converting those into 10 instant car sales that month. How did you convert the engagements into the 10 car sales?
This was the tricky part. You would think gaining the views or interactions or even going viral would be tricky, but like any recipe, if done correctly, you will be guaranteed your desired results! The secret sauce was getting my viewers to trust me and want to message me to continue the conversation. I was their "Friendly Neighborhood Car Salesman," there to answer any questions they had, needing nothing in return. The result? Of the many people that messaged me, I weeded out around 15 individuals around my dealership area (they knew where the store was since it was in my biography) with whom I could do business that week. I created a list of individuals I could sell that MONTH, and so on. I mined my list like any salesperson and sold 10 cars that month. Therefore, I continued selling vehicles through TikTok- because of the trust and likability it gave me as a car salesperson!
Do you have any tips for dealership managers to motivate our team to start taking advantage of TikTok?
Yes! There are always two mentalities, as I'm sure you're aware, the 'carrot' or the 'stick.' Simply put, you can motivate by carrot: "If you post two TikToks a week, I will give you a $50 Bonus." Or the stick: "You're required to post two TikToks each week to qualify for bonuses." Some organizations NEED the stick. Others may crumble if given too much opportunity and "choice" with the carrot. However, what would work best is to encourage everyone (managers included) on the sales team to follow a strict social media schedule as a GROUP so everyone can be held accountable and kept on track! (Example: Mondays = create & post a question on social; Tuesdays = Create/find & post an educational piece of content for your customers on your social; Wednesday = Create a video to post on social; Thursdays = Find/create a graphic to inspire your customer on your socials; Friday = Create a TikTok and share on all socials; Saturdays = Create another video for your customers and post on all socials)! Doing this together makes your team more inclined to continue the social media schedule!
How do you feel TikTok will change automotive sales?
TikTok is the #1 growing social media platform; TikTok was the most downloaded app worldwide and surpassed Google as the most popular web domain. If that doesn't tell you how powerful the platform is, I'm not sure what will. Like YouTube, consumers will (and are now) look to TikTok for informational and trustworthy knowledge. With that in mind, if you are a salesperson on the platform, you are already seen as 1) More trustworthy, 2) More relatable, and 3) Providing entertainment, not sales pitches! The platform will continue to grow for the next couple of years, and I do not see it slowing down! Just remind your team this is an entertainment and information-providing platform. TikTok is not Facebook or Twitter, where you can post "statuses" or your daily thoughts.
Fact: TikTok was the #1 downloaded app of 2021 and continues to hold the title of most downloaded app of Q3 in 2022 with no sign of slowing or stopping. Equipping your sales staff with the knowledge and power to take their social presence into their own hands is the start to building your dealership’s TikTok pipeline; with TikTok being the most engaging social media app, start allocating your time to using and selling on TikTok!
Follow me on TikTok: TikTok.com/@TGotYourKeys
Listen to the latest TikTok-related podcasts I’ve been interviewed on:
The Millionaire Car Salesman Podcast: EP 5:26 Car Salesman Generates 2.5 Million Views and 10 Sales ALL from a FREE TikTok Video
Be In The Drivers Seat Podcast: Ep. 013 - Soon-to-Be Youngest Car Dealer Owner w/ Tianna Mick aka "T Got Your Keys"
Brad Lea’s Dropping Bomb’s Podcast: The Brutal Truth about Diversity in the Auto Industry
Tianna Mick, fresh off of the showroom floor, focuses on Business Development and Industry Relations for Dealer Synergy. She was consistently the top-grossing salesperson, averaging 20+ units and generating $9K – $10K each month in personal income at only 19-years-old. Tianna is globally recognized for her award-winning TGotYourKeys.com website, which was voted as the #1 Personal Website in the Automotive Industry. Additionally, Tianna is an Internet Sales 20 Group Speaker, published in Digital Dealer Magazine November 2020, voted/awarded #1 Influential Female Car Salesperson of 2019, and an expert at showroom sales, lead/referral generation, customer satisfaction, and personal/business branding. Most recently, General Motors invited Tianna on a panel to speak on the importance of Diversity, LGBTQ+Communities, Realities, & Economics in the Automotive Industry.