Waikato Business News August/September 2023
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of cooperation.
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of cooperation.
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There’s an audience<br />
for every business<br />
on TikTok<br />
TikTok is not just for Gen Z, and<br />
businesses who do it well are reaping<br />
huge rewards, according to awardwinning<br />
PR agency HMC.<br />
HMC director Heather<br />
Claycomb says if your<br />
business isn’t on the<br />
platform yet, now is a great<br />
time to be first and capture a<br />
loyal audience, because others<br />
will follow.<br />
“TikTok is not a trend, it is<br />
a platform that has changed<br />
the face of social media permanently.<br />
Our team believes most<br />
businesses will be on it within<br />
the next five years.”<br />
HMC has helped several<br />
businesses lean into TikTok<br />
and overcome any pre-conceived<br />
perceptions they may<br />
have about the platform.<br />
Hamilton Central <strong>Business</strong><br />
Association (HCBA) general<br />
manager Vanessa Williams<br />
started using TikTok to promote<br />
the many and varied<br />
shops and businesses in Hamilton’s<br />
CBD. She admits she<br />
knew very little about the platform<br />
before she started but<br />
says its short-form video content<br />
has been a game-changer<br />
for the organisation.<br />
“When TikTok crossed our<br />
radar as a tool to promote the<br />
CBD’s businesses, I felt lost.<br />
But even then, I could see it<br />
was a hand-in-glove fit for our<br />
objectives. Short, snappy videos<br />
seemed like the perfect way<br />
to showcase these businesses<br />
to a new audience of younger<br />
digital natives,” she says.<br />
“HCBA promotes a diverse<br />
range of businesses, so we<br />
must attract a variety of people<br />
of different ages and interests.<br />
We were already leaning<br />
heavily into Facebook<br />
and Instagram but felt that<br />
we lacked a good channel to<br />
reach a younger audience. Tik-<br />
Tok plugged that gap for us<br />
and was where we could post<br />
punchy, engaging compilation<br />
videos.”<br />
Can I find my<br />
audience on TikTok?<br />
So, can other businesses find<br />
their audience on TikTok?<br />
With over 1 billion monthly<br />
active users around the world<br />
the answer is most likely yes.<br />
Although many assume it is a<br />
platform for teens, research<br />
shows 61.6% of users are over<br />
25, and 170 million users are<br />
aged 35-44.<br />
HMC’s social media expert<br />
Jamie Batters says most businesses<br />
can benefit from Tik-<br />
Tok, and it pays to do your<br />
research first.<br />
“See if your competitors are<br />
on the platform already. If they<br />
are, have a look at their content<br />
and the amount of engagement<br />
they’re getting. That’s a<br />
quick way to see if TikTok has<br />
an audience you can capture,”<br />
she says.<br />
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2023</strong> WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS, 17 A<br />
Can I provide value to my<br />
audience on this platform?<br />
Reaching an audience is one<br />
thing but turning them into<br />
customers is another. The key<br />
is deep engagement – getting<br />
them to watch your videos<br />
then seek you out for advice.<br />
How do you achieve that? For<br />
Jamie, it’s about giving them<br />
something valuable first.<br />
“TikTok lends itself to quick<br />
explainer videos, light-hearted<br />
how-tos, life hacks, “day in the<br />
life” videos, and educational<br />
tools. If you’re a lawyer or<br />
accountant, what great advice<br />
can you give for free?<br />
“Younger users are turning<br />
to the app for discovery<br />
purposes in place of Google.<br />
Nearly 40% of Gen Z members<br />
prefer TikTok over Google<br />
for online searches, and<br />
we are experiencing a shift of<br />
users utilising the platform as<br />
a search engine.”<br />
Work to a plan<br />
TikTok success comes from<br />
playing a longer game, which<br />
puts an emphasis on consistency<br />
and frequency of content.<br />
That may sound daunting, but<br />
Vanessa insists it’s well within<br />
reach of most businesses, provided<br />
they get one thing right.<br />
“Planning is everything.<br />
That’s one of the early things<br />
Jamie did with us – we sat<br />
down with her and laid out a<br />
3-month map of the content<br />
we wanted to capture on video.<br />
Working to a plan freed us<br />
from the weekly stress of ‘What<br />
now?’”<br />
How difficult is it to<br />
create video content?<br />
A cursory look on TikTok will<br />
show you that most of the best<br />
content has been created with<br />
a simple point-and-shoot of<br />
the phone video. For Jamie,<br />
keeping things simple is better.<br />
“Bring it back to basics. The<br />
key is giving your audience<br />
something they’ll find valuable.<br />
That’s how you become a<br />
resource that people will turn<br />
to when they need your product,<br />
service, or advice.”<br />
Our<br />
Democracy<br />
Needs You<br />
The General Election is upon us, and<br />
voting is one of the foundations of<br />
democracy, and with democracy<br />
comes so many freedoms.<br />
There are many<br />
nations where voting<br />
is not offered and<br />
many more where there is<br />
only one “real” alternative,<br />
so it is a rare privilege to be<br />
able to pick your representatives<br />
and one that over the<br />
broad sweep of humanity on<br />
this planet has been offered<br />
to very few.<br />
We need good people to<br />
stand for election and to<br />
show common sense in Parliament.<br />
Sadly, this trimester<br />
there have been a few<br />
whose behaviour has not<br />
met the public’s standards,<br />
and many more members<br />
of Parliament who simply<br />
have not delivered.<br />
Good luck to all the candidates.<br />
In today’s world the concept<br />
of elected service to<br />
your community is forgotten<br />
by many, yet we want<br />
the best, most meritorious,<br />
candidates to represent us<br />
in Parliament or on Council.<br />
Whatever your politics,<br />
when Members of Parliament<br />
voluntarily close<br />
their political careers and<br />
get the opportunity to look<br />
back on their time in Parliament,<br />
with its review of<br />
why they stood for election,<br />
we should read or listen to<br />
their speeches in appreciation<br />
of their service.<br />
It is easy to be partisan<br />
and block your ears to the<br />
words of the people and<br />
parties you may not support.<br />
But the Chamber is a<br />
broad church with its members<br />
spread across the political<br />
spectrum.<br />
In the hurly burly of<br />
electioneering, we as voters<br />
often miss why a candidate<br />
stands for election.<br />
Accordingly, when two of<br />
our serving politicians voluntarily<br />
step down and get<br />
to deliver their valedictories,<br />
we should listen and<br />
appreciate their contributions.<br />
Hamilton East has both<br />
Jamie Strange and David<br />
Bennett retiring this electoral<br />
cycle.<br />
We encourage you to<br />
head to Parliament TV On<br />
By Don Good, CEO of <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
Chamber of Commerce.<br />
Demand and watch Jamie’s<br />
valedictory from 15 <strong>August</strong><br />
and David’s on 23 <strong>August</strong>.<br />
The Chamber is also<br />
hosting a debate for the<br />
<strong>Waikato</strong> business community<br />
to hear from the Labour<br />
and National candidates for<br />
the Hamilton East & West<br />
electorates two weeks out<br />
from New Zealand’s General<br />
Election.<br />
Join us on Tuesday,<br />
October 3 as Labour’s<br />
Georgie Dansey (Hamilton<br />
East) and Myra Williamson<br />
(Hamilton West) go headto-head<br />
with National’s<br />
incumbent Hamilton West<br />
MP Tama Potaka and candidate<br />
for Hamilton East<br />
Ryan Hamilton.<br />
The debate will be moderated<br />
by former Hamilton<br />
City Councillor, Mark Bunting.<br />
This event is open to<br />
non-Chamber members,<br />
however registration is<br />
required in advance on our<br />
website: https://business.<br />
waikatochamber.co.nz/<br />
events/calendar.<br />
Jamie Batters<br />
Vicky Redwood and Vanessa Williams<br />
Want to learn more?<br />
Tune in to CRUNCH, HMC’s<br />
podcast designed to lift the lid<br />
on public relations and communications.<br />
In the latest episode,<br />
HCBA general manager<br />
Vanessa Williams and marketing<br />
manager Vicky Redwood<br />
share how they are leveraging<br />
TikTok to boost reputation and<br />
relationships and social media<br />
expert Jamie breaks down<br />
what TikTok can achieve, and<br />
how to do it well – using a real<br />
success story. www.wearehmc.<br />
co.nz/ep-2-the-pr-power-oftiktok-using-short-form-vid/<br />
Connect - Grow - Inspire - Represent