There are 170 million US TikTok users awaiting a decision from the US Supreme Court.
A ban on the social media platform is expected to come into effect on Sunday, unless the Supreme Court intervenes.
Many North Texans who say their livelihoods depend on the application are anxiously awaiting a decision.
Juan Florido says it all started with his late mother packing his lunch for work. Florido then began making fresh tortillas and selling burritos to his coworkers. They were so popular that he went on TikTok and his life has changed.
“One day I just decided to go live while I was making tortillas and that day, I remember I got a thousand followers in one day,” he said. “So I just kept doing it every day.”
Florido’s followers on Tiktok grew from 300 to more than 57,000.
“It’s all thanks to TikTok, you know people were watching me and started following me,” he said. “They’re like hey, I was watching you on TikTok and I had to come try your food.”
The social media platform has boosted Florido’s business, allowing him to purchase a food truck.
TikTok has also proven invaluable to Britany Guereca’s café, Café Ciro.
“We use TikTok as a way of marketing our business,” Guererca said. “We actually went viral through TikTok and were able to witness how amazingly, making a video can change your life.”
The app is especially important to her success, she says, because Café Ciro is a pop-up cafe.
She is active on the site, posting the latest location for customers to find her store.
Both entrepreneurs are concerned about the possibility of the app being shut down as early as Sunday.
“I’ve been very stressed these past few days,” Guereca said. “The day is coming when they say TikTok is going away.”
Florido fears that interest among customers will decline.
“I don’t think we’ll have the same customers,” he said.
NBC 5 asked Dallas College marketing professor Wade Hyde to understand the importance TikTok in particular plays to business owners and the potential consequences of a ban.
“Let’s say that the Supreme Court decides to uphold the decision and that TikTok goes away, at least temporarily in the United States. Businesses and companies that survive will have to adapt,” Hyde said. “Regardless of what happens with the Supreme Court in the next couple of days, I would advise those companies to start diversifying now just in case something else happens in the future.”
Hyde suggests considering other avenues such as YouTube Shorts, Google and Snapchat, all based on short content.
The idea is called ‘investing in multi-platform influencer marketing’.
“They can’t just rely on TikTok anymore, because if that goes away and they have no other options, then they’re going to go under,” Hyde said.
He also points out what makes TikTok stand out when it comes to marketing. The platform is based on the idea of ’untethered viral potential’ based on engagement.
This tends to push business owners or ‘social media influencers’ to start their marketing strategy ‘more efficiently and quickly’, which is why new entrepreneurs are looking for the app, he said.
“They monitor the success of a video based on the engagement of a small group, and so if that small group watches the video for a long time, or likes it, or shares it, the TikTok algorithm spreads the word, so to speak ,” he said. “The TikTok platform and their algorithms make it really easy to tap into those audiences. Other platforms, at least as of today, are not, so it will take more work.”
For now, both Florido and Guereca are trying to make sure their customers know where else to follow them.
“I start showing them Instagram and Facebook,” Florido said.
“You guys can follow us on social media through Instagram, through Facebook,” Guereca said.
