TikTok just introduced FOUR new features to its comment section, and it's going to change the way you interact with your customers on the platform.
In this episode of the S.O.B. Marketing Podcast, we're breaking down TikTok's latest updates and discussing how small business owners can use these features to connect with customers, build trust, and generate even more sales.
We're also challenging small businesses to rethink how they use social media and recognize the HUGE marketing opportunities hiding in their comment sections.
Chelsea (00:06) Hey everyone, welcome to the SOB Marketing Podcast, where we celebrate the SOB that you are and if you haven't figured it out yet, we mean small owned business, we don't mean SOB.
Vivian (00:18) Listen, we know that as a small business owner, you are working hard on the daily to keep your business fully operational while trying to promote it. And while some days it may feel like the business is owning you, if we're being honest with each other, I bet you would admit that you wouldn't give up the insanity for anything.
Chelsea (00:37) Our commitment here at the SOB Marketing Podcast is to give you the real talk, what works when it comes to advertising, marketing, promoting your business, and then what doesn't really work.
Vivian (00:49) And Chelsea and I promise to always keep the conversation real. Ha off the presses, the tiki tackie has changed things again, Chelsea.
Chelsea (00:59) I'm gonna make her start over. What was this?
Vivian (01:04) No
Chelsea (01:05) This was like an amalgamation. Is that the how you say that word?
Vivian (01:11) You're asking me. This is a great
Chelsea (01:13) This was a group
of a lot of different phrases that I didn't think would go together. First off, hot off the presses. Yes. That's a blast from the past. And then you said tikkie talkie. You know what? Go ahead. What are what were you trying to announce?
Vivian (01:29) Sound off queen.
Chelsea (01:30) Oh my god.
Vivian (01:34) No.
Chelsea (01:34) Y'all, I had to explain to um someone the other day what mid was. That was really fun for me.
Vivian (01:42) Yeah, and if you're listening to this and you're like, this is not the podcast for me t don't go. Stay, please, I'm begging you. I'm forty something. I also have to deal with this language and I'm figuring it out as I go, okay?
Chelsea (01:57) Then why'd you say Ticky talkie. Look, we are marketing professionals, y'all, I promise. Yeah.
Vivian (02:01) Okay, so the conversation today is a marketing conversation. It's a very good one. So I I hope you are still listening. Um TikTok made a recent announcement in September, very beginning of September, and they the announcement, the article that they posted was actually titled titled Say More in the Comments, Introducing, and then
They listed features that they're introducing. So what we're gonna do today is we're not only gonna go through the features, but we're gonna have a bigger discussion, okay? Around are we leveraging as small business owners the comment section in our socials for what they are, which is opportunities for us to connect and whatnot, or are we just so focused on the content that like we're missing the bigger piece?
Chelsea (02:54) Yeah, and we're also gonna talk about how these updates will impact small businesses and whether, you know, they're gonna be good or could they be harmful.
Vivian (03:06) That's right, so - tune in because you want to know the features. They are brand new features that you're gonna start seeing on TikTok and we think that's very important. And then, you know, the rest of it is we we just kinda wanna share a discussion, an open discussion about how are we looking at these things. And as small business owners, you know, you guys are marketers. You have to kind of change your mindset.
Um to some extent because people are using technology different, they're buying differently. We just want to have that discussion up front now.
Chelsea (03:43) Yes. Okay, Vivian. We brought it back. Everyone's still tuned in. And I'm thankful for that because I'm about to do our pew pew pew pew pew pew our marketing hot take, which is mine this week. My hot take is that with the rise of tools like ManyChat, where we're automating comment responses, I feel like lost the plot a little bit. Yeah. When it comes to the comment section.
Vivian (04:17) Uh I agree. I agree.
Chelsea (04:19) Yeah, because let's let's think about it. The comments section is supposed to be where you connect with your target audience. But when we start and I'm not I'm not bashing on manychat. I understand the use for it. I think we have used many chat. It is a great tool, but it kind of feels like we're uh we're getting too generic or not necessarily generic. We're we're forgetting to connect with our target audience.
Vivian (04:48) Many chat is the tool that most small business owners use to be able to do the hey, I put a guide together or I have a recipe, comment recipe below, and I'll send it to you, right? And it sends them the automated DM with the link. And so great tool, but to your point, Chelsea, I think what it's done is I can't tell you how many times I'm scrolling on Instagram and literally all I see are people writing the word which is
It's great because it means either that content creator, that business is making a sale or they're getting their resource out there that they spent the time putting together. So it does give you an opportunity to take that discussion into the DMs. I just don't know how many small businesses are taking advantage of then the DM connection and discussion. Like you're saying, because they're you're wanting a little more depth there. Right.
Chelsea (05:46) Yes and no, I think
I think there are some creators out there that every single one of their posts has a many chat link to it. Sure. Yeah. And what I would like to see is variety. Yeah. What a surprise.
Vivian (06:09) Her eyeballs just got huge, you guys. I hope you're watching this on YouTube
Chelsea (06:13) Y'all my face is very expressive. If you don't watch it on YouTube, you're missing out, okay? I I've been told I have a very expressive face. But I you know, use many chat, use the DM automate automated systems, sure, but also make sure that you're connecting with your target audience. The small businesses that I spend the most money with are the businesses that I know them by name. Yeah,
Vivian (06:38) Yeah.
Chelsea (06:39) you know? don't forget to create that connection and build those brand evangelists. So
Vivian (06:47) Speaking of, I think this leads us perfectly into actually talking about the four different features that TikTok recently released in September of 2026. Yes. All of them were geared towards the comment section. Okay. And so, Chelsea, what I thought would be a good idea is we verbatim took some of the verbiage from the TikTok article that was released. And that way we can, you know talk through kind of what they're telling us these features are supposed to do.
Chelsea (07:19) Great idea. Love this
Vivian (07:20) Alright, so, will you share the first one with us?
Chelsea (07:23) I will absolutely share the first one. It's the one I hate the most.
Vivian (07:27) Uh, quit tainting their view.
Chelsea (07:30) I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You might love this. Voice comments. So sound and music have shaped TikTok TikTok from the very beginning, turning songs into trends and audio clips into jokes shared across the XXXX
Now we're bringing the same energy to the comment section with voice comments. A new way to post and listen to audio messages directly under any video. To leave a voice comment, just tap the microphone icon in the comment box and record a message up to 60 seconds long. Once posted, anyone can tap to listen, turning the comment section into a place people can hear as much as they read. Whether you're laughing at a meme, singing with a creator or reacting to a sudden plot twist. Voice comments make it easy to say what you're feeling, no typing required. Voice comments are rolling out globally over the next month to accounts eighteen and older.
Vivian (08:34) Yeah, so
Chelsea (08:35) I feel like I needed to do that, like, you know, the sped up Oh like the legal like the legal messaging at the end of promos. Let me that again.
Voice comments are rolling out globally over the next month to accounts eighteen and older.
Vivian (08:50) Yes. Okay. So the key there, there is a age limit on who's gonna be able to have access to this particular feature.
Chelsea (08:58) Is it a limit? How would you phrase that?
Vivian (09:01) age limit
Chelsea (09:01) that's not an age limit because people like older than eight There's no limit, there's a baseline.
Vivian (09:09) If you're 99 You don't get to use this. Exactly. Anyway. You have to be eighteen or over
Chelsea (09:18) Yeah.
Vivian (09:18) To have access to this. But the the interesting part, if you heard part of the reason at first when I had typed these notes, I had just listed out what the thing was. So it was like, you know, feature number one is voice notes now in the comment section. And I was like, I actually feel like you glean a lot out of what TikTok's trying to do hearing the way that they t they wrote this.
Chelsea (09:41) No, absolutely.
Vivian (09:42) yeah, and so part of what stood out to me is they're talking about how they utilize sound so much in TikTok, how it's such a big part of their app. And so they're like, hey, why wouldn't we incorporate sound into the comment section? Now what's interesting, and I think you guys
We actually shared this first in our SOB community call this last week. So as a reminder, you have access to that. You could join for fifty dollars a month. Once a week we hop on a call and we bring all kinds of different updates from the marketing world. Some of them sometimes do include social media, okay? It's not all we talk about, but it's a part. So when we were discussing this on the last community call, the part that I kind of thought was weird is I'm like it gives another dimension to just like to hear somebody's voice. Like all
Chelsea (10:38) yes
Vivian (10:40) All I can think of is this. I can think of is you know how people are unhinged when they're sitting behind a computer sometimes, when they feel the need like they could write whatever they want. Now, if someone starts leaving a voice note, the first thing I'm gonna do is roast them on how they sound. Okay. Like, first of all, you can't be making fun of someone if you sound like that.
Chelsea (11:01) Yeah. Well, I'm so glad you bring this up because when we had this discussion on our SOB community call, my biggest thing was how many people are actually going to use this? Because the I don't wanna say the yeah, the appeal. The appeal to social media is that people don't know who you are. And I feel like a voice your voice is a very intimate thing.
Vivian (11:25) Hm, yeah, agree.
Chelsea (11:27) I just don't know how many people are going to be willing to leave their voice out there or to put it out there.
Vivian (11:34) Oh, you know what I had not thought of that I literally it just occurred to me.
Chelsea (11:39) Yes, um I'm sorry, that's just how you know you didn't think of it and now you did.
Vivian (11:45) yea, okay - If if you guys don't know, the whole hopefully the whole reason you kind of watch well part of the reason you watch our marketing podcast is because Chelsea and I do have a generational like differences
Chelsea (11:59) differences.
Well, we're a generation apart, yeah.
Vivian (12:02) Yes. Okay, so as a forty something year old, I will tell you that I do not send voice notes via text the way that I know other people do, right? Is it my my understanding is that your generation actually loves sending voice notes, is this correct?
Chelsea (12:23) So I lied. I am Gen Z, but I'm I'm technically a Zillennial. Okay, so what it means is there's like a four or five year group, like year group that they had they technically are Gen Z, but because they were at the tail end of millennials, they could also be grouped with millennials. So they call Zillennials. All that to say I dont leave voice notes. no one I know leaves voice notes.
Vivian (12:57) But I've heard and you guys tell us down in the comments. If you have children that are that are maybe in their early twenties or maybe their teens, tell us in the comments. I'm almost certain that it is a big thing for them.
Chelsea (13:11) I am certain too. It's just that I am different. I don't know. Yeah.
Vivian (13:17) Okay. Well, so what I was saying is it had not occurred to me until now that maybe what TikTok is doing is that they are actually incorporating the preferred method of communication for a whole group of people. That is a maybe for me as a forty year old, it does not occur to me to send a voice note, but maybe for our younger generations, that's just a habit and that's the way they communicate. And so why wouldn't you be able to leave a comment on a video using a voice note?
Chelsea (13:50) Vivian's so smart.
Vivian (13:52) Genius Ha ha
Chelsea (13:53) Well no, that that is a great point. And I'm glad that you thought of that because I was sitting here just ready to bash on this completely.
Vivian (14:02) Chelsea said, I am never using this.
Chelsea (14:05) Well it's true, I'm never
using this.
Vivian (14:06) Yeah, and so we're gonna keep the other part of this discussion, which is like what can you actually do with this um for a little later. So let's move on to number two. Number two, comment polls. Okay. Verbatim, what TikTok says. Creators have always found creative ways to turn the comment section into a conversation with their audience. To make that easier, we're announcing comment polls, a new way for creators to put decisions directly in their followers' hands.
Whether it's picking an outfit, deciding what to cook, or voting on the next video idea. To create a comment poll, creators can add a poll when commenting on their own video. Just tap the poll icon in the comment box, choose up to five options for followers to vote on, and set a time frame for how long voting will last. As votes come in, creators can track results directly in the comment section, making it easy to see how the conversation is trending in real time. Comment polls are now available globally.
Chelsea (15:10) I'm sure some of you right now are thinking, couldn't we already do that? That's Instagram. That was already a thing on Instagram. So now TikTok has caught I don't want to say caught up, but TikTok is now offering that as well.
Vivian (15:23) What do you what's your general sentiment? Is there anything in particular about the way that they kind of like shared this in the verbiage that they use that stood out to you?
Chelsea (15:35) No, I mean it I feel like comment polls are amazing and it's a great way to get your audience to interact with you. So I love this. And but but this is something this is not like rocket science. Well I don't want to say rocket science. This isn't like the voice comment thing, you know, like this isn't like a brand new thing. This is something that Instagram has been doing. I'm sure it's been working well. So it makes sense to me that TikTok has also brought it on. Yeah.
Vivian (16:06) what is clear here is that they want engagement. Yes. Right. Like they want to encourage people that are posting on TikTok, hey, get your audience involved, right? Get people to share their opinions on stuff. So um I think to your point, we're well conditioned on other platforms on what to do with polls. I do like that they also give you ideas when they're announcing this, like, hey, here are a couple of ways that you can use it in real life. So Yeah. IRL.
Chelsea (16:35) Exactly. How likely is Vivian gonna use the snail mucus products that Chelsea buys her for Christmas?
Vivian (16:43) Never ever ever. That better be an option in there.
Chelsea (16:48) Okay, Vivian, let's go. Uh let's move on to the third update. I got photo carousel comments. So verbratum from TikTok. With photo carousel comments, people can now add up to nine photos in a single comment.
Making it easy to share a full moment instead of just one frame. For instance, if someone wants to react to a travel video with their own vacation photos, they no longer have to pick just one. They can drop the whole album in a single comment. I love this. And let me tell you why. Because you can do this on threads. okay. And on
Vivian (17:27) Oh, okay. I don't even log into threads.
Chelsea (17:33) I I use threads for Heated Rivalry.
That is literally the only thing. Heated rivalry and cat photos. Because that's what I was about to say. There are a lot of people that will post like they'll share something about their cat. Yep. Then in the comments they'll post multiple photos of their cat and then people will then post multiple photos of their own cats. And this is why I love it. I wanna see all of the pets.
Vivian (18:04) And so you were saying threads you can already do this.
Chelsea (18:07) Threads you can already do this. okay. Yes. So I I think this will work well. I think this will be great for engagement. People love to share their own experiences. People love to share their own pets.
Vivian (18:21) Yes.
Chelsea (18:23) And I love this.
Vivian (18:25) Interesting. At first when I read it I was like, Why do you need to share like up to nine photos? But when you frame it that way, I kinda do a and they gave a an example which I thought was perfect. So
Chelsea (18:35) What's the example? cause i just thought of an example
Vivian (18:38) No, they gave the example which is like if for travel like if someone
Chelsea (18:41) Oh yes, I'm sorry. Yes. I'm the one who read it.
Vivian (18:44) I know. I was like, when are you not paying attention? No. Um, so uh for example, we just went to um we've been to Glacier National Park and so I was utilizing TikTok quite a bit to see, you know, places to go, views, all this stuff. And so it would make sense that if I were to go back to that video or someone is recommending something, I could also then upload all mine to share.
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Vivian (19:46) Number four, live photo comments. Verbatim.
Live photos capture more than a static image. They capture a moment. With live photo comments, people can upload live photos directly from their camera roll, giving the photo comment a brief
Burst emotion so others can get a quick preview of the moment before diving into the full image. Live photo comments are now available globally and photo carousel comments are rolling out globally over the next month. So at the time of this recording, you guys, I'm almost certain we have if you're using TikTok, I think you have access to all of these. Okay. And so
Chelsea, you and I had a conversation. You kinda had to explain the live photo thing to me. Even though I listen, I know what a live photo is. I have a Samsung phone. Like we um it allows us to take live photos, and you explained to me that almost every phone does at this point. So what this is is I upload the photo. Yes. And instead of it just being one photo, it's the entire, it's kind of like a mini video.
Chelsea (20:59) Yeah, it's it's still one photo, but you get to see the movement. Yes. Which when you send a live photo, usually when once you send it it's static and it doesn't move. So what they're saying is you can upload the movement as well.
Vivian (21:16) The the thing here that kinda stood out to me because I this one I'm like I I don't understand what they're trying to do with it. Like what how much can this engage people more on in the comment section?
Chelsea (21:29) Yeah.
Vivian (21:31) But, the one sentence that stood out to me is it says people can upload live photos directly from their camera roll, giving the photo comment a brief burst of motion. Alright. So that others can preview it. But I think what it is is when you when you talk about how you're scrolling and you're reading through the comment section, it kind of livens it up a little bit. It's like oh, there's something there that
Chelsea (21:59) Yeah, the movement will probably pause.
Vivian (22:02) That's right. So you're scrolling. So um I don't know. I guess that's a nice little trick that that TikTok can do. But all this to say, uh uh Chels, how are you feeling about like overall the the one question I have is why is TikTok investing so heavily in the comment section? Okay, instead of just giving just throwing at people like, hey, here's more things to make it easier for you to create videos. Why instead do you think at this point they're like, hey, let's focus on the comments?
Chelsea (22:38) I can tell you right now, they want engagement. Okay. So when when you get people engaging and commenting, that's more of an investment of your time. And
Vivian (22:48) Okay. Yep.
Chelsea (22:49) and then, you know, when you comment something, people can respond back to you or they can like your comment or you know, it's an investment into what's happening in that video.
Vivian (22:59) I also wonder if they think that people are getting a little bored with the like we are so shiny new thing driven. Like we love the shiny new thing. I wonder if part of their decision making was like, hey, what is an area of TikTok that we haven't like updated and we haven't done anything to really like change the way that people are using it, right? And so
This very specifically, they didn't just roll out one feature, you guys. They rolled out four that are very specific to that comment section. So I think what they were trying to do is say, hey, we want to get people having more discussions, more connections, and we want to give them more tools to be able to do.
Chelsea (23:51) No that no, and I think they're also hoping that these newer options will get people to comment more. Vivian, how often do you comment on a post?
Vivian (24:00) I mean, um, not not really. I think I can scroll a whole lot, but I don't actually unless it's something that I actually feel like you need to like address or something, I really don't
Chelsea (24:11) I can count on hand, how many times I've commented on someone's post.
Vivian (24:16) Yeah, but so here's the weird thing though. Let me tell you in that same article that they share, do you know how many comments TikTok claims they get per day? One point seven billion billion with a "b" per day. Yes. Okay. That's what they're reporting. And so, you know, kind of like to your point, maybe we're not the ones. oh. Or Maybe they're like, even though we get 1.7 billion comments per day, there are a group of people out there that are not using this comment section. And maybe this is geared towards them.
Chelsea (24:53)
What I'm wondering, and I'd love to see the data on this, is okay, we're getting billions of comments from how many accounts though?
Vivian (25:02) Right. Like if it's just like a yeah.
Chelsea (25:04) Like is it a how many accounts are actually actively engaged and commenting? Yeah. Cause I mean billions divided by like five hundred thousand. Like, well, I don't know about that. I can't do math apparently. But my point is it could be You walked into that one. Like don't I know, that was my bad. My the point that I was trying to make is it could be a smaller group of their audience that is leaving comments, even though that's a big number. True.
Vivian (25:34) And I also okay, remind me for the um audio, it said you could record up to what, sixty seconds? So a full minute. Yeah. I will say that the weird thing
Chelsea (25:44) I'm sorry, who's leaving a full minute of a con you know what n we'll get into it. Go ahead.
Vivian (25:51) could just because like I'd pause, I'd like, you know. But here's the thing is um what I'm saying is there's also this cap and this is actually a cap, not like the age cap we were talking about earlier. Okay. there's a limit to how many like how long your comment can be if you're writing it. And so I wonder if this is like another way to circumvent it. Like, hey, let's give people the opportunity to be able to really express their true train of thought without having to shorten it to meet the character limit.
Chelsea (26:27) Okay, Yeah, I can see that. Vivian, let's go ahead and actually give the people what they want. Oh. And talk about, you know, the small business implications and how small businesses can apply these new features in a way that is helpful
Vivian (26:47) Okay.
Chelsea (26:47) to their marketing, to their social media marketing. Uh for one, for voice comments, I know
We have answer you can answer product questions personally, clarify advice, or add a human touch to customer conversations. I love all of these. I do have another take that I want to mention when it comes to these voice comments, and this is something that we discussed during our Zoom call. Do I think voice comments will be good? I mean, sure.
It's going to be a lot of work, in my opinion, especially for bigger brands, but even for small businesses, because now you're going to have to sit and listen to all of these voice comments.
Vivian (27:37) Yeah, it does. I So here's the thing. At first I kind of agreed with you. Like when we had the initial conversation, and I and I do, I think that it's gonna be different. The way that you guys now go into your TikTok comments and you're gonna have to listen to some of these uh, you know, minute-long audio messages. Is that any different than going through and scrolling through your comments and having to read it.
Chelsea (28:06) I think so.
Vivian (28:07) Yeah. I think tell us in the comments what what do you think? Do you hate the notion of having to like listen to voice comments? Oh, remember why I didn't like this. Okay. Because as a human being, I don't even like listening to my voicemail messages. Like the only thing that saves me is that my phone converts the voicemail into a text. Text yeah. Yeah, and I read it.
Chelsea (28:32) Exactly. Like I don't I feel like it's easier to read things than to listen to things. Mm-hmm. Now this could be our old outdated opinions. Yeah. Or but I I just feel like it's gonna be a lot more work.
Vivian (28:47) What other the other thing is could it could there also be a complication? You guys, we have real conversations here, okay? So I'm not gonna pussyfoot around this, okay? There are so like we live in the south, okay? People have accents. Depending on what state they're from or what city they're from, those accents can be heavier. So I do wonder if like there could ever be a point where you're listening to a voice note from someone and you're like, I don't understand what that is, right? Like I like the the accent's a little heavier and I I'm not able to answer the question because I really don't understand what they're saying.
Chelsea (29:28) or it could be like a language barrier sort of thing. Right. That's a great point. Is it in Spanish? Is it in French? Is it Vivian, little side topic? How do you say Atlanta? At
Vivian (29:42) Atlanta.
Chelsea (29:43) okay, so you say Atlanta. Uhhuh. Okay. So Tim and I were in the car and he's like, Dang, you're a southern girl now because apparently and I didn't realize I do this, I say Atlanta.
'Cause I'm just going 'cause I'm just talking I wasn't thinking about it. I like, yeah, Atlanta And he was like, At Atlanta No, I apparently don't
Vivian (30:09) you Just
Chelsea (30:10) I just I I say the second T, I don't say the first T. Now Tim, when he's talking fast, he doesn't say either Ts.
Vivian (30:16) Okay, the true test here is when you take your car to get a what change?
Chelsea (30:22) Oil. Mm-hmm. Go ahead and say oil.
Vivian (30:26) I take my car to get the oil change. Yeah.
Chelsea (30:28) Oh my god.
Vivian (30:29) Yeah. Oil. Like I don't know what it is. I can't not say that word that way.
Chelsea (30:35) What about bulk? Now say bulk oil.
Vivian (30:37) Bulk oil. Bulk oil.
Chelsea (30:40) Bulcoil. Yeah. Yeah.
Vivian (30:42) Okay, so - anyway, I do wonder if there if if there's gonna be some complications which regarding that. And not to deter anybody, I mean you guys, your your viewers, your followers have now the opportunity to do this, so they're likely gonna some of them are likely gonna start using it.
Chelsea (31:03) And I do love these examples we gave. I just wanna, you know, like clarifying advice. You can go into the comment section and leave a voice comment. And I think that would be great. I think that's a great idea.
Vivian (31:15) Well and and super helpful if you have a product that sometimes needs a little more explaining. Okay.
Chelsea (31:23) So clarifying.
Vivian (31:24) That's right. If it's something that people are just they always, you know, miss misuse or they miss a step with using your product, it's really great for you to be able to hop in there and say, actually we recommend that you keep that on for thirty minutes as opposed to like just fifteen or whatever.
Chelsea (31:44) Yes. Okay, Vivian. we also for comment polls, what what are the small business uh marketing applications for comment polls?
Vivian (31:53) Not rocket science, you guys know how to use this. Um, ask customers, you know, what product variations they prefer or what topics they need explained. Just any type of input, right? And it doesn't even have to be that serious, you guys, okay? The thing is, I'm thinking your boutique, you're selling a scarf, and it could be, you know, which way would you prefer to wear this scarf? Like around your neck, around your your head. Do you want to use it as a belt
Chelsea (32:23) Well, so in the video, mm-hmm in your reel. You show all the options.
Vivian (32:30) Not Reel, TikTok video.
Chelsea (32:31) Yes, I'm s y'all, I don't use TikTok, I'm sorry. In the video, you're in the
Vivian (32:37) Ticky talkie video.
Chelsea (32:39) Okay. I was like, what do you call that? But then TikTok is just like primarily video. So yeah, in the video, sorry, you're showing the different options how to style the scarf and then you literally in the comments say, Hey, which one did you like the best?
Vivian (32:53) Chels, how about photo carousels? How could they use photo carousels?
Chelsea (32:57) Photo carousels. I thought of this earlier while we were talking about it, and I'm so glad that you've asked for my opinion.
Vivian (33:08) I mean you are the Co host
Chelsea (33:10) Yea I know, I know, I know. What I'm thinking, and the exact example I thought of earlier was let's say you have a very popular product, like your best seller, l you can ask people in the comments to share how they use the product. So let's say it's a shirt. Sure. And you're like, oh, show
You guys, this is my best seller. Show everyone in the comments how you styled this shirt. That's right. And people can share multiple photos. This is a great way basically to get free reviews, is what I'm thinking. Okay. Get people to engage, show the their actual use of your products. Yeah. And you know, if they're show now, it could go wrong. It could be that someone had a bad experience and they're showing photos of that. That's fine.
'Cause this is now you can leave a voice comment saying, Hey, I'm really sorry that this happened. Let's fix this. Yeah. So I think this is a great way to display your products. Yeah. If done the right way.
Vivian (34:15) No, I love this. The other thing too is holidays are coming up. Maybe you have like uh they don't call meet and greets. What would you call it for the holiday season when you drop ins. Okay. Right? So like maybe you're doing a drop in event and you you know, you have a video of that night, right? It's like uh after the day. I love
Chelsea (34:37) Yes, I love this idea
Vivian (34:39) then you're like - hey drop your photos below.
Chelsea (34:43) From the event. yes, see I love that
Vivian (34:45) then in in one of two things, if there are photos in there that you really love and you don't have a copy of them, you can then maybe leave the voice note that says like, Hey, by the way, do you mind if I use this and share it on, you know, on my website? Can I upload it to my Facebook? All this stuff. So it it could be a good way for you to actually get
Kind of like what Chelsea was saying with the reviews, but this one's a little different in the sense that maybe you can actually get some content that you could reuse and it makes someone feel good that they were there, they captured the moment, and then now the business is sharing and utilizing it. Yeah.
Chelsea (35:24) So really funny that Vivian both of us came up with great examples of how this is useful and you were not sure if you liked the whole photo carousel thing.
Vivian (35:35) it's so funny you caught on to that 'cause I did I I completely forgot that I just said that five minutes ago that I
Chelsea (35:41) That you were like, Hmm, is this really helpful? Well yes. Yes it can.
Vivian (35:45) Okay, I love it. Also, you know, there is a place that you love to go eat, Chelsea, here in Summerville. it's called Eclectic Chef.
Chelsea (35:53) Yes.
Vivian (35:54) if you remember, when you walk into Eclectic Chef, they actually have people that have what is it? They they wear the shirt or they they take a sticker? What is it?
Chelsea (36:04) I think it's a flag, maybe
Vivian (36:06) But they take it all around the world. Okay. And so, um uh
their their restaurant is lined with photos of people with the eclectic chef name on like a mountain in Italy in here like wherever they travel to very similarly you could do somethinglike that where you're like, hey, um, you know, show us where, you know, you took our shirt.
Yeah. You know, traveling and it could make it a fun way for people to engage and to feel like they're out there representing your business and you're getting them involved in in some part of that.
Chelsea (36:46) think this is an easier way to do stories. You know, because some sometimes as a business we're like, show us where you've been with our shirt, but you would say post it to your story and tag us. Right. Well now people don't have to do all these extra steps. They can just add it to the comment section so people are more likely to interact. Yeah. Yeah. Live photos.
Live.
Vivian (37:14) right, so invite customers to share brief real life moments using a product. So I I mean that one's you know, it is what it is. Well
Chelsea (37:24) Vivian's still not crazy about the whole live photo
Vivian (37:26) this one is great, like it gives you a burst of you get to see a preview of it like in the thing, but um I guess that's cool. uh
Chelsea (37:35) We don't have a good pitch for that one.
Vivian (37:37) I mean I guess
you could use it just like you would use asking them to upload any type of
photo.
Chelsea (37:45) Yeah.
No, definitely. I get that. Vivian, I think overall all new features really could actually help. And it it can help when it when it comes to generating inquiries, you know, improving products or even building trust. Definitely I think with building trust.
Vivian (38:08) I'm not gonna argue with that, but oh Chelsea, I just kind of feel like give me your honest opinion. Do you feel like this is creating more work for small business owners than it's worth? Like, like this is what I'm do people actually need to use voice comments, it's just gonna change the way that now as a small business owner, you go in and kind of like sure, engage in the comment section.
Chelsea (38:35) Do I think this will create more work? Yes. Do I necessarily think it's creating more work to the point that it's not worth it? No, not necessarily. I think it's important for small business owners to one, remember that social media is to build a connection with your target audience. It is a
marketing strategy at the end of the day, so it's going to take work. I think these new features are good. I think it will help you engage with your target audience. I don't necessarily think that they're that much more work. I think they can be easily incorporated into your marketing strategy.
Vivian (39:23) Right. Well is what it is. And the the other part of it too is I think the key here is what you said, which is it reminds us of what the purpose is of using social media as a small business owner. We're not talking about how you use it personally. Okay. We're talking about if you have TikTok to grow your small business, then part of what you're using it for is research.
Part of what you're using it for is to build community. Part of what you're using it for is to actually build a two-way communication with your followers, right? I mean, it's kind of um the way I would look at this is if at first you heard Chelsea mention voice notes and you were like cringe, cringe, cringe, cringe, I do not want to have to listen to this stuff.
What you're possibly missing is the fact that this is an opportunity to draw you closer to build a better connection with someone and to build more trust, which eventually can lead to dollar dollar bills, y'all. Okay. It makes it easier for you to sell if you understand your customer and your consumer. And um, I hate to tell it tell you, but TikTok maybe just made it a little easier for us because what is one of the things that we constantly talk about, Chelsea?
Personalization. Okay. And when we talk about personalization and marketing, we're not just talking about hi, inter name here, you know, when receiving an email from the business. We all want to feel seen and heard. A voice note is the most intimate way for you to do that. And TikTok has basically just served it on a platter for you. what is more intimate than you going in there and directly responding to someone?
with your own voice, in your own style, just saying like, Hey, here's the answer to that question that you had. I mean, if you don't think that gives you extra brownie points, right?
Chelsea (41:26) that was a great point. It also gave cringe. Just a little bit. Just a little bit. I think this is all stuff that we are going to have to get used to.
Vivian (41:36) it's definitely changing. What's interesting is that TikTok did put so many resources to this and it looked like they actually thought about it with the release of four at one time instead of just trickling one out then waiting a year. It looked like they were like, Hey, comment section, untapped opportunity for us to be able to give people way to connect better. The other thing is sometimes in those comment sections, I want to make it compelling for you to actually go in there and take a look at what's being shared in there. Those can be invaluable to you. Okay. That could be the place where you go for ideas on future products or services to launch, or perhaps ideas for um ways to revamp your website if you keep it.
getting the same question over and over again, maybe you should include it in your FAQ section of your website, right? So I do think that, you know, it it's all good stuff and you can glean from TikTok and actually utilize it in some of your other social media platforms. maybe you being more engaged in your TikTok comments is going to encourage you to also do the same on Instagram. All right. There are opportunities there.
To be able to do stuff like that.
Chelsea (42:58) Love it. I think this was a great conversation, Vivian. I'm glad we talked about this. I'm glad that we talked this through because at face value it's just TikTok updating their comment section, right? Right. But the implications mean a lot for small businesses.
Vivian (43:18) And also I wanna say as someone who does use social media, I wonder if this also changes the way that we view creating our content, creating our videos, okay? And what I mean by that is maybe you don't need to spend all this time creating a video and putting it on TikTok. Instead, maybe it really is just a thirty second video of you prompting.
Prompting people to to have a conversation in the comments about something in particular. So maybe it's just a matter of how many different creative ways can I get people talking that's going to impact my business, that's gonna be useful for me, okay? A lot of it can be, I'm sure you can figure out a way to do that directed uh to sales. But like Chelsea had mentioned earlier, if you're utilizing it to get reviews from people that have already
brought like bought your product or service, could this potentially make it easier for you to sell? Right? Like getting people involved, maybe they do some of that heavy lifting through their own testimony, then that way it's a little easier for you to do that. So I love it. I mean, I'm thinking as I'm talking about is as a small business owner, how cool would it be if you're like, you know
Hey, I sell elderberry syrup. Tell me down in the comments below what how you're incorporating this into your day to day. Like, are you using it in a smoothie? Are you using it to put on top of like ice cream for kids? Are you and so that way it gives people ideas on like, oh, I never would have thought I'm just taking it by the spoonful, but really all I have to do is like put it in some in my oatmeal. Yeah. And I'm still getting the the benefit of it Chelsea (45:12) I'm gonna start putting my elderberry syrup on ice cream. Great idea, Vivian.
Vivian (45:16) Have you ever had elderberry syrup? it's very delicious. I actually like it. I could probably chug like half a bottle.
Chelsea (45:22) Okay, let's wrap this up. Thank you everyone for listening to this episode. If you have a topic you want us to talk about, let us know. We want to talk about whatever you want to hear about. So leave it in the comments. Pretty please leave us a review. Make sure you're subscribed or following, whatever it is on whatever platform you're on, and go be the best SOB you can be.