There are so many success stories of brands who have gone viral on TikTok with a simple video that flooded orders for their products to the extent of selling out or getting temporarily shut down by their bank under suspicion of fraud. As a millennial who witnessed the birth of Instagram, FaceBook and MySpace (remember when?) has seen social media platforms like SnapChat, Tumblr, Vine and Vimeo come and go from marketing significance, I am always personally fascinated by how brands utilize the latest social media craze to build a community, reach their target and even un-targeted audience, and gain global recognition with a few thoughtfully planned and well-timed posts. 

I currently have no desire to be a content creator, but I love to be a content consumer when I take short breaks in my day. Without a plan to add TikTok to my offerings of professional services, I personally have resisted downloading the TikTok app; the reposted Reels on Instagram are enough distraction for me. Many of my colleagues are freelancers who need to have an established personal brand on social media in order to get bylines in our ever-competitive media market. From watching Sex Writers and Sex Educators interact with TikTok, I've learned from their experiences what plant and intimate wellness accounts can expect when trying their hand at TikTok.

I've heard from cannabis and intimate wellness brands who have tried their hand at TikTok to promote their products that unlike instagram where you can link you products in a shoppable post, any links that lead to a page selling cannabis accessories or intimate wellness products has the risk of being taken down. Brand ambassadors promoting a product tend to have better success in a product going viral on TikTok as far as product promotion for plant and intimate wellness brands however, the product itself may not be able to be shown. For instance, content creators talking about a powerful orgasm from a specific toy won't show the actual toy but link to it or offer a discount code. I've seen cannabis brands have success posting about their products with an aggregator link like a blog post that has the shoppable link in the post. 

While Meta's Instagram and Facebook have clear guidelines for what can or cannot be included in posts like genitals including female nipples (though not male), and words like "sex", "porn", and "sex work", TikTok doesn't have a "nipple", or a clear framework for what will or will not be taken down. Educational content that is more informative than vulgar like how to put in a tampon or shop for condoms can be taken down while nudity has been left untouched for some creators. What many creators have noticed is that it depends on who is reporting you, unlike Instagram which uses content moderators and AI to snuff out content that they believe doesn't fit their guidelines. Instagram usually has some type of appeal process for when AI can't tell the difference between a rose and a vulva, or educational content gets taken down that doesn't actually violate the guidelines, but I've heard TikTok is different.  Once a video is gone, there's little opportunity for a repeal.

Limitations often breed innovation and TikTok's intimacy educators and plant wellness advocates have found ways to keep providing informative and destigmatizing content. However, these solutions often dilute the brand. Words and phrases like "Erotic", "Sex Work", "Sex" and "Porn" have been butchered to "Er(*)tic", "S/W", "Seggs" and "P*rn". For brands whose target audience is people on the internet like an advocacy group for online safety for sex workers or an accessibly priced vibrator that is an easy and no-remose impulse buy, these negotiations aren't horrible although casual viewers may not take the time to translate the censorship to engage with the content. On the other hand, marketers for a luxury vibrator brand wouldn't want their products being called a "Seggs Toy" as the brand didn't invest in luxury details to have their toy lumped in by association with thousands of products that don't have similar attention to detail and intuitive  innovation. 

Cannabis brands often have to blur out any cannabis, like nugs or ground up herb. If you're main product is cannabis,  you're blurring out your flagship products that set you apart and best-sellers with cult followings. Imagine if Hamburger Helper had to advertise on TV with their product blurred out. Subliminal messaging may work for a one-off experimental advertisement, but consistently wouldn't allow the brand to build global recognition. 

The long and short of it: if you have a talented social media manager who can spare a few moments to create a TikTok here or there, it's absolutely worth a try if your brand aligns with the internet censorship guidelines. Something to keep in mind however, since TikTok's censorship is not consistent, your favorite videos may be taken down without warning or opportunity to repeal the decision. TikTok accounts that garner the most views are posting consistently. 

It may be surprising to hear from a professional publicist who companies hire to execute and maintain campaigns that garner media attention that earning media coverage is actually very easy for entrepreneurs and startups even without a PR agency or freelance publicist. News publications get their classification because they cover what is new, exciting. The very existence of a successful startup that hasn't been featured before is newsworthy. Like the journalists who covered Apple or Microsoft in the 80s and 90s, editors and writers want to feature the latest solutions, technology or products on the market. 

Earning one article about your company great, but I like to think of aiming for only a single article as playing checkers. Media relations plays Chess. Rather than focusing on placing one story about your company, prioritize creating a relationship with a journalist. The resulting coverage from a single relationship can be meaningful profiles, company announcements and thought leadership in industry-turning trend stories. Journalists often refer back to their own network for sources of insight or quotes in an article. 

If you don't have any journalists in your network who covers your industry, don't worry! When I was growing up, I was given lectures by my parents, girl scout leaders, teachers, and even a priest who told us not to make friends on the internet. Now, I've made initial acquaintances with most of my colleagues and friends through online sources. Social media is your best friend for meeting new journalists and editors who could cover your company or expertise without a publicist. Almost all journalists have public social media handles for their writing, often aimed at keeping in touch with sources. Some journalists will immediately reach out if your social media bio raises their interest. Linking your companies handles, website and relevant awards always helps.

When you're reading an article about your industry or related to your expertise, especially if you think "Wow, I should've been in this article," find the journalist on social media. Most journalists have their social media profiles linked to their author page when you click on their byline in the article. Make it a practice to follow journalists whenever you read an article related to your industry. Journalists regularly make calls for commentary on stories they're working on. Even if they're not following you, they are often looking at their DMs and replies for new sources. This is a great way to start a long-lasting relationship. 

Social media makes it easy to stay in touch with journalists and editors you've connected with. Unlike emails where you have to go out of your way to contact them and then wait for a response, with social media, their updates wind up on your feed. A quick like, comment or reply is an easy way to easily maintain a relationship. Once you've been doing this for a while, it gets easier to get a follow back. When editors and journalists see that other mutual connections following you, they assume you're an industry source and will immediately follow you back. Always send a quick introduction if they follow you back. You can send an intro without a followback, but they may not see it as their DMs are much like their email inboxes: full of cold outreach. 

Like building any relationship, media relations takes time. It's unreasonable to think that following one editor on social media will lead to a report's-worth of press coverage. Take fifteen minutes today to find and follow ten key editors in your industry. Editors will often tweet out stories and tag the writers who wrote the story. Follow anyone relevant these new connections tweet about. Make it a point every quarter to follow ten to fifteen new media connections. Over time, you'll go from not knowing anyone who could cover your company, to having a soft or even a close relationship with a number of leading journalists who want to feature your brand. 

After you've been covered in a published story, prioritize keeping in touch with a journalist; writers often tap their past interviewees first for new stories. Let these connections know about any launches you have coming up in advance in case they want to break the news or cover the launch. Bonus points if you meet up with your journalist connections for drinks or lunch a few months before the announcement; they will appreciate the special attention to the relationship. While social media is a great way to keep up with a journalists' achievements, those who will want to know about your company's news, won't like finding out with everyone else on social media. Make a point to tell them in advance; embargo if needed. 

Before embarking on your social media relations journey, make sure you remember your etiquette 101. As stated above, journalists inboxes and DMs are often full of cold pitches. Avoid pitching them in their DMs. Start with an introduction to yourself, and an offer to support them on related articles. Ask them how they would like to receive company announcements or pitches from you. Respect their boundaries and if they don't respond, don't get disheartened. If you followed ten other people like I told you above, someone else will respond. In my experience, non-response is often due to missing the message or being too busy to respond, and they will usually respond well to a follow up at a later date.  

It's easy to get attention around the initial launch and big announcements from an exciting startup. Day-to-day however, entrepreneurs typically don't have the time to constantly come up with new angles for the many journalists and editors who could cover your brand. Maintaining consistent media coverage can be a full time job. Once you've seen a slowdown of initial media coverage is a great time to speak with a publicist. Your brand will still be fresh enough in recent coverage and a publicist can come up with unique campaigns and angles to revive interest in your company, even without a launch. 

During an inflation and recession, public relations can help maintain consumer interest and loyalty while increasing brand awareness across consumer audiences to garner new customers. However, the earned media landscape has transformed drastically since the start of the pandemic. Because of that, startups considering Public Relations services this year need to plan strategically in advance for announcements and PR campaigns. 

Since 2020, newsrooms have been continuously consolidating. In January 2020, any given publication could have feature reporters, celebrity reporters and on-the-street reporters covering similar topics at the same magazine. However, year after year of declined subscribers and lack of events, travels and other in-person coverage opportunities, roles have been consolidated as reporters are only attending events via Zoom or locally, leaving more time for writing. Every quarter, publicists and journalists alike take to twitter to see if anyone they knew was victim to the latest headlines of mass-journalism layoffs. 

Journalism's tone has shifted for 2023. We're going into our third year of a global pandemic, global warming destroys lives and communities monthly, there's a war going on half a world away that effects the prices down the street. Companies that relished profit during the pandemic, now hit hard by inflation, are laying off employees in droves. Individuals, faced with job loss, climate and world crisis, and many experiencing mental illness are searching less about pleasures and more for necessities like mental and physical health topics. 

Public relations itself is shifting as the topics journalists are covering, deviate more and more from startup brand messages. When their readers are googling questions about depression and anxiety, editors are less likely to prioritize excessive stories about unrelated individual products. Publicists need to align their clients' products with the conversations that journalists are having with their readers. 

Three years ago, it was enough to get the occasional full-feature product review, regular inclusions in round-ups and thought leadership were enough to raise awareness of brand and garner new sales and customers. But as we enter the era of web3, SEO matters less and content is king. Public relations campaigns require individual assets like themed imagery, videos and social media posts. If a product wants to claim it boosts mental health, that needs to be on the package, on the website, in the marketing materials. It is not enough anymore to have an everyday product publicized for a specific mission.

Because of all these shifts in the media market over the last three years, brands need to plan in-advance any public relations efforts they'd like to see return on. Pre-pandemic, publicists needed four to eight weeks to publicize a launch. Now, you'll want to plan about six months in advance.

Due to the budget restrictions newsrooms face, there's less available time to cover announcements, unless there's a publicist with great relationships and even better planning. If a brand knows they'll be launching a product in February for Valentine's Day, the public relations team needs to start pitching the product around September to ensure multi-publication coverage. Brands telling their publicist in January about a Valentine's Day launch are going to have a very disappointing day of love. 

With strong relationships and coordinated assets months before, a great publicist can make sure that any launch is a coverage success.