Tiktok star Ruben Chorlton-Owen, age 18 from the North West, has spoken to us about how a large following on social media can help you as a person, a business or brand; and how you can build it.
Ruben Chorlton-Owen from the North West has racked up over eight hundred thousand followers on Tiktok.
Ruben, the 18-year-old TikTok star ditched college to create comedic style videos on the platform. He made his debut on Tik Tok in December last year, only having 300 people watching his videos. Now his videos have been viewed more than fifty million times collectively within just five months.
He has accumulated over one million likes across his videos. He has collaborated with top brands such as boohooman, Jameson Carter, Crep Protect, and many other big names from his success on the platform. Ruben wants to inspire others to do the same thing.
TikTok lets people make short videos of up to 15 seconds, of them dancing, lip-syncing, singing, or joking around. These videos can then be viewed and shared worldwide. The craze is turning a wave of teenagers into aspiring filmmakers.
He has made deals with top artists such as Drake, who pay him to promote their music on his content. From creating the TikTok page to entertain others, to promoting some of the biggest names in the music industry. He has people from all around the world viewing his videos, including other big-time celebrities and stars wanting to join in on it all with him. https://www.instagram.com/rube.
Ruben-Chorlton Owen said: “I am doing very well at the moment, and I am extremely proud of that. Everyone around me is amazed by what I do. It is a dream come true to be in the position I am in, from making funny videos to it becoming something on a much more serious scale. It is a blessing to be able to make videos, be myself, and have people from around the world loving that. I am working consistently every day to put smiles on people’s faces. The future is very bright.”
https://www.tiktok.com/@savage
Ruben Chorlton-Owen using his platform to help with a global pandemic
Ruben has created a coronavirus themed clothing line to help the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS) during the difficult times of Coronavirus (COVID-19). The social media star has over eight hundred thousand followers on the video-making app Tiktok, which has been downloaded by more than 1.5 billion people worldwide. He has used his huge audience to do something amazing to help the world during the global pandemic, by creating a clothing line named ‘lockdown clothing’.
Ruben-Chorlton Owen said: “Using the platform, I can give back to my supporters with the amazing clothing line to say thank you for all the support over the past few months. Not only that but to also help donate to those struggling in this tough time. I have worked very hard creating the clothing, and it is something I am proud of — being able to give back to my supporters and the National Health Service (NHS) at the same time.”
Question: “How can I build a following?”
My advice on building a following is to create engaging content. Something that wants to make a person come back for more. Meaning the content should be funny, interesting, or crazy. Make sure to try and do the same type of content too. Posting too many different videos will lead the audience to confusion. Once you have grasped that, consistency is key. Don’t let anything bring you down. Keep going until you start getting results. And then go for even more. Even if you have a bad day, don’t forget that there are many more good days to come. Success doesn’t come easy but when you put in the work, you get results.
Question: “How does having a large following help me as a person or a company/brand?”
A large following leads to exposure. The more exposure the better. Think of having 100 followers viewing your new product, and 100,000 people viewing it. The chances are having 100,000 people will lead to more sales. Very basic stuff. The same if you’re a person, having 100,000 people viewing your video will generate more opportunity as opposed to having only 100 people viewing your video. Numbers make it easier to grow even further, give you authenticity, and make you stand out from others. The most evident advantage of a large following is money. Money is how the world goes round and having a large social media following helps attract it.
Question: “How can I monetize an audience?”
There are a few ways to monetize your audience. The top three would be selling merchandise, advertisements, and brand deals. Selling your merchandise (e.g. clothing) is probably the easiest way to profit from an audience. It is relatively simple to do nowadays, using on-demand services to create the product when purchased. Then come advertisements. For TikTok, one of the best advertisements for an audience is to do song promotions. This means using an artist’s song in your video and being paid for it. Very flexible and easy to do. Brand deals are probably the third bast way to monetize an audience. Promoting a brand is typically not hard to do and comes with a good reward when done correctly.
