Recently, a baker and tattoo artist achieved virality on TikTok that other small business owners can only dream about. What’s the only problem? The exposure was not positive.
Kylie Allen of Kylie’s Kakes in West Virginia posted a video on her Facebook page last month, about a dispute she had with a customer about an $84 Rainbow Sprinkle Cake. The video spiraled out of control and became known as “cakegate”. A TikTok video by Courtney Monteith about a tattoo artist from Canada who charged high design fees was dubbed “tattoogate.”
According to marketing experts these viral stories highlight the importance of businesses educating themselves on social media marketing, creating policies for platforms, and handling customer complaints.
TikTok is a powerful tool that can help small business. However, it can also be used to destroy businesses as easily as it can build them up, especially when complaints from customers — and the owners’ reactions — become viral. This unwanted attention may also lead to death threats, harassment, and review-bombing.
Angeli Gianchandani is a marketing professor at University of New Haven. She said, “As a company, you should have a plan on how to deal with unhappy or dissatisfied clients.”
When you recognize this and make it right with the customer, you won’t spiral.
When it comes to internet engagement, you may need to refrain from directly engaging with your audience if there is a sudden backlash.
The algorithm can take a video complaint and spread it for days. This makes it hard for businesses to deal with the negative backlash. Positive reviews can be drowned out with one negative post.
Often, business owners unintentionally shine the spotlight on themselves.
Josh Rosenberg is the CEO of Day One Agency which specializes in digital marketing, social media and public relations.
It might be best to just let the situation play out.
Josh Rosenberg is the CEO of Day One Agency a marketing agency.
It doesn’t necessarily mean that an owner should ignore feedback. They should instead try to resolve the issue privately and, if it continues, disengage.
Allen’s video has been viewed over 9 million times. She said that her customer was “super defensive and rude” about the price, even though this is how she decorates all of her rainbow cakes. The customer then responded with a Video of the cake which she claimed to be of low quality.
Many viewers agreed that Allen’s criticism was wrong, leading to discussion about whether Allen had done anything wrong.
Allen declined to comment. In an interview on the ” Bake For Business Podcast “, she admitted that she felt “ashamed” about how she handled the incident and that she “would never make another” video like the one which sparked the “Cakegate” controversy.
Allen stated that the controversy did not affect Kylie’s Kakes in terms of financial loss because those who weighed in online weren’t her intended customer base in West Virginia.
Rosenberg said that “in business you should always choose the high road.”
He said that if you run a small company, it is important to build authentic relationships with customers. Speaking negatively about your clients may not be the best strategy.
Rosenberg stated that the best thing for business owners to do is “create a product worthy of advocating”
Emma Ferrara is the chief business development officer of marketing agency Viral nation. She said that ” Tattoogate ” demonstrated why entrepreneurs should use social media to participate in online conversations about their businesses.
Ferrara said that the beauty of social media is that people are eager to have access to behind-the scenes. They want to be part of the process. It’s also important to realize that the social media platform you use is designed to help maintain your business’s reputation.
Monteith’s first video about her tattoo-related experience has been viewed over 5 million times. She said that she paid $180 to consult with an unknown artist. She also said that she paid $1500 for the design fee and $1,000 as a deposit. Other tattoo artists have called this an unusual charge in the industry.
Monteith did not respond immediately to a comment request, but said that she didn’t get the tattoo, and was therefore out more than $2,600.
Many users who rallied around Monteith discovered quickly the name of Monteith, who wasn’t on TikTok. They also found out the name and business name of the business. The artist didn’t respond to our request for a comment.
Ferrara added that social media platforms such as TikTok could be a great opportunity to make it clear what services you offer, what you charge and what you do not. This will help avoid any confusion or misunderstandings.
She said that owners should set guidelines on how they will conduct themselves when posting to their business pages.
Ferrera suggested that you create a list of dos and don’ts for yourself. When you post these things or create your content strategy, you can refer to it and come back to it.
Ferrara said that businesses should provide the same level of service online as offline.
She said, “The customer is always right even if it’s not always the right thing to do.”
