I wanted to get viewers' ideas about making videos for Tiktok (among other media) for the purpose of show promotion specifically for a show that would consist of a number of very novel illusions. I expect that this violates most members' concerns about "overexposure" and I don't want to ignore those concerns completely. However I do believe that if Dante or Thurston or Harbin or even Houdini himself were alive today they would at least be considering using Tiktok for just such a purpose. Sometimes (like in investing in the stock market) the way to make money is to watch what everyone else is doing, and then CAREFULLY do the exact opposite! I'm not currently on Tiktok, has anyone know if this approach is currently benefiting anyone in our community (in any magic specialty)? It's OK if you want to be negative (I believe that's "the norm") but I'll say in advance that I'm much more interested in hearing from people who have ideas to help make something like this work than just "general brickbats".

Hey jeff,

i think I would need to know more about the kind
of show you're promoting.

I assume it's a theater show where you're selling tickets, if so
than social media is certainly a way to promote it.

as for tiktok specifically, the app is international, and the audience
viewing your content would be just as international.

but the only ones who would go see you would be the folks in the same city,
so you would need a very large audience to see it be a consistent way to fill seats.

Building a large fan base on any social media usually takes consistency, and
understanding the platform, if you can grow your channel you could get
name recognition, but it would take time and work.

there may be simpler ways to use social media to promote your show.

as for "exposure" that's entirely based on the content of the videos,
obviously magic content doesn't necessarily have to be exposure.

and if your exposing your own illusions, that would probably
be Counterintuitive to your goal of filling seats.

Hey Fedora, thanks for the response. There's a thought I had here, Tiktok videos are basically small "portrait mode" clips with frequently practically nothing (shadows?) for depth cues. OTOH I have designs for some effects that can be done at the end of a "flyout" stage, and instead of just seeing an almost instantaneous "resolve" the audience can watch it happen surrounded in real time, with ZERO possibility that they're seeing something that's been Photoshopped, with all the live sound and effects that a stage presentation can muster, and of course that difference is something that's emphasized, maybe spelled out in a text cloud in the video. In effect it totally IS the sort of "tease" that constitutes an effective promotion that good marketers mostly only dream of. And without "spelling out" anything I can't expect to pull off (at some time or another), this would be targeted to happen in a major entertainment hub or I don't think it would be at all worthwhile. Now much of this is "concept stage" right now, I'm way more inventor (with a VERY deep technical background - if I can envision and design it I can build it) than performer at the moment, but I still think I might be onto something here.

That sounds interesting, although I'm not sure exactly what
it is by the description, I do have a suggestion.

you may want to consult with Jim steinmeyer, he is the go to guy
for most of the top illusionists working today, he may be able to
help get you in with the folks who would be interested in such
a promotion.

On the premise that I decide to go ahead with this sort of concept, since I know comparatively little about social media can someone tell me which services are similar to TikTok, especially if I decide against using them for any of a number of reasons such as loss of security of the data? I think Instagram is generally "similar" in function (short "addictive" video loops pushed aggressively to the viewer) but I believe there are others I may not be aware of, just so I know what I ought to compare it to.

Youtube has a newer feature called "shorts", which limits
videos to 60 seconds or less, according to some folks they have
priority in the algorithm.

another is "clash" which is the successor to vine, it is pretty similar to tiktok,
the video length limit is 16 seconds I believe, it's an American company.

OK Fedora (and anyone else who's interested in this thread), I notice you didn't mention Facebook videos...the following article appeared recently as "How Magicians Won the Attention Economy" in the first summer double issue of a major economics magazine...now this is more about the revenue from online advertising, but nonetheless it's all about making money online off this entertainment form so my basic point still stands:

https://archive.ph/3WIn2