At the time of writing this, one million people have watched me lip-sync to Taylor Swift whilst wearing a puffer coat in the office.

That’s not a sentence I ever thought I’d write and – even as a Head of Social Media – I never thought that quite that many people would see my face on their TikTok For You page, but here we are.

It’s a standing joke in the Liquid office that I’m always cold, whatever the weather. So, two weeks ago, we filmed a TikTok on a whim (mostly because Midnights had just been released and I’m a massive Swiftie) where we decided to poke fun at my expense.

A week in, the video had around 4,000 views making it one of Liquid’s most-viewed TikToks. Great, happy days. Well done social team. By 10pm that night, it had been viewed over 250,000 times and the three “stars” of the video were being messaged by people we hadn’t heard from in years asking, “Is this you on my TikTok?”.

Fast forward another week, and the video – which you can view here (shameless plug, sorry not sorry) – has now been viewed over ONE MILLION times. It’s had over 45,000 likes and over 200 people have tagged their friends in the comments saying “This is you”. How did we do it?

Trending audio

Taylor Swift must have had TikTok in mind when she wrote, “It’s me, hi. I’m the problem it’s me”. It’s short, snappy, and can be used in so many circumstances. She also encouraged fans to use the audio as part of her Anti Hero Challenge to share why they’re the problem.

We jumped on this audio early.

We used the sound when it was in the early stages of trending meaning that our video was more likely to be seen when people went to use the sound. Having an in-house TikTok Executive that can spot these trends when they’re in their early stages is vital in helping us produce content that has a greater chance of going viral.

Relatability

Everyone in the Liquid office knows me as “the cold one”. If ever there’s a debate about putting the heating on, I’m firmly in the “crank up the thermostat” camp. Our TikTok Executive Georgia decided to play on this with our now viral video. She roped in Tom and Heather as my willing co-stars, dressed me up in a puffer coat and scarf, and in around 10 minutes the video was filmed.

But it’s not just the Liquid office that has the debate around some people being cold and others being warm. Every office does. Every friend group has the one that’s always cold and so many of us grew up being told to put a jumper on if they were chilly. Making the video relatable really helped with the shareability.

A little help from Taylor

This TikTok video was up for a week before it really started racking up views. So, what happened in those seven days? Yes, the audio became more popular, but we had a little help from Taylor. She announced her first stadium tour in four years, bagged the whole of the top 10 in the Billboard 100, and secured the UK chart number 1 single and album simultaneously. All of this pushed the popularity of the audio, and – as a result – our video.

From a professional point of view, it’s great to have a Liquid TikTok go viral and be seen by so many people. Personally…it’s terrifying that so many people have watched it, shared it, and tagged their friends. We’re having so much fun experimenting with TikTok now; ultimately, I think that has played a huge part. Don’t take the content too seriously, pull on the puffer coat, and lip-sync to Taylor Swift.

And when my fellow Liquidites wonder why Anti Hero has been stuck in their heads for weeks…it’s me, hi. I’m the problem, it’s me.

If you’re looking for a social media agency in Birmingham, get in touch today to discuss how TikTok can expand your brand’s reach.