If it wasn’t for my running a business, I probably wouldn’t get involved with social media at all. I really have no interest in what someone had for lunch in Auburndale or watching some random stranger standing next to a statue of some allegedly famous person that I’ve never heard of in Cypress Hills. I am a private person and don’t like sharing what I thought about the crab cakes I ate last night with the world.
When you run your own business these days, you have to be involved in social media, because it is just another way to advertise and get your name out there. I’ve been using Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube for many years. It’s always been my “go-to” and has pretty much remained the same. I post something and the same few people that are interested always post their “likes” and that’s about it…until TikTok came along.
TikTok took me by surprise. I really wasn’t interested at first. Initially, I thought it was just someplace that teenagers hung out (virtually like Snapchat) where they would lip-sync or show off their latest dance moves. I was wrong. It is not just that stuff. It’s more – much more.
About four months ago our SEO guy said “you have to get on TikTok because it’s different.” I had no idea and I had no interest, but I reluctantly took a look to see what it was really about and to appease him. We started out with no knowledge of it whatsoever and we fumbled our way through a few lame attempts at entertaining videos. We then decided to approach it like we would a case that involved something that we knew little about – we investigated the “area,” which in this case, was other TikTokers that had a large following. In a short time, we learned how to produce more creative and entertaining videos, and our following grew. We listened to our followers’ comments and did our best to “give the audience what they want” so to speak, and the number of followers grew more. We posted more popular videos as time went on and at the six-week mark, we started to hit bigger numbers with our views.
What I’ve noticed, (and this is just my own opinion) is that with this particular social media outlet, people have been way more passionate, verbal, and outspoken. Most of the feedback (in the form of comments) is positive and engaging. In fact, very much so. We try to post videos where we get the followers engaged in “puzzles” such as “where are we” videos or talking about general examples of some strange cases (but never specifics). It’s all about following the clues of our followers to know what they like, and what they don’t.
There are also some “haters” that do not hesitate to say what they think of our videos. That part does take some getting used to, but if you are willing to “put yourself out there” you need to be prepared for their opinions (even when they have no idea what they are talking about). I find that most often, this particular minority are just angry critics that are ready to “rain on others parades”, but do not post anything. I would think that this particular type of person (since they seem to be the authority on what is good/funny/insightful) should be willing to “show us how it’s done” and post their own videos so we can learn or critique them. They never do, which I find fascinating (and pretty much expected). However, just like when we investigate a case, we listen to “all the information” from as many sources as possible and then take with it what we need and put the rest on a shelf in case we need it in the future. Just like in our cases, this helps us to improve in our videos.
But overall, I am happy to say that we have many, many more happy followers than “trolls” that are true fans of our videos. As of this blog, we have 3794 followers and 15,200 actual “likes” for our videos (one of them has 6230 likes alone – and counting). It may not be a million, but we all have to start someplace right? Some of our videos have had a LOT of views as well. One actually hit almost 115,000 views and one video even had 12 shares! A person even used one of our videos to make another video – how cool is that? That’s amazing to me. We have another video that has 286 comments! That is all in just under four months! Pretty good since we had no idea what we were getting into when we started. But, just like an unusual case or situation, we did our homework and we learned.
What really surprised me most (and still does) are the comments. People get really into TikTok. They get very passionate and involved. I have seen a lot of support and interest in what we do and what we post. People ask a lot of questions (especially in the “live” shows we do) and have many insightful comments. We find ourselves often educating our followers (and haters) about PI work. We have given some insight into how we do our surveillances on cheaters, helped educate people on what you need to do in order to become a Private Eye, and much more. No other social media platform (at least one that we are currently on) has come close to the level of TikTok in this regard.
I don’t know why TikTok has taken off like this. I had read that their popularity has risen tremendously since the start of the pandemic. Now it seems, at least to me, that it is the “place to be” for entertainment, education, and to have your voice be heard (to a point – they have some filters on there to watch for certain things they are not in favor of) and in our case, to give people a glimpse into the real world of Private Investigators and to get a little peek at our personalities as well. I guess my SEO guy was right. Thank you for clueing us in! I also feel not a lot of PI’s are using this media outlet yet, so we are one of the pioneers in the New York and Connecticut region to be using this platform at this level. I now post some of my TikTok videos on my other social media platforms, which I find funny that I can get so much mileage from one video.
So make sure to check us out on TikTok when you have a chance. Just search “Investigreat” and you will see us. If you check out our page, you will see some variety in our videos as well. This comes from listening to our audience – some like to watch us work, others like to figure out where we are, and some like to hear about our cases. Regardless, make sure to check us out and leave us a comment or a like. Now we are off to make the next “where are we” video. I’ll even give you a hint – it will be in Laurelton, NY – but you still have to figure out “where” in Laurelton. Good luck!
Investigreat, LLC is a recognized full-service Private Investigation Agency that is fully licensed, insured and bonded with offices in Jamaica, Long Island City and Connecticut. We handle cases in Queens NY, Brooklyn NY, the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island NY, Long Island NY and all of Connecticut. Terri Dornfeld, along with her husband Adam, has been working on cases from missing persons and surveillance to worker’s compensation and all general investigation services, together since 1992.
Investigreat LLC | Private Investigators serving Jamaica NY, Staten Island NY, Long Island City NY, Brooklyn NY, Queens NY, Bronx NY, Manhattan, Westchester County NY, Long Island NY and all of Connecticut.
Connecticut Office: 860-899-1710 | New York Office: 718-412-1845 | Text: 718-309-1269