After a year-long investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice, a bill that will effectively see TikTok banned in the U.S. has received support across political parties.
As a countermeasure, TikTok has tabled a plan called Project Texas to relocate all data belonging to American users to U.S. soil to meet privacy and security concerns.
As questions circulate about whether TikTok will be banned, a realistic scenario is that users based in the U.S. will lose access to the social network in 2024.
If so, realtors must be prepared to lose their TikTok audience and all the real estate leads they’ve been generating.
The TikTok ban is a matter of national security. U.S. lawmakers are concerned that ByteDance, the company that owns and developed TikTok, could be forced to leak U.S. user data to the Chinese government. A more prevalent fear is that the Chinese government could use TikTok to spy on U.S. citizens or weaponize it to spread misinformation.
Other issues being used to support the TikTok ban include children’s safety, mental health and the platform’s addictiveness.
Montana already passed legislation regarding a TikTok ban. The law was slated to go into effect in early 2024. However, a judge temporarily imposed a block, citing a First Amendment violation.
This law would have stopped TikTok from being available within Montana and imposed a daily fine for app stores that carried TikTok within state lines of up to $10,000. A judgement will be made sometime this year.
If a TikTok ban happens, real estate agents using the social network to brand their business and generate leads will lose access—and their audience—overnight.
If the ban happens, you need to focus on an exit strategy. The first step is to create a series of TikToks urging your audience to follow you on other platforms like X and Facebook. However, there’s no guarantee they’ll follow you.
This development would devastate any real estate agent who relies on TikTok to connect with leads. If this is you, you will need a new lead generation system to ensure your pipeline doesn’t dwindle.
If a TikTok ban forces you to suddenly lose the platform as a lead generator, Google Ads are your best bet to replace it.
Google Ads are pay-per-click ads that let you buy the most valuable part of a Google search engine results page just above the organic search. You choose a budget, create text ads, select keywords and are charged only when a user clicks on your ad.
If you anticipate the U.S. banning TikTok, then start figuring out your Google Ads budget, keywords and if you will capture leads through your website, a landing page or an online form.
Also, spend some time improving your website. This will ensure it’s more conversion-ready for when leads start visiting and make it more visible to Google, which will rank it higher in its organic search and drive traffic. This is called SEO and read this article on generating real estate leads organically with Google to learn how it's done.
In addition to learning about Google Ads and doing the preliminary work, you should wind down your TikTok presence.
Communicate to your audience that when the TikTok ban happens, you will be available to connect in other ways. Next, include the various methods, such as your website URL and links to your other social media accounts.
Don’t forget to thank your followers for their support.
Some U.S. lawmakers believe that TikTok is a threat to national security, is rife with privacy concerns, harmful to mental health and poses a danger to children.
As of now, a TikTok ban is possible but unconfirmed. The law might be passed later in 2024. If it doesn't pass, certain states could attempt to pass a state-specific bill as Montana did in 2023.
Replace TikTok right away to not lose any real estate leads. The best and most efficient way is to invest in Google Ads. These ad campaigns can connect you with targeted leads, lets you set your budget and are scalable and trackable. There is no method as likely to produce more leads in a short time.