Since the beginning of the pandemic, TikTok has skyrocketed in popularity that mirroring the meteoric rise of Facebook in 2007. Over the last two years, what began as a fun little app used almost exclusively by Gen Z has quickly sprawled into an inter-generational phenomenon of pure entertainment that shows no signs of slowing down. With its audio-centric focus and landslide success, promoting your voiceover on TikTok is the ideal way to get noticed. By incorporating it into your daily routine, you not only bring out the inherent value of the craft but promote your voice over talents in the process.
TikTok is the Perfect Platform for Voice Over Artists
With over 1 billion active users, TikTok is set apart from other social media platforms by audio rather than visual elements. TikTok is the perfect platform for voice over artists because the content isn’t just user-generated but tailored to what sounds are trending. While TikTok gained its initial popularity over viral dance challenges, the pandemic shifted its focus to entertainment. The algorithm is so accurate that it actively reflects the content you want to see.
While sampling different sounds might seem like the ultimate voice over taboo, TikTok actively encourages it, and people film their content with trending sounds in mind. This presents a unique opportunity to show off your voice-acting skills and potentially go viral as a voice over talent.
The Value of Voiceover on TikTok
You don’t have to be interested in the social media game to benefit from TikTok. Like any social media, TikTok is a marketing tool appropriately used, and as an audio-based platform, the value TikTok brings to voice over cannot be underestimated.
At its barest, TikTok is a free place to upload your reels and demos; it’s just another venue to show off your body of work and attract new clients. If you aren’t interested in social media, consider it a free advertisement that only takes a minute or two to set up and you can forget about – at worst, it’ll bolster your search results. But at best, it can make your voiceovers famous overnight. So try recording audio clips with TikTok in mind and upload them for others to use.
Incorporate TikTok into Your Voice Over Career
If you’re worried about it taking too much time to incorporate TikTok into your voice over career, you’d be surprised to learn you don’t have to do anything differently; just set up a camera and do exactly what you usually would.
The next time you get into the sound booth, save snippets of your voice over sessions and record quick video clips of yourself at work. Show yourself in your workspace or talk about what different equipment does; let people know a little bit about your creative process and give them a chance to connect with you on a personal level.
Another way to roll TikTok over into your voice over arsenal is by finding existing clips of what you’ve worked on and recording short 15-second narrations about it. The great thing about this platform is that it’s all short-form content and won’t break your schedule; if you have a minute between sessions, talk about that. Talk about your day; talk about what projects you’re hoping to get and why; whatever you choose to do, let your personality shine through so that people can get a feel for who you are behind the voice.
As a voice over artist, you already have the skills handy to make it on the platform, so use them. Upload your day-in-the-life with a narration about doing voice overs or let people know what you’ve been working on. Give people a window into what you do and the means to understand it.
Promote Your Voiceover on TikTok
Exposure is the name of the game and essential to the success of your voice over career. It might seem daunting to get out there and promote your voice over work on TikTok, but every time you list your demos and samples on websites like Voices, Bodalgo, and Voice123 (or even your website), you’re doing the same thing, only less streamlined; so why get shy now? Take advantage of what you’re already doing, and leverage it towards a new demographic you haven’t even scratched the surface of.
Like anything new, it’s alright to be skeptical; people are reluctant to plunge headfirst into something they’ve never tried before, but the fact remains that fewer people are looking to standalone websites. Gen Z and Millennials crave the human element that voice over artists are prized for bringing to the table – so bring it to the table with a dynamic user experience.
At the end of the day, few stand to benefit more from TikTok than voice over artists – the entire platform is almost like a love letter to the industry.