Is TikTok a sustainable strategy for startups?
Is TikTok a sustainable strategy for startups?
By NIC Peshawar | June 2025
In today’s digital age, small businesses and startups prioritise short term and quick visibility over sustainable and reliable long-term planning. Strategy takes a backseat as everyone chases the beguiling charm of virality. With Labubu’s and butter yellow at the forefront of our minds and for you pages, lives today are run by trends. Pop culture is no longer just a source of entertainment, it plays a majorly significant role in the relevance and ultimately the success of small businesses. For such businesses, learning to leverage and manipulate such trends to gain brand visibility and connect with target audiences can and has sparked overnight success. However, what comes up fast falls even faster, and virality is a double edged sword. A perfect phrase to capture the fleeting illusion of online fame is “All good things must come to an end”.
The Rise of Micro-Influencers and Nano-Branding
While trends may spark quick attention, the real long-term influence lies with who shares your product and how. In contrast to popular belief, TikTok’s real power lies in the hands of its micro (10k-100k) and nano-influencers (under 10k). Such creators thrive on authenticity, relatability and niche engagement. While not being well known to the point that they are considered inherently “famous”, they hold enough trust and influence over their loyal fanbase to be able to drive purchasing decisions. Such trust is cultivated by the fact that they are perceived less as celebrities and more as friends considering that celebrities have a significantly larger following and lower engagement resulting in them being unable to cater to their followers’ needs and interests. As for startups in KP, this is a strategic advantage. Deep niche connections should be prioritised over broad, shallow reach.
Platform risk: what happens when the algorithm shifts?
As stated previously, this fleeting illusion of virality is a double edged sword. TikTok isn’t stable enough to be considered a dependable marketing strategy and relying heavily on it is a gamble. The algorithm never stops shifting and trends die out fast. What works one month might flop the next and that instant surge in demand could vanish leaving small businesses struggling to make up for the loss. Furthermore there is a geopolitical risk, the proposed TikTok bans in the U.S. and India and previously seen X (formerly known as Twitter) ban in Pakistan show how risky platform dependence truly is. You don’t own your TikTok audience. You rent them. And when the platform changes the rules, the rent spikes. Startups must treat TikTok like an accelerator—not a foundation.
Short shelf life: Do viral wins build sustainable businesses?
Once a business has gone viral, what happens next? It’s not just about resisting the enticing thrall of virality, it’s about being prepared for what comes after the “15 minutes of fame”. Stanley tumblers skyrocketed from $73M to $750M revenue post-viral fame, but that kind of success is the exception, not the norm. Most viral brands face one of three outcomes:
- They can’t meet demand, so customers get late deliveries or bad quality—no repeat business.
- They fade once the hype dies, because there’s no retention strategy in place.
- They burn out, trying to recreate lightning in a bottle instead of building a brand with actual depth.
So while Viral wins are great, they must funnel into customer retention, operational claims, and community building.
Building Beyond the Algorithm
Here’s where startups can stand out and benefit from this. TikTok itself should not be the strategy, rather it should be the launchpad for something bigger. Use trends but dont depend on them. Don’t just build an audience, build a community. A viewer is not a customer, and a customer is not a community member. There should be trust, a loyal community, and a relationship. Being on trend is fun, but being consistent clever and community driven is what actually builds a business. Start a WhatsApp group for loyal buyers, use instagram close friends to keep them updated on new drops and restocks, set up polls to give them that sense of closeness and importance for being a long-term loyal customer. These things are what makes an individual feel like a part of your community and want to stay.
Furthermore, while customers are drawn in by trends and looks, they stay for the quality. Design should be intentional, delivery should be fast, make the product worthy of the hype it has gathered.
In a time where algorithms can define and grant overnight success, true victory belongs to the businesses that built such a system that continues to thrive once the algorithm has moved on. Virality should be limited to a spark, not the whole fire. Start-ups today should show up smarter; play with trends and utilise the platform. Remember that the goal isn’t to go viral, it’s to stay relevant after the sound stops trending.