The Demise of FishTok : Why We Need to Own Our Assets

As the shadow of the US TikTok ban looms, creators and marketers across industries are racing to rethink their strategies. For those in the seafood sector who have invested in social media, engaged influencers, and danced with the algorithm, it raises a crucial question: how do you safeguard your marketing assets while engaging in a social media landscape that is about as stable as a swamp, but can be as rich as an estuary?

With TikTok boasting 150 million US users and dominating Millennial, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha attention, its possible absence would leave a massive void. For seafood brands and influencers, this platform has been a gateway for education, entertainment, and engagement. 

But here’s the wake up: you do not own your social media presence or assets. 

That alone should be a bit of a red flag. Algorithms change, platforms vanish, and if that’s the lion's share of your marketing strategy, your audience—and your investment—can disappear overnight.

In the wake of this shake up, should you brush off social media entirely? No, it isn’t going anywhere. It’s a valuable tool that, when wielded with agility, can produce incredible ROI, and it still holds a place in your strategy. But it shouldn’t BE your strategy. 

To build long-term resilience, and safeguard your brand against these kinds of shake ups, you need to prioritize your owned assets.

Your Website
Your website should be the content priority. It’s the cornerstone of your marketing efforts, where all roads - ads, social media, skywriting, whatever - lead back to. This is where the heart of your story, products, and values live with no distractions from competing posts or ads. Check out our previous blog post on weaving human-centered design into your website to make it a seamless user experience - something audiences are going to be eager for while this seismic social media shift settles.

https://www.innaseamedia.com/press/websites-for-the-public

Your Email List
An email list is one of the most valuable tools in your arsenal. Unlike your social followers, you actually own your email list. It puts you in control of a direct line to your audience—ones who have actually put their email in the box because yes, they want to hear more from you. And while social media is a brilliant funnel to get folks to that ‘Subscribe’ box, email marketing is still the king of conversions. When it comes to sales, nearly 60% of email subscribers buy from email marketing at least once a month according to @salecycle. Start collecting email addresses and nurturing those relationships with deeper content, deals, insights, and rich stories that they won't necessarily get on public social. 

Where Will Your Audience Go?

As we said, social media is not and likely never will be a write off. If TikTok fades, many users are likely to migrate to platforms like Instagram, YouTube, or some of the other niche apps popping up. What’s really important for seafood brands to know is where your audience is likely to go. If your key demographic is millennial women and moms, they probably aren’t heading to LinkedIn or Snapchat. Having a clear awareness of your customer avatar is going to make following the flow significantly easier. If you don’t already have that dialed in, you best figure it out and fast. And no, ‘everybody’ is not a target audience. 

Here’s what’s worth noting for seafood marketers:

• Instagram is primed to absorb a significant share of TikTok’s audience. Its Reels feature is a natural alternative, and many popular seafood creators already hold a presence on both platforms. If you’re not already on Instagram, we definitely recommend it as a stable platform to host and continue to grow your audience while newer platforms duke it out for seniority.

• YouTube offers an opportunity for deeper storytelling, with Shorts for quick hits and long-form videos for in-depth education on sustainability, recipes, or coastal culture. It also serves as an excellent pairing to a strong website, where your audience can view your professional brand videos, and you can take advantage of an already broad and YouTube-literate audience base.

• RedNote, the Chinese app that’s been making waves this week and has topped the US Apple Store charts at number 1 for top downloads, is currently generating the most buzz. It’s already absorbed a significant amount of #TikTokRefugees, with the hashtag seeing over 64 million views. Whether RedNote will rise to the top remains to be seen, but we definitely recommend the seafood marketers, at the very least, download and familiarize themselves with the app and its audience trends.

• Niche Platforms like Pinterest (great for food inspiration) and LinkedIn (ideal for B2B connections), along with US based Clapper (real seafood stories and the real who harvest it) and Zigazoo (a kid centric chance to get youngsters hooked on seafood learning) can also offer opportunities tailored to specific audiences.

A few social media life tips:

Stay Connected with Influencers
The influencer economy won’t vanish with TikTok. Many seafood influencers already maintain a presence on multiple platforms. For many who depend on brand partnerships for their livelihood, they are already acting ahead of the shift and have brought their audience with them. Keep those relationships strong - it benefits you to stay in their good company.

TIP - Download and Repurpose Content
While some of your trending TikTok clips might be outdated, it doesn’t need to go to waste. Download your top-performing videos and repurpose them for YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels. After all, who doesn’t love a good scroll through the depths of a favorite creators archive, and if your audience is addicted to your story they’re going to want more.

While the digital world may feel like a dumpster fire these days, seafood content can be a glimmer of hope in times of turmoil. It’s nutritious, versatile, often produced with sustainability in mind. With the right creative team and influencer partners, seafood can be fun, sexy, and a delicious escape from the everyday hellscape. Not to negate the realities of the state we’re in, but having a bit of hope and joy make it a heck of a lot easier to get through the daily fray. 

The seafood sector has the opportunity to rise as an example in navigating this social shift by investing in strong brand foundations that provide safe harbour for their assets and for their audiences to access them. If you need support refreshing your website, building an email list (or starting one), or pivoting your content strategy, we’re here to help you weather this storm. Lord knows it won't be the last.