I was two cocktails deep & swaying to Tame Impala when the The Ban went down. Just a cute date night at Tokyo Record Bar in New York’s West Village interrupted by “Sorry, TikTok isn’t available right now.” We talked tok the rest of the night, which was somehow more controversial than the movie we’d just seen (Babygirl—I have so many thoughts).

So, here we are with another guide for brands, covering questions like:

• Should your brand go back to TikTok?

• How to make your social strategy ban-proof

• A new editing tool created by social media managers

Yes, as I’m as tired of the shenanigans as you are.

—Jack Appleby

So TikTok is back… now what?

My buddy Nick probably said it best: “some people probably slept thru the TikTok ban.”

In case you missed it, the TikTok ban lasted for… let me check my watch… less than 12 hours. The app is fully operational again.

The constant twists & turns of the news cycle’s understandably giving marketers whiplash and a weird taste in our mouths. It was already hard to tell what would actually happen, but now even the rug pulls have rug pulls.

But what do we do now? Do we go back to TikTok? Do we leave for greener pastures? How do we prepare for future app bans?

Here’s all the latest info + a guide for navigating the UnBan.

Should brands start using TikTok again?

Yes. Putting the emotional rollercoaster aside, if TikTok has worked for your brand before? You should go back to business as usual. Even if another ban is coming, there’s no reason for your company to not use TikTok if it’s been successful for you.

If you’ve got an audience on TikTok, get back to posting content!

If TikTok ads or TikTok Shop generated revenue for ya? Get back to posting ads!

Is the TikTok Ban over? How is it back?

As you noticed in both the ban and the “Welcome Back” message, Trump was named by TikTok for being their savior. It’s clear he’s in the driver seat and backing the app hard.

Here’s what he shared on Truth Social yesterday:

I’ll give you a moment to eyeroll with me at the vanity of the Inauguration bit, but it seems Trump is giving TikTok a 90 day extension on the ban, with his new stance suggesting ByteDance sell 50% of the app to a United States company (the ban wanted ByteDance to fully divest from TikTok).

So, hey, TikTok is back for the next 90 days. I’m already scrolling again like nothing happened.

CapCut is still down, should we leave CapCut?

If there’s one area that ByteDance has really let people down, it’s in their communication about CapCut.

When the TikTok Ban was a day away, most still had no idea if CapCut would go dark as well—all media & industry chatter was focused on TikTok itself. Considering how many businesses rely on CapCut, to not explicitly warn users an interruption of service could come was a terrible miss on their part.

What’s worse? Even though TikTok’s back, CapCut still hasn’t returned, and we don’t seem to have information as to when it’s coming back. You can’t pause your business, and you can’t trust a company that can’t communicate with you, so I encourage you to begin divesting from CapCut and explore other tool options.

How to protect your brand from future social network bans & changes

Many of us realized we weren’t nearly as prepared for the ban as we thought,

• Create content strategies that are platform-agnostic. The key problem with trend-based social strategies—many trends tend to be platform specific. Also, trend content doesn’t really help your brand anyway. Focus future social content on strong brand + human insights, the emotional value your brand provides to consumers, and amazing storytelling—those content angles work on every social network.

• Diversify your organic content platforms. Between the TikTok Ban and Twitter’s tonal shifts, it’s more important than ever that you’re on multiple social platforms. I’m squarely in the camp that the exact same content can win on multiple platforms, so start by testing your short-form vertical video on all your brand channels. And please, please get your brand on YouTube Shorts.

• Diversify your paid media strategy. I’d imagine you’re getting better returns out of your Meta ads than TikTok, so continue to spread your budget out, and continue doubling down on platforms that bring you the best results, regardless of their ownership.

• Evaluate your social media tools for their customer service. You can tell CapCut’s lack of communication really irked me—I saw too many friends suddenly unable to do any work. Go through your tools, make sure you have customer service access & sales representatives that respond quickly.

Will TikTok get banned again in 90 days?

Who even knows. It’s clear that TikTok’s confident in Trump’s ability to keep them alive, but there’s no indication ByteDance has any interest in selling half of TikTok.

It’s entirely possible, and maybe even probable, that TikTok will be banned again in 90 days—that TikTok going dark was just to show Americans that ByteDance will happily deny us access if the government doesn’t budge, and that Trump’s 50% sale suggestion will be rejected.

Or maybe we’ve got TikTok back for good. Maybe Trump pre-vetted the 50% sale demand with TikTok, and now it’s just about finding a partner.

We’re in the grayest of areas here, and I won’t pretend to be a political expert. Here’s an article on what Trump supposedly can and cannot do, but even that’s filled with lots of maybes and we’re not sures.

Where can I get the latest TikTok News?

I’m sharing news + strategies as they happen on my LinkedIn and Instagram multiple times per day now, because good grief, things are changing by the hour.

Here’s a CapCut replacement that, get this— was created by social media managers!

You’re gonna wanna try out Slate—I love their origin story so, so much.

Eric Stark was a social media manager who, like so many of us, was frustrated with the tools for brand social. So, he quit his job and built Slate, a tool specifically built for Brand Social.

The differentiator here comes in the brand-specific tools, like

• Enterprise-level features built into an easy-to-use editing tool

• Brand customization options to keep your fonts, logos, and colors consistent

• Team collaboration features (you know how tough approvals can be)

• And uh, it’ll never, ever get banned.

Go give Slate a try here—you need a tool that’s actually built for brand social.

Social Cues

There are so many social big thinkers out there, writing all kinds of amazing strategies, analysis, and breakdowns. All ships rise with the tide, so here are a few reads from other places I think you could learn from.

How to build a timeless social strategy (Dakota Rae Lowe, Recreation)

I said this earlier, but your social media content strategy should work on multiple platforms—it’s just sorta irresponsible to build content that only works on one channel. Read this VP of Social’s 16 social strategy principles to make content that works everywhere.

Meta updates + industry leader thoughts on the TikTok Ban (Lia Haberman, ICYMI)

Instagram now has a 5:4 grid, and a highlights tab, and a way to post to your grid without pushing something to your feed. Lia’s got the highlights + a bunch of smart people’s takes on the TikTok ban in her newsletter.

How to go from ‘the social media girl’ to leading strategy at a brand studio (Nikita Walia, thinking out loud)

Maybe this weekend’s chaos made you wanna bounce outta social. Read about how Nikita Walia learned new skills to shift her career upward—these tips are important for everyone, whether you’re sticking to social or wanna be a CEO.