Alabama public power utility Riviera Utilities is successfully leveraging the social media app TikTok to connect with its community in a number of ways including in the area of workforce recruitment, said Lily Jackson, Communications Coordinator at Riviera Utilities, in a recent Q&A with APPA.
The utility’s first TikTok was posted in May of 2022 — just two months after Jackson started her job at the utility.
“It was definitely unfamiliar territory for the utility, and we received a decent amount of concerns and questions when the account launched,” she noted. “A lot of ‘What's my utility doing on TikTok’ or ‘Why does this matter?’”
She noted that TikTok had its meteoric rise in 2020 during the pandemic, and it was still growing when Jackson started as a Communications Specialist.
“I had done a lot of work on the platform in my previous roles, so it was something I was passionate about getting off the ground and making successful. The industry already had voices on the platform -- the people who work in the field were already making videos, but we didn’t see much content straight from the horse’s mouth.”
Riviera Utilities had its first huge success on the app in 2023 with a video of its crews leaving for mutual aid storm work in Gainesville, Florida. “That video sits at 764.5K views, 56.5K likes, and 1,423 comments,” she noted.
The top video -- a short tour of one of the utility’s water towers – has garnered 13.7 million views, 1.3 million likes, and 5,847 comments. “We have 10.4K followers and over 1.5M likes across all of our content.”
Riviera Utilities has served South Baldwin County, Alabama, since 1916.
Positives That Flow from TikTok
“There are so many positives that have come from us being present and intentional on TikTok,” Jackson said.
“Externally, it’s one of the first things people bring up when we’re out in the community at events or career fairs. Compliments on the humor are nice, but it’s even better to hear, ‘Yeah, that video made me rethink where I was planting that tree,’ or ‘I saw a video of your crews helping people in Arizona — that’s so inspiring.’”
The app is built for reach and for finding users “who will resonate with your content — whether they’re preparing for storms, passing through your area on vacation, or considering a career in the trades. It has also helped us with recruitment, overall public sentiment, and relevancy in our community.”
Jackson said the utility has found success with a 60/40 strategy -- 60% humor/trend, 40% education.
“If we can make someone laugh or pique their interest enough that they take a nugget of information with them — on safety, preparedness, or whatever topic we’re covering — it’s a win for us. One thing I stress a lot in my department is that ‘education does not equal infographic.’”
Jackson’s goal with all the utility’s social media content, especially TikTok, “is to meet our customers where they are -- and you can’t show up in a tux to a backyard cookout. Our content is informal, but it gets the point across without diminishing our role as a professional, corporate partner in the community,” she said.
“Internally, TikTok was rocky at first, but now there is significant buy-in. We work in a humble industry and our employees tend to like their behind-the-scenes roles, so they weren't initially thrilled to have a camera in their faces. Now, they love hearing how the videos perform. They are curious and they see the big picture of what it can do for us as a utility. The content, although funny or educational, also serves in breaking down the wall between stuffy big business and community partner. We want our customers to see our employees for who they are: utility professionals who are fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters in their community first.”
She said that utilities “love to stress the importance of humanization while ignoring one of the most casual, accepting, and humanizing social media platforms out there. That being said, I would never say that all utilities must be on this app — you have to find what works for your brand, your community, and your team’s capacity. If a communicator is curious about the opportunities on the app, I say give it a shot.”
Meta products “have a habit of penalizing content that doesn’t perform well. TikTok is the opposite — consistency and repetition are your friends. Throw the spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.”
Building Out a Content Strategy
For public power utilities considering the use of TikTok, Jackson recommends building out a content strategy, “defining your goals on the app, and setting metric milestones. Define it and stick to it to avoid falling down TikTok’s many rabbit holes and popping out somewhere you didn’t intend to be. All of our content falls into themed ‘buckets’ that align with our campaigns. If a trend can’t be molded to fit one of those themes, we don’t do it. It helps to remind ourselves that not every trend is for us — I can't imagine how overwhelmed we would be if we thought otherwise.”
Another tip for starting out: follow the flow of the app.
“In order to be successful on a platform where users dictate what rises and falls, you have to consume content as well — to understand what trends or tones you can tap into. You can’t just copy and paste from your other platforms,” Jackson said.
“As for getting support from management, I recommend taking them along for the ride -- overexplaining the trend, where your utility fits within it, and how it aligns with your overall strategic plan. TikTok, like all social media platforms, has pros and cons. You can’t expect every person to like or understand your content, but the value of those who do is huge — for utilities of all sizes and for the industry as a whole.”
Utilities “have so many stories to tell, so many characters behind the lines, so much love for their communities. TikTok is just another platform to scream those things from the rooftop, in my opinion,” Jackson said.
