Marissa Lee is the Queen of OC TikTok
Marissa Lee’s first viral TikTok only required two things: a trendy sound and a messy room. That alone got her over 237,000 views and, as of this writing, nearly 38,000 likes. It’s a quick video, less than 15 seconds long, and features Lee throwing a fake grenade into her room, the sound of military men shouting, “Let’s move out,” a small explosion, a quick transition, and then... a reveal of her freshly cleaned room.
“It’s so funny, because with TikTok, you really never know what will go viral,” explains the 26-year-old. “Sometimes you film something random and quick and it will get a million views. Other times, you’ll spend a lot of time and money and get 300 views.” It’s a gamble; excited creators may work on producing content daily for weeks, even months, before getting any kind of recognition, while others can post once on a whim and immediately get millions of hits.
It only took two weeks for Lee’s first TikTok to blow up, and it wasn’t long before she started receiving thousands of views on her other videos -- specifically, her clips highlighting Orange County.
Videos of her dancing at Disneyland (where she worked as a parade performer), checking out Christmas activities in Laguna Hills, and rating boba shops across Orange County, combined, have garnered Lee millions of views and gotten her almost 58,000 followers since she started in 2019.
While Lee may now be the queen of OC TikTok, she wasn’t always sold on the idea of featuring the area on her platform. “At first, I was scared that it was too small of a niche,” recalls Lee. But then one of her TikToks about an OC car wash and another about a local drive-in movie both went viral and she knew she had something. Once Lee realized she had a following, she started focusing on creating content that could help residents from Laguna Beach to Brea find cool new places to eat and have fun... even in the middle of a pandemic.
Don’t be fooled though, it’s not all memes and dance routines... constantly churning out the kind of content Lee does takes a lot of thought and energy, especially considering she also works full-time at an advertising agency. “Although it would be a dream to be a full-time content creator,” admits Lee, “just the fact that I’m able to mix my love for content creation with my professional experience at my age makes me so happy.”
Despite the influence TikTokers like Lee have, there are still a lot of skeptics who wonder about the legitimacy of using the platform for marketing. Lee believes people still buy into the misconception that the app is just for kids. “There are an estimated 800 million people on the app,” says the creator. “There is an algorithm that pushes your videos out, and if they gain traction, they’re then shown to more and more people.”
Unlike platforms like Instagram or Twitter that mainly rely on a following list or ads for users to get famous, TikTok’s ‘For You’ page is designed in a way that allows videos from any account with any amount of followers the opportunity to reach millions of people.
All it takes is one viral video to get your following going.
From there, you can build a community of fans -- and customers -- who will come back to your page for more.
Lee pointed out that even the most obscure brands, like Omaha Carpet Cleaning, can hit the jackpot and get three million followers by keeping up with the trends and by sharing what they do every day (in this case, by literally sharing videos of them cleaning carpets). “TikTok is all about finding a niche,” Lee continues. “People will follow you if they know what to expect.”
Lee’s followers know they can count on a steady stream of content featuring hot new spots mixed with reviews of classic Orange County staples. She’s even started working with local brands, like The Escape Game in Irvine and the new Amazon Fresh store in Tustin, where she advertised their grand opening and new state-of-the-art technology. “Personally, I love exploring and finding new places to eat and visit,” offers Lee. “And being able to collaborate with brands and local businesses makes it even more fun!”
If you want to be in the know about all the exciting things happening in Orange County, catch up with Lee on Instagram and, of course, TikTok!
Logan Cross is a writer, editor, and dancer based in Los Angeles. When she’s not writing, she can be found posting videos of her dog on TikTok or aimlessly scrolling through Instagram.