Last updated - February 22, 2023
TikTok has had staggering growth in the past few years. As a short video platform, it has quickly become one of the most downloaded and used social media applications besides Meta-owned apps. TikTok is the main source of information for teens and the younger generation, with an average spend of 90 minutes on the app. Around 30% of the world’s internet users have started using the app and it is not going out of popularity anytime soon.
TikTok is also a popular platform among gen z, who prefer TikTok over older social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The thing with social media marketing is that one approach cannot give success across all platforms. While other platforms like Instagram are catching up with TIkTok’s video-first design, you need a dedicated marketing plan for TikTok and a perception of how the app works to know how to produce content optimized for it.
Uses of TikTok for Businesses
It is an oversight to underestimate the value of having a TikTok page for your business. Though it is predominantly used by a younger demographic, it has been growing mainstream among users in the age range of 18-30 in the US. Read this article to see the quiet transformation of TikTok from a short video platform to an eCommerce giant.
There have been instances where brands have gotten accidental popularity because of user-generated content and businesses like Duolingo have grasped and used the potential of the platform. Duolingo, for example, has created a new reputation with quirky relatable content and with the right approach to TikTok marketing.
Lo-fi content is the most popular type of content created on TikTok. It refers to candid content often produced with minimum cost, usually with a smartphone camera and the effects and other post-production tools offered by the platform itself. This type of content features relatable videos that show the scene workings of a business that don’t speak high-value production as you would see in traditional advertisements.
Advantages of TikTok Marketing
TikTok gives the following advantages to businesses.
- Build brand awareness and reach new prospective customers.
- Sell products and services and promote them on the platform.
- Engage in influencer marketing for increased sales.
- Get direct feedback from customers and provide a new avenue for customer service.
- As a relatively new platform, gives businesses an edge over peers by venturing early into marketing and building a reputation for them in the early stages of TikTok’s growth.
- Advertising likewise is not yet mainstream as with other social media advertising platforms, which similarly gives an early adaptor’s advantage.
Having seen the advantages of incorporating TikTok into your marketing campaign, here are some marketing strategies and best practices that can help build a presence for your business in TikTok.
Have a Page for your Business
The first and obvious thing is to create a profile for your business on the platform. Onboarding is relatively easy as you can sign up from the top right corner. We have shown a web preview, use the official app for the best experience.
Set up your account with a clear profile picture with your business’s logo and a description of what your business does and make sure you customize it before submitting. This part is not so different from the usual social media account creation. You also have to convert your account into a business account, which you can do in the Settings and Privacy tab. Here go to Manage Account > Account Control > Switch to Business Account. TikTok for businesses gives useful metrics on how your content is performing and you can use the information to improve your content.
Produce Content Regularly
You can create videos up to a minute long in TikTok. Trends are common in TikTok and a lot of them involve popular videos like dances and lip-sync videos that are more suitable for individual creators and influencers.
As a business owner, you can create a day in life videos, tips and tricks, and funny videos that users in your niche can relate to are some proven ways to get more engagement. People come to TikTok to have light-hearted entertainment so even if you are making tutorials, use simple language and make the content easy for laypeople to understand.
The algorithm of the platform also supports frequent posting and with millions of posts being uploaded daily, the correct combination of posting frequency and the quality of your videos can help your page stand out from the crowd and reach more audience.
Don’t forget to engage with your audience and encourage them to comment on your posts in the form of feedback as well as suggestions. This increases overall engagement and improves the visibility of your posts on the For You Page.
Follow Trends
As said earlier, know what is popular in the app at any time. Frequently using the app and understanding the trends can give an idea of what can give engagement. Adapt trends to make them relevant to your business or niche and that can bring in both views and engagement from prospects as well as the general audience, and this is a good way to grow your brand’s persona.
Keep in mind that with TikTok, the quality of content lies in how relatable and real it is rather than scripted, high-value productions as you would see in TV ads or even on Youtube.
Use Relevant Hashtags
Hashtags are another thing to keep track of along with trends and can be mutually related. TikTok showcases videos in the form of hashtags, making it easy for users to find relevant content. Hashtags are useful to promote your content, gain more followers as well as find out your competitors, especially for specific and niche hashtags.
All-time popular hashtags such as #fyp #funny #trending can always be a boost to your videos but make sure to research what hashtags are popular in your niche and use them accordingly. This can go a long way in reaching the audience in the long run.
Create Trends for Brand Promotion
Challenges are a win-win feature in TikTok. You can create challenges that are funny and informative as content while incorporating awareness for your business or a cause in your business’s niche. Hashtag challenges are a form of advertising that associates your business with the challenge. Ice Bucket Challenge, the grandfather of all such challenges showed social media challenges can both work for a cause and provide entertainment for the audience. You can also emulate it with creative challenge ideas relevant to your business’s niche.
Influencer Marketing and Advertising
Influencers specialize in their niche over time, produce quality content, and have ardent followers. Social media influencers have more popularity among the younger generation than movie stars and other conventional brand promoters. Reaching out to influencers and adding them to your marketing and promotional campaigns are a good way to grow sales as well as find new audiences for your business. You can also offer affiliate partnerships to influencers can be a mutually beneficial way to grow your business on TikTok.
Advertising is the last but nowhere the least thing to consider as a TikTok marketing strategy. Tiktok advertising works with a bidding model and you can choose from banners, in-feed video ads as well as “sparks” that show up on the explore page like normal posts.
TikTok is an evergrowing giant and it makes sense to get into the platform. From music artists to brands of all kinds of products, everyone has benefited from accidental trends to planned marketing campaigns on TikTok and there is no reason you shouldn’t. Get started with your TikTok marketing campaign now and grow all aspects of your brand now!
