With over 1 billion users around the world, TikTok is a social media platform that has taken the marketing world by storm. If you think TikTok is only for silly challenges or prank videos, think again.
The platform’s humble beginnings as a place for cute or fun videos are no more—with each passing year, more brands are unlocking their opportunities to promote their products or services through visually appealing content.
If you aren’t sure how to get started, we’ve got you covered. In this blog, we’ll explore tips on how you can best promote and grow your small business on TikTok.
1. Explore the platform.
Before you start posting videos on TikTok, explore the platform first. Doing so helps you see what type of content engages users and how your business can fit in its community on the platform.
Now, TikTok isn’t the best place for lengthy webinars or sales pitches. Rather, it’s an app that allows users to showcase their creativity through video content.
If you explore TikTok, you’ll find numerous silly, fun, and exciting videos about a variety of topics, usually set to popular songs.
There’s a reason for that. According to GlobalWebIndex, around 41% of TikTok users are between the ages of 16 and 24. Creative and fun videos are what build connections on this platform so you need to ensure you develop visually appealing content that engages with your audience.
2. Create engaging, fun content.
TikTok is riddled with endless content. It’s easy for businesses to get lost in this large sea of videos. To stand out, you need to create unique content that grabs your target audience’s attention and remains true to your brand.
Some tips for creating engaging, fun content on TikTok include:
Identifying your audience and brand voice on the platform.
Take time to explore your target audience on TikTok. What videos are they searching for? What creators do they like? Many videos on TikTok are fun and entertaining.
Depending on your brand voice and personality, you need to adapt to the platform’s environment while also sticking true to your brand.
Do not create formal or scripted video content.
Remember, TikTok is a place for fun, appealing, and authentic videos. The more formal or scripted you are, the less natural your brand will be. And most users won’t tune in to hear what your business has to offer.
Don’t overthink your process either. As long as you have creative ideas and good lighting, just shoot videos directly from your phone.
Humanize your brand.
Don’t hide away your business from your audience—be open and honest! Rather than promoting your products and services only, take your audience on a journey behind your business operations.
Show them your employee’s day-to-day routine at the office or new projects that are underway. If you have an office pet or hold small office parties, record it for TikTok.
This content showcases a more human side to your business, allowing users to connect with it on a personal level.
Take advantage of challenges.
Developing ideas for new content is hard but TikTok makes it easy with trending challenges, hashtags, and music. If there’s a video that’s turning heads on the platform, join in by putting a branded spin!
3. Be creative with your videos.
Although it’s intimidating to see the wave of creativity and entertainment that other users display in their videos, you shouldn’t shy away from being creative with your own.
TikTok has a variety of trendy music, overlays, effects, filters, and other features that’ll help your videos stand out from the rest.
Most music on the platform can be accessed through its library in audio clip format. You have the option to browse through different categories and save the ones you like for later use.
When creating your video, you can add sounds or music before or after you’ve recorded it. You can also add it to other recorded videos on file. Along with sounds, you also have the ability to apply filters, adjust the speed of your videos, apply effects, and add your video to a template.
With filters, you can develop branded filters or effects to help you and your followers spread awareness about your business.
4. Take advantage of TikTok’s features.
Now that we’ve gone through TikTok’s video editing and sound features, let’s take a look at the platform’s other tools to help you publish your videos.
Some of TikTok’s valuable publishing features include:
Write great descriptions.
TikTok descriptions are no more than 150 characters long so it’s important to keep them short and sweet. It should provide meaning to your audience. You can also use it to provide context for those who are visually or hearing impaired.
Use a mix of hashtags.
As in any platform, hashtags play a big role in driving brand awareness. When you add the right hashtags, you help your video show up to the right audiences. If there’s a trending hashtag that’s relevant to your business and video, use it. Hashtags are powerful in attracting the right audience for your business.
Don’t forget about tagging.
If you’ve collaborated with another creator or brand, make sure to tag them on your video. This helps generate buzz around your business. Tagging can also be used to repost user-generated content. Just use the “@” symbol and give credit to the original content creator.
Your links matter.
Create a TikTok Business account to enable the link-sharing feature. Once you do, you can add a link to your bio’s URL field. Ask users to sign up for your newsletter or browse through your website’s new products via the link.
5. Develop a publishing schedule.
Consistency is the key to success on TikTok (and any other social media platform). From the moment you decide you want your business to be on TikTok, think about when and how often you want to post videos on the platform.
This involves researching your audience’s behavior. How often are they on TikTok? What times are they on the platform? What days are they on it?
It’s important to pay close attention to these details. If you post a video in the afternoon on a Sunday when most of your audience is not online, you risk losing the engagement you would’ve gotten on a different day and time.
Based on your audience’s usage behavior, you can develop a consistent schedule that meets your audience’s expectations. Track and analyze your audience’s behavior so that you can post at the best possible time.
6. Be strategic with hashtags.
We’ve already mentioned the importance of hashtags on TikTok. Along with including hashtags on videos, you can also launch a hashtag challenge to encourage your audience to create content about your business.
Many brands have launched their own hashtag challenges with successful results. For example, Chipotle created the #GuacDance challenge by encouraging their followers to choreograph their own dance for a free avocado on National Avocado Day.
According to Influencer Marketing Hub, this challenge has amassed more than 1.1 billion views.
Another brand that achieved success with hashtags is the makeup company, E.L.F. Cosmetics. With the launch of the #EyesLipsFace challenge, users were encouraged to show their best makeup looks using the company’s branded hashtag. The winner would receive $250 worth of E.L.F. Cosmetics products.
This challenge received more than 6 million views on TikTok.
A cool hashtag challenge can lift your business to newer heights by driving engagement to your brand and its offerings.
7. Share user-generated content.
User-generated content is the easiest way to promote your products on TikTok (as well as other social media platforms). With UGC, you can receive and share high-performing content in a cost-effective way.
UGC is unique content that your audience creates for your brand. This content is later shared or reposted by your business or other users. Just make sure to ask permission before sharing other users’ videos.
Sharing or reposting UGC allows you to fill your TikTok with exciting content, build customer relationships, and spread the word to potential customers about your business.
The trick is getting your target audience to create content for your brand.
Many brands encourage their users to generate UGC on TikTok by collaborating with top content creators and launching hashtag challenges.
8. Use TikTok advertising.
Although monetization is still in its infancy on TikTok, brands are still able to run ad campaigns. TikTok ads are effective because they blend in with other video content on the platform.
Users watching another video can easily come across your ad. And if it’s relevant to their needs, they can choose to engage with your brand’s TikTok account.
Some ads you can run on TikTok are:
In-feed ads.
These types of ads appear on a full screen while users scroll through their feed. In-feed ads only run up to 60 seconds and can be linked to landing pages and listings on the app.
Brand takeovers.
These ads appear when users go on the TikTok app. Brand takeovers are 3 to 3.5 seconds long. They’re more expensive than in-feed ads and have special qualities on the app. For example, only one brand can run a brand takeover campaign each day.
TopView ads.
These ads build off of brand takeovers. As such, they’re even more expensive. These videos are around 5 to 60 seconds long and give users the ability to like, comment, and share the ads on their profiles.
9. Interact with your audiences.
Talking with your customers on TikTok is a great way to build engagement and brand loyalty. It also allows you to humanize your brand so that it resonates with your target users.
This is true for all social media platforms, not just TikTok.
On TikTok, brands thrive by interacting with their customer base, whether it’s responding to comments or reposting UGC. The platform is highly interactive so you shouldn’t shy away from being social.
According to Wallaroo, around 83% of TikTok users have posted a video so there are many opportunities available to generate conversation.
10. Partner up with influencers.
Of course, the most popular feature of TikTok is its influencers (or top content creators). The platform has numerous active influencers of all types and levels, including mega influencers and nano influencers.
Many brands use TikTok influencers for their marketing efforts. Take a look at Red Bull as a clear example. Last year, the company partnered with popular TikTok creator, Keeoh to create a video that showcased a popular trend.
While the video itself did not promote the energy drink, it still served as a promotional prop for a comedic video.
Working with TikTok influencers can help you promote your product to new customers and secure their trust since your brand is being mentioned by credible leaders in the community.
Influencer marketing is tricky, even on an interactive platform like TikTok. Here are some tips that can help use influencer marketing for the best results:
Find the right influencers to partner with.
Don’t pick any influencer; find one that aligns with your brand and its values. There are more than 50,000 TikTok influencers, both small and large, that can help you. Be aware that larger influencers have a higher reach but tend to be more expensive and widespread.
Smaller influencers are cheaper and tend to have a loyal following. The influencers you engage with depend solely on your marketing goals.
Define your goals.
Think about your short and long-term goals with influencer marketing. Why do you want to get into influencer marketing for your brand? What number of sales, followers, or views do you hope to reach with an influencer?
By defining your goals, you can make the most of your collaboration and even let the influencer know about them so that they know what to do next.
Give the influencer you pick their space.
When you’ve discussed your goals with the influencer, avoid putting yourself in their creative space. You should never try to direct them or enforce all of your ideas on them.
Give them an outline of what your goals are and what’s not accepted within your brand let them do what they do best-create. Creators know their audience best and therefore allowing them to create their own content increases the likelihood of a successful campaign.
This will help you build a good working relationship with the influencer and boost your brand’s credibility.
Measure and analyze your results.
Monitor and track the performance of your campaign during and after the video’s launch. Take note of what went well and what didn’t. Most importantly, note whether you met your goals or if there are any areas of improvement.
If executed correctly, influencer marketing on TikTok can be a phenomenal marketing venture for your brand. Be sure to collaborate with your influencer throughout the entire process.
They may bring in great ideas or concerns that can help you steer your campaign in the right direction.
TikTok’s relevance isn’t going anywhere any time soon. With its growth set to increase by 40% in 2022, the platform continues to grow year over year. TikTok provides your business with an array of potential opportunities, including awareness, sales growth, and engagement. So if you haven’t joined TikTik for your business needs, what are you waiting for? Get started today!
Learn more about influencer marketing by checking out our blog, What is Influencer Marketing?