TikTok Marketing: Is It A Good Fit For Your Brand?

As a marketer, we know that you’ve probably come across numerous short videos of people doing dance challenges or other short skits. You may have even created a TikTok yourself or shared a video of one with your close friends. But have you considered how you can incorporate these catchy routines into your brand or client’s content strategy? Welcome to the new world of TikTok marketing.

TikTok is a new social media platform that allows users to record up to 60 seconds of video with a number of editing features available right in the app. It has swept up millions of users, particularly the younger generation, as it allows users to tap into their creative abilities by personalizing their video, even those who have never used any editing software before.

And because of its addictive nature and easy shareability, it’s no surprise that Tiktok now has a total of about 689 million monthly active users and 2 billion app store downloads. Today TikTok is one of the largest social media networks in the world!

How to Get Started on TikTok in 6 Easy Steps

1. Download and install the app

TikTok can be downloaded via App Store or Google Play Store or whichever software store your phone uses.

2. Create an account for your brand

If you don’t have one yet, create an account for your brand or sign in if you’ve already created a profile. You can create an account with your email, phone number, or other social media platforms like Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc. You will then be automatically assigned a username which you can change later on — we recommend sticking with the same handle you use across your social profiles. Then, you can add your business information to your bio — make sure to include a strong CTA!

3. Start checking out your feeds

TikTok feeds are divided into two parts: ‘For You‘ and ‘Following‘. The following page shows short videos of those you follow while the ‘for you’ page is where suggested videos will be shown based on your preferences and viewing behavior. This means that the types of videos you will see may change from time to time since it gets personalized unless you do not change your behavior on the app. Very similar to Instagram’s newsfeed and explore page.

4. Follow users

Start to build a community of likeminded individuals by searching the ‘discover’ page and exploring on brand hashtags. For example, you can search ‘social media manager’ and you’ll see a wide range of users that have created videos based on that topic.

One of the great things about TikTok is it will show you videos from users with a variety of account sizes — we recommend following the accounts with lower followers as they are more likely to follow you back and interact with your content.

5. Engage with other users

As you start building your profile on TikTok, you’ll want to make sure you are actively engaging with other users. Make sure to comment what you liked about the video or share some insights into the topic being discussed — even a simple emoji icon can do the trick!

Surprisingly, most TikTok users that generate a large following on the app — don’t have as many followers on their other handles. If you’ve came across a user that you would like to connect with, you could follow them on another social network and comment on how you enjoyed their latest video.

Note that the more you engage with different content, the more the app learns about your preferences and behavior, so your For You feed is going to improve and be personalized over time.

6. Publish your first TikTok

Publishing your first post doesn’t have to take extensive video production and editing, actually authentic content works great on TikTok! We recommend introducing your brand, incorporating relevant hashtags, and sharing the post across your other channels — this lets your current followers know they can also interact with you on TikTok now.

Is TikTok Marketing Right for Your Business?

The main factor you need to consider is if your target audience on TikTok. The short answer is most likely and if they aren’t right now, they will be. As of August 2020, it is estimated that there are 100 million active TikTok users in the United States alone, mostly Gen Z and younger millennials with users spending an average of 52 minutes per day on the app due to its fast-paced nature that keeps its users engaged for really long periods of time.

Although TikTok is said to be dominated by the younger generation, this was also the case with Instagram back in the day. Now, Instagram has diversified with a wide range of people actively using the platform resulting in millions of businesses capitalizing on it as their main marketing channel. Jumping into TikTok early in the game will give you a head start and be known in the community by the time other businesses join in on the bandwagon.

TikTok Marketing Tips

Now that we have established that TikTok marketing is beneficial to your brand, it is important to understand the different approaches you can use when promoting on TikTok.

1. Create original (& interesting) content

Your goal is to catch the attention of your target market. In order to do so, you have to create interesting and exciting content which aligns with your brand. If you can do that, people are more likely to watch and engage with your videos, and that will put your content in more user’s feeds.

But how do you create exciting and interesting video content? It’s simple – as a business, what universal problem are you trying to solve? Just like how you would write about your business on your website, TikTok is similar – only this time you will make videos – short, but really catchy ones. First, focus on your target audience and think about what their common issues are, what problems they have and what solution are you proposing.

Once you have the correct ideas for content, it is time to get creative and start creating those short videos. People love to be entertained so try the humor approach, who knows – your post just might be the next viral thing on the platform!

Also, don’t forget to use video editing options TikTok has to offer – start with some stickers, then animations. There are also filters and songs you can use as a background for all of your videos. By using these, you are not just creating an informational and useful video but one that will catch the attention of many resulting in more engagement from your target audience.

2. Collaborate with TikTok influencers

If you have been on TikTok, you’ve probably seen these influencers selling almost anything you can think of through their short catchy videos. These influencers have their own following where some of them even have millions of subscribers.

If you decide on this method, all you have to do is to find an influencer that has a following that is similar to your target market. Once you’ve found an influencer with subscribers that fit your brand’s target market, it is time to partner with them and collaborate on a creative influencer marketing campaign.

3. Use TikTok ads

If you’re busy and don’t have the time to create inspiring, exciting, and interesting creative short videos, or simply don’t have the team to work on a social media marketing campaign, but have enough budget to pay for ads, then this is the best method for you. Simply sign up for TikTok ads via TikTok For Business and it will definitely expand your brand’s reach in this social media platform.

Things to Consider For TikTok Marketing

1. Hashtags

Similar to Twitter and Instagram, hashtags are used to find content about a certain topic. Remember to always use relevant hashtags in your content so that people searching for that topic can easily find you.

Search for trending hashtags. Check out the list of currently trending hashtags and choose the one’s that fits your TikTok marketing content strategy.

If you’re using influencer marketing, check out the hashtags they use. Find the posts where these hashtags were used that garnered huge engagement and start associating those to your marketing campaign. 

2. Challenges

This has been an integral part of TikTok. In social media marketing, you may find some challenges that may be a good fit for your brand. Should you decide to hop in on one of the trending challenges in TikTok, make sure to add your own spin to make it “your brand” and put some flair to it.

3. Memes

These GIFs or short video clips provide a way for people to connect with each other. Knowing the right memes can help your brand get the engagement you need to win the TikTok algorithm over.

4. Trends

Jump on them! You see something popular, get your creative team or your creative mind into making a short video that relates your brand to this new trend. And again, use the relevant hashtag. 

Conclusion

Be it organic or paid, TikTok has the right social media marketing campaign suitable for your brand. So, go ahead and start exploring popular videos and different pages on this social media network. Play around with creating and editing videos. Take part in a new challenge, hop in on the trending memes. Make your videos shareable, and then share them on other social media platforms. Explore your creativity and have fun!