TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms in this era. In fact, it has become the platform of choice for young internet users as well as businesses. Teens, celebrities, cool grandmas are on TikTok. As a result, it looks like a site for funny lip-sync videos.
Entrepreneurs also want to be on TikTok the same way they’re active on Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Actually, businesses of different sizes want to showcase their brand, products, and services here. However, their marketers are unsure whether the platform is relevant to them and the available opportunities.
TikTok has a lot of potential because it enables them to reach a wider audience in a creative way. Here is how you can promote your business on TikTok.
Why Should I Care About TikTok?
The platform is ideal for short mobile videos ranging from five seconds to 1-minute long. This is important because people’s attention span is shrinking by the hour. Because of that, users are addicted to this platform and refer to it as a source of content. TikTok has plenty of cool new features that help you add eye-catching filters, music, and other special effects.
Like other platforms’ algorithms, TikTok uses AI to offer users recommendations on the video to watch based on what they have been viewing. This makes it easy for them to discover new content and create viral sensations.
TikTok is the 6th largest social network and has the largest demographic aged 18 and 24. Actually, internet users aged between 18 and 64 enjoy TikTok videos. Nearly 60% of them are females; thus, businesses and entrepreneurs should care about this platform.
Indeed businesses should add TikTok to their social media marketing strategy and explore the platform. Entrepreneurs should look around to see what other brands and content creators are doing in order to understand what the target audience wants.
Here are a few things that marketer considers when exploring the platform.
· Watch Videos
When you open your app, you will see tons of videos on your feed. Scroll through them to find interesting ones, click on a couple of them to get the feel of this site.
· Create Videos
Although you’re not a professional videographer, you can create your own videos and share them just like other users. You can record a video using your smartphone, add in filters, sprinkle in stickers or face zoom, and much more.
· Add Songs
You can add music to your videos, add effects and remix them because the platform is integrated with Apple Music.
· Virtual Coins
Users can use real cash to buy virtual coins, which they can use to give virtual gifts.
· Follow Liked Accounts
Many businesses are using TikTok to market their products. This includes your competitors. It’s advisable to like your competitors’ accounts so that you can follow them. This allows you to see the type of content they are posting on this platform. You can also follow your industry giants so that you can learn from their marketing campaigns.
Different Kinds of Content to Post on TikTok
As mentioned above, the first step into TikTok’s marketing strategy is to know your audience, research your competitors and create content. Some marketers are comfortable creating funny lip-sync videos while others are not.
Here are different types of content that you can create and share on TikTok regarding your business.
Promote Health and Well-Being: Everyone wants to work in a healthy workplace. Organizations are leveraging the larger audience in TikTok to spread or promote messages in lighter ways. During the pandemic, marketers created TikTok videos to promote the importance of getting a vaccine shot. You can use it to spread the message on how your organization is conserving the environment, promoting diversity and inclusivity, the importance of mental health or health and fitness.
Boost User-Generated Content: Companies hold contests whereby customers are encouraged to create TikTok videos of them using products in unique ways. These creative and highly entertaining videos are shared on social media platforms to help the business market its products to potential customers.
Post Video Ads: Brands can create and post funny TikTok videos advertising their products and services. In fact, internet users overlook professional ads and prefer funny, catchy ones. You can succeed in this by considering the campaign’s flight date and matching it with whatever is trending. That means looking at the trending topics and putting a business spin on them. This way, you will be making TikToks not ads, and you will be able to achieve your objectives.
Share Personal Experiences: This is an excellent strategy for skincare companies and related products. You can work with their customers to share testimonials that help the company build an authentic brand image as well as trust with their consumer base.
Connect with the Community: Professionals create TikTok accounts to enhance online visibility as well as connect with others. Businesses, too, can connect with the community through TikTok and use this platform to talk about the current issues. Doctors on TikTok use the forum to answer questions from patients, share information about the Covid-19 vaccine, mental health, and much more. This helps build trust, particularly with internet users who increasingly rely on online sources for information.
Create Hashtag Challenges: Samsung used hashtag challenge when launching a new Galaxy phone. The challenge boosted user-generated content, encouraged many users to watch the videos, and joined the challenge. The team has connected the hashtag with other videos it had developed.
Support Causes through Charities and Donations: Businesses can Use TikTok to show kindness to vulnerable populations and support causes. This helps create awareness to the target audience and others on how the business shows acts of kindness. In fact, these videos have social benefits and can help companies to get goodwill.
Share Your Brand’s Story: Brands are now using TikTok to share their story, mission, and vision, which helps them connect with their customers. They view this not as sharing their business but their life’s work and can be done in whichever way they like.
TikTok Ads to Promote Your Business
The platform allows businesses to make in-feed ads. With the help of a TikTok ad account manager, you can create and post incredible ads to promote your business to existing and potential customers.
The following are different types of TikTok ads.
In-Feed Ads: It’s a cost-effective option, especially for small businesses and startups. Marketers who know how to use this self-service platform can generate and post ads easily. The content appears on the native feed of the TikTok users under the “For You “ pages.
Brand Takeover: Unlike in-feed Ads, which are native in nature, these types of ads are more intrusive. The ads appear when you open the app, occupy the screen for the first few seconds, and then switch to an in-feed ad. However, there are limited brand takeover spots.
Branded AR or Effects Content: The ads are placed on branded lenses, stickers, and 3D/AR content that brands provide to TikTok filmmakers to incorporate in their videos
Branded Hashtag Challenges: Hashtag challenges have become a solid feature on TikTok. A user sets up a challenge using an open video then motivates other viewers to take a video reenacting a certain act and upload it. Brands pay for the branded hashtag challenges, unlike the ordinary ones that TikTok members or influencers create. As a result, the platform gives them the priority and can include a shoppable component for retailers.
TikTok Marketing Tips
Use Relevant Hashtags
TikTokers use hashtags to search for clips or catalog their videos. In fact, the Discover icon located at the bottom of the screen directs them to a list of videos arranged by trending hashtags.
Brands benefit in the following ways when they use TikTok hashtags:
- Gets more followers
- Identifies their competitors
- The content reaches a wider audience
It’s important to avoid adding popular generic hashtags to your videos because they will be buried in a sea of content. Instead, make your videos visible to the relevant audience and stand out in less populated categories. In other words, don’t concentrate so much on hashtags that are overly popular because your content is most likely to become invisible.
Create a Hashtag Challenge
Sponsored hashtags are perfect ad types on TikTok. In fact, this has made hashtag challenges a popular feature on this platform, and businesses capitalize on them to increase awareness and engagement. Marketers can create and upload videos about a certain task or something else and encourage their followers to post videos of themselves attempting the challenge.
Such a hashtag challenge can trigger an online and offline conversation about your products. Most established brands use hashtag challenges to market their offerings. McDonald’s is an excellent example, and its #bigmactittok challenge was very successful.
Make Videos with Clear Descriptions
Generally, Videos on TikTok are a minute long, making it hard to get the intended message across. Even so, you shouldn’t upload blatant ads because all of your content should provide value.
Actually, the videos should be visually appealing and creative. You can even use your descriptions as teasers. For instance, you can clearly describe what the video offers to the audience. Use keywords that invite your audience to comment and serve SEO purposes. The description should not be a random collection of words; instead, it should make sense. A short snappy description for a one-minute can tremendously grow your follower base.
Follow the Latest Trend
Keep an eye on the currently trending hashtags and align your marketing strategy accordingly. Create and post videos related to these trending ones. However, you must be continually updated on TikTok trends because they’re fast-moving, and keeping up with this craze can increase your followers.
Further, avoid the temptation to copy other people’s videos. Instead, share your own unique version of the trending video.
Exploit the TikTok Ads
The platform’s advertising system has made it easy to post videos and ads. Three forms of ads that you can use are:
In-feed Native Ads: The ads are similar to traditional ads on the platform. Users can place certain elements to an ad, such as a link to their website and the “Order Now” buttons. You can use this type of ad in different ways.
Branded Takeover Ads: The ad contains video clips, GIFs, and images that direct viewers to a hashtag challenge or landing page.
Hashtag Challenge ads: Users create a banner ad that directs followers to a page with rules and instructions to follow when participating in the featured challenge. Brands can use hashtag challenge ads to target specific consumers and grow their follower base.
Use TikTok Influencers
Content creators put a lot of effort and time into becoming influencers on social media platforms. Influencers are a group of people that have more clout with teens and tweens than modern television or movie stars. It’s the quality of their content that builds their reputation.
Businesses that establish productive working relationships with them benefit from influencing potential customers. They’re the type of people that brands should have on their side when they undertake their TikTok marketing campaigns.
Engage Your Audience
TikTok supports constant user engagement like other social networks. Brands can build up conversations with their potential customers through regular comments.
It’s important to post thoughtful comments because TikTok ranks them based on the number of likes. So better comments attract more likes and keep the conversation going. You should also view other people’s videos and make meaningful comments about them.
Post Content Frequently
TikTok rewards users that frequently post content. Actually, users who post many videos have a higher follower rate because it’s easier for people to discover your account and follow you.
Balance the Type of Content
TikTok is a social media like any other, and therefore you should post different types of content. The majority of your videos should inform and entertain your audience. You should also create a few promotional videos and blend them with the first main ones because most internet users tend to ignore ads.
Actually, the best way of navigating this hatred for ads is to create videos with customers using your products. Use that opportunity to explain the benefits your products offer the viewers, explain how to use some of their less known features or how they can gain value from using your products. This will help you build credibility before uploading promotional material.
How to Get Followers on TikTok
Brands and content creators want more followers on TikTok. They can grow their follower base through a focused marketing strategy targeting Gen Z and millennial users. However, TikTok’s popularity has grown and has become popular among boomers and Gen X as well.
The following tips can help you use TikTok to its fullest potential.
Identify the Target Audience: TikTok has users from different niches, locations, and demographics. Therefore you can’t just create one type of content for the entire audience. First, identify the target audience, find out what they are doing on TikTok and create content specifically for them.
Jump in a Trend: TikTok is a platform that is all about trends. You can identify a trend and jump on it to grow your TikTok followers. However, you must ensure that the trends you join are meant for your target audience and are also excited about it.
Educate Your Target Audience: Brands and influencers spend time and money creating TikTok content that is both educational and entertaining. The videos should provide value to your viewers and share information about your brand, products, and services, as well as how they make their lives easier.
Make Use of Hashtags: Users create hashtags to help their followers easily find content that they’re interested in. You can combine general, trending, branded, and business-specific hashtags.
Post Your Videos at the Right Time: Posting your content when your target audience is online can help grow your followers. At first, you can post your content at a different time of the day and week in order to observe how people interact with it and identify the best time. Then start posting when most of the viewers are active online.
Participate in Challenges: Aside from creating challenges, you can participate in those your followers join in. For instance, you can showcase your best moves in a dance challenge or create your own challenge on the platform.
Encourage User-Generated Content: Your followers will create content and post them as you continue engaging with them. Such content can get more engagement increase trust in your brand and TikTok followers. You will get tons of user-generated content when you host a contest, start your own hashtag challenge or hashtag trend.
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