Information in this blog post was obtained from the SocialMedia Examiner, SocialMediaToday, and Sprout Social.
Have you ever found yourself aimlessly scrolling on TikTok for hours? Well so do 1 billion other people all over the world. In 2018 TikTok became one of the fastest growing social media platforms ever. It took other social media apps decades to reach the mass audiences TikTok has reached in just a few years. If your business isn’t utilizing TikTok in its marketing strategy, it is jeopardizing reaching millions of potential customers and the opportunity for your business to go viral. As specified by SocialMedia Today, TikTok users spend an average of 46 minute on the app every time the open it which can be up to 8 times per day.
TikTok Marketing
TikTok uses short-form video content (videos lasting 15 seconds, 60 seconds, or 3 minutes) that can be used to promote one’s brand, products, or services. TikTok has an organic reach making it an appealing option for many brands to use with the possibility of their videos blowing up and going viral. You can also find a diverse audience on TikTok ranging in age and a broad range of interests. Everyone’s For You page on TikTok is curated with an algorithm based on the content that the user watches and engages with whether it is liking the video, sharing, reposting, commenting, etc. TikTok marketing can be implemented to promotes ones' business with these helpful tips including influencer marketing, leveraging trends, and marketing analytics.
How to Promote Your Business on TikTok: Influencer Marketing
Alix Earle. If you haven’t heard of her, she is one of the most famous and popular TikTok influencers right now. People will buy whatever she uses in her video because she is considered so influential and iconic. With 4.7 million followers many brands and businesses try to collaborate with Earle so that she will make a video with their product or service, and it will blow up. For example, she recently posted a video trying on American Eagle clothing and talked about the products and what she liked or disliked (remember viewers want honesty). She tagged them and used the hashtags #aejeans and #aepartner. Then people can go to her bio on TikTok where she has linked everything shown in the video and they can purchase it sometimes giving her a percentage of money per person that buys from her link, or the brand will just keep sending her a PR package (a personalized bundle of items). Some other big influencers on TikTok include Monet McMichael, Kennedy Eurich, Darcy McQueeny and so many more ranging from mega influencers to micro-influencers.
This type of marketing is booming and taking over TikTok as it can be cheaper for businesses to market this way. In order for your business to use influencer marketing you must first find the right TikTok influencers that share your values and target audience. Making sure that these videos are authentic from the influencer and not scripted is most important. People want honest reviews of products and build a sense of trust with these influencers that you don’t want to break by trying to make the content unnatural. For more information on influencer marketing, read my colleague Peyton Niernberger's post here.
Create Quality TikTok Videos
When it comes to making a good TikTok video that has the ability to go viral, some crucial things that should be done include finding a good background, quality lighting, using vertical filming not horizontal, engaging captions, and creative effects. Content must be high quality and post need to happen regularly. Posting a few times per week can be a beginning goal while working towards posting quality content on a daily basis. Make sure to use relevant hashtags along with trending hashtags. You can also share your TikTok content to other social media platforms to help maximize views. Interacting with people commenting and liking other TikTok creator videos is also very important. Other tips on how to create quality TikTok videos can be found on Sprout Social. If your videos don't get a ton of views or likes you should not delete it from your feed. Apparently, TikTok algorithms don't like when you delete your videos, giving a negative outlook on the account.
Leveraging TikTok Trends for Exposure
TikTok allows businesses to reach their audiences in a more genuine, authentic, and creative way. Using trends can be more entertaining and lead to more exposure. According to Social Media Examiner, a trend is a common theme or music that is in a video in which people will copy or repeat putting an original spin on it. On other platforms this would be considered copying other creators’ content, however, on TikTok creators thrives on trends. Stay up to date with the latest trends and shape the trend around your niche. For example, a cake pop company used a trending music byte to a sped-up video of their intricate process of making, designing, and detailing their cake pops. You can do trends as many times as you want in hopes it will go viral, but they may fail if you are too late to trends. If a video trend is more than a week or two old your brand is too late to join the trend. But if only a few thousand videos have been made to a certain sound byte then your business should make a video as you are considered early to a trend. Some trends even require transitions or special effects, so you want to be able to master these as well. You can look to the Social Media Examiner blog or podcast to get more information on how to spot up-and-coming trends, use the discover page to find trends, and create videos.
Monitor TikTok Analytics to Track Performance
If you have a business account on TikTok, not a personal one, you will be able to view your TikTok analytics. This is a helpful tool when deciding what content to post and at what time of the day to do it. Some important measures to look at include video views, growth rate, trending videos, and average watch time. The average watch time is very important as most people scroll through hundreds of videos while on TikTok. It is important that they are watching your videos all the way through and not just scrolling to the next. This can also help determine if your videos are too lengthy and that you should cut down on how long they are in order to maintain interest throughout the whole video. You can access more information about analytics and track your business accounts analytics at Sprout Social.
Using Ads in Your TikTok Marketing Strategy
Another way companies can use TikTok to promote their business or brand includes paid advertisements. Businesses can use allocated social media budgets towards TikTok advertising. The price to place an advertisement on TikTok is determined by bids just like a Facebook or Instagram Ad. In these ads you can choose a target audience while making creative and fun videos and promote these videos based on how much of a budget is allocated for social media marketing for the brand. In my personal opinion whenever I see a paid advertisement on TikTok I am immediately scrolling past it. Ads are sometimes scripted and don't feel authentic therefore I feel as though many people scroll past advertisements.
Resources
Stelzner, M. (2021, April 8). TikTok Trends: How to Leverage Trending Content for Business. SociaMedia Examiner. Retrieved February 26, 2022, from https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/tiktok-trends-how-to-leaverage-trending-content-for-business/
Walker-Ford, M. (2022, May 16). How to Promote Your Business on TikTok using Influencers [Infographic]. SocialMedia Today. Retrieved February 26, 2022, from https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/how-to-promote-your-business-on-tiktok-using-influencers-infogrpahic/623788/
West, C. (2022, September 7). TikTok marketing: The complete guide for brands in 2022. Sprout Social Blog. Retrieved February 26, 2022, from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/tiktok-marketing/
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