Wondering how TikTok will help your business? TikTok has 1 billion monthly active users, meaning your future client is only a few swipes away.
- 92% of global users take action after watching a TikTok video.
- 81% of users use TikTok to discover new products and brands.
- TikTok is great for promoting your product/service, reaching new audiences, and raising engagement.
- This article is meant to educate small business owners and marketing team members on how TikTok can be used to effectively reach your audience with a few simple taps on your phone.
As a business owner or leader of a marketing team, it’s important to stay on top of what your customers are viewing, talking about, and sharing with friends and family. It’s one of the main selling points for advertising on social media, and TikTok is no exception.
For example, 1 in 2 Gen Z TikTok users are likely to buy something while using the app.
In case anyone is getting ahead of themselves, don’t let the app’s main demographic scare you away from what could become your greatest advertising asset.
Although the app has a large teenage following, your demographic doesn’t have to shift to those below the age of 25 in order to use TikTok. People of all ages have flocked to the app in light of stay-at-home mandates during 2020 lockdowns, bringing in more millennials and Facebook users who were looking for distractions from COVID-19.
Businesses are using this new form of social media to their advantage and utilizing videos to sell to new audiences that may have once been out of reach. The app’s range of fifteen-second to three-minute videos saturates the market with millions of products per day, so if you’re going to join the fray, how are you going to stand out in the crowd?
Read on to learn how to utilize TikTok and skyrocket your consumer engagement faster than ever before.
How TikTok Works
At its core, TikTok is a short-form video-sharing app that allows users to create videos and share them to a carefully curated algorithm that then disperses the video to users the app thinks will engage or relate most to the content you’re sharing.
It’s best to start at square one: download the app. Make a profile, swipe through some videos, and search for subjects you may be interested in, such as finance, kittens, the newest Game of Thrones, wherever your interests lie.
Search businesses you support or look up the competition. Find out how people are promoting their brand voice, what they’re doing to prove authenticity, and what age range they seem to be leaning toward.
Familiarize Yourself With:
For You Page
According to a study shared on TikTok’s business blog, “Brands on TikTok see higher levels of receptiveness to brand messaging, calls-to-action and ad breakthrough, according to a new independent study conducted by neuroanalytics and neuromarketing firm Neuro-Insight. Specifically, TikTok’s For You page encourages higher levels of relevancy and engagement with audiences, making brands more memorable on the platform.”
Hashtags
Hashtags work the same way on TikTok as they do other platforms, like Twitter and Instagram. If you would like a quick refresher, think of it this way: you want to make sure the hard work you’re putting into these videos is paying off. Ensure your content is discoverable by adding #hashtags to your posts. Try to use trending or relevant ones to help your videos find their audience.
Trending
Posting on TikTok is one of those rare moments where it actually benefits you to do what everyone else is doing. There are times for originality, but riding the wave of what’s most popular in the moment will help you get discovered so that you have an audience in those moments of originality.
“Trends are so important for brands who are looking to increase their relevance on TikTok, because it gives them that extra viewership,” Horowitz says. “You tap into the algorithm, and also, it gives you that credibility, like you get the conversation on TikTok, and your brand fits in really natively.” –Evan Horowitz, CEO of Movers+Shakers, aka the man behind the most viral campaign in TikTok history, which he and his agency created for e.l.f. Cosmetics.
Helpful Tip: Above all else, once you begin your TikTok journey, stick true to your business. Don’t replicate trends that don’t align with your business platform. Don’t use popular sounds that reflect someone else’s voice. Authenticity goes far on an app that your followers are using to learn more about you.
So You’ve Learned the Basics, Now What?
Now that you’re familiar with the basics of TikTok, how are you going to use the app to your business’s advantage? What kind of marketing is available on the app? How can you use the algorithm to your advantage?
TopView
TopView ads are your best friend. Be the first thing users see when they open the app and boost brand awareness by making a fantastic first impression. Ads can be up to a minute long, and 71% of users claim that TopView grabs their attention.
In-Feed Ads
If you swear by the marketing funnel system, then you’ll love having in-feed ads at your fingertips. According to TikTok’s page for business, “TikTok In-Feed Ads are designed to capture the customer’s undivided attention in a full-screen and sound-on environment.”
83% of users report that ads on TikTok are enjoyable.
Branded Hashtag Challenge
Utilize the algorithm to the max by populating your followers’ feeds with branded hashtag challenges that encourage your followers to post their own videos featuring the hashtag, creating a snowball effect that reaches far outside your target audience.
TikTok’s business page reveals that more than 50% of Branded Hashtag Challenge’s have >$5 ROAS for CPG industry.
Branded Effects
This is where you can really show off your creativity. Lean into what the platform offers by creating fun filters (remember the infamous dog filter from Snapchat?), stickers, and other special effects that are unique to your brand. Create something enticing for your audience to replicate and watch your campaign go viral.
5 TikTok Ideas To Get You Started
Behind the Scenes
Showing the inner workings of your office or workspace is one of the most popular (and easiest) types of videos that businesses post on the app. It helps the viewer get a feel for the business culture, see how things are done, and shows that there are real people behind the scenes. You don’t have to show everything, but it definitely helps to get people interested.
Business Tips & Advice
Many use TikTok as a resource for learning. In fact, many Gen Z users are likely to turn to TikTok before even Google. Be the go-to person for your field, or better yet, find a niche and become the expert that users turn to.
Get To Know You or Your Employees
TikTok thrives on personality. Round up your employees who are okay with being shown on camera. Introduce them and what they do! People like having a face behind the brand. Check out how we at Epic Nine post on our own TikTok!
Find a Trend
Trends are a necessary evil. They fuel the algorithm. While you may not always see the benefit of a trend, try it anyway! They are a great way to still push out content even in the face of creative block. Just be sure you’re staying on top of the latest trends. Being fashionably late isn’t something to brag about on TikTok.
Timelapse
Everyone loves a good timelapse. TikTok is often all about fitting as much content as you can into a short amount of time, which is why many people lean into this feature when applicable. Use it to show a day in the life, an unboxing, or getting a big project done.
You’re Ready to Post
Let’s review some of the perks that come with using TikTok as an advertising tool:
- The market is less saturated than the likes of Facebook and Instagram.
- It’s a way for your brand to find its footing in a heavily saturated market.
- TikTok helps reach audiences that even you may not have been aware of before downloading the app.
It can be difficult to remember that marketing is more than numbers, analytics, and reports. The job entails connecting with an audience. Give consumers a reason to subscribe to what you’re selling, and create meaningful work (that sells). Join this community of short-form videos and rediscover your love for the field, and have a little fun while you’re at it.
A little creativity in the workplace is always welcome on TikTok.
While you’re at it, go ahead and follow Epic Nine’s TikTok account. Learn more TikTok-for-business tips designed to help you conquer your marketing mountains!