There’s a new player on the social media block. TikTok is a social video streaming and sharing platform with over 1 billion monthly active users and counting. It’s easy to see why it has big implications when it comes to boosting brand recognition and growing businesses of all kinds.
The app’s reach is impressive, to say the least, with over 1.5 billion downloads to date and US revenues that exceeded $500 million in 2020. Its user base is diverse in terms of both age and location. But the majority of TikTok users are from the younger Generation Z and Millennial age groups, making it a useful tool when it comes to engaging younger target audiences.
Businesses and ventures of all types can use TikTok’s features and algorithms to their advantage to spread personalized marketing messages and grow their digital communities. Your follower count doesn’t matter on this app: even new accounts can create viral content that helps them to get their brands noticed by the right people. Here’s how to use TikTok to your advantage to grow your venture, both immediately and over the long term.
TikTok’s Value as a Brand Marketing Tool
TikTok has already claimed significant dominance over the online space, which makes it an obvious choice when it comes to marketing and advertising. The app’s algorithms work to ensure that ads and messages get seen by a wide audience, and its ‘Shop Now’ option is an extremely effective tool that brands can use to link their websites in the app.
The app’s user base, as mentioned above, also consists primarily of younger users between the ages of 18 and 24. Roughly 43% of the app’s global user base falls into this age range. If your brand aims to target this age group with its marketing messages, TikTok may be the ideal platform on which to do so.
Better still, brands can also team up with popular TikTok influencers to give their products and messages even more clout. TikTok is optimized for influencer marketing, and its short, captivating videos provide the perfect medium through which to reach the right audiences, especially when you feature their favorite celebrities and personalities in your content.
Tips for Using TikTok for Venture Growth
Whether your brand already has a TikTok account or you’re just looking to start out, there are a few things you need to know about this social media channel before you can maximize your growth and reach.
Post High Quality Content
The most successful TikTok accounts are those that post content that is relevant, engaging, memorable and novel. If you compromise on the quality of your videos, you run the risk of boring or alienating your core audiences, who are using TikTok primarily for entertainment purposes.
Ideally, your videos should be shot with quality equipment, offer pleasant backgrounds and lighting, and edited with top-tier video editing software. Create a video content creation strategy before you start posting to ensure that you can offer your followers consistently high content that keeps them coming back for more.
Team Up with Other Creators
Community is the name of the game when it comes to using TikTok for business. Collaborating with well-known TikTokers and influencers is a great way to establish your brand as a leader in your industry and attract the attention of people interested in what you have to offer.
Cross-Promote
Cross promotion is a simple yet efficient strategy through which you can promote your TikTok account and get your content shared. This method uses your presence on other digital platforms to generate more traffic, sales, and subscribers.
Whenever you post a TikTok clip, be sure to publish it on other key platforms like Facebook and Instagram to give its visibility a boost.
Use Hashtags to Your Advantage
Using hashtags is another great way to grow your venture and hit significant rates of exposure. Include hashtags that are relevant to your sector, your business and your target audiences in your posts.
This helps TikTok’s algorithms to ensure that your videos get displayed in keyword searches, which will drive engagement and help you to rack up more views in the process.
Use the ‘For You Page’ for Inspiration
Creating TikTok content that has the potential to go viral is no easy feat. One of the best ways to achieve this is to check out the For You Page regularly and see what content is resonating the most with your target audiences at any given time.
You’re welcome to follow and adapt your content to any of the trends you see, but make sure that your videos are also unique at the same time. Younger viewers appreciate fresh takes on trending topics more than formulaic videos that mirror those of other popular accounts.
Avoid Obvious Sales Promotions
Generation Z, and Millennials, to an extent, tend to reject any marketing messages that are too ‘salesy’ in nature. Instead of adding obvious promotions to your TikTok content, include subtle product and brand promotions that blend naturally into the content you’re sharing.
This will ensure that your customers gain value from your videos without feeling overwhelmed or put off by strong marketing tactics.
Add Value for Your Audience
People love TikTok videos that provide them with real guidance, expert knowledge, and how-tos from specialists who know exactly what they are talking about. TikTok users gravitate to the platform for two key reasons: to be entertained and to learn new things.
Whether it’s how to create a paint effect, combine PDF files, or do a new dance, your videos should entertain and educate your followers. This will drive engagement and build trust between them and your brand.
Use On-Trend Sound Clips for Added Effect
You may already have noticed that the best-performing TikTok videos include a range of popular sound clips. Choosing the right background music is essential for creating engaging videos. Take some time to research the best trending tunes available and pick those that align with your brand identity and help to bring your video content to life.
TikTok also allows you to use original sound effects and creative visual effects to spice up your videos. Take full advantage of these features to grow your venture, and remember to add a strong caption to facilitate engagement as well.
Take on The TikTok Marketing Challenge
The world of social media is constantly evolving to give businesses and brands the tools they need to maximize their exposure and growth.
TikTok is one of the most promising new platforms for digital marketing and promotion. Especially when its features get used to their full extent to create engaging and memorable video content.
Also published on Medium.
[…] your understanding of each network’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, if you want to start a TikTok account to grow your business, you’ll need to abide by the best practices for use. Successful campaigns on TikTok are […]