TikTok has been rising in popularity over the past few years, with the pandemic boosting the platform further. The app itself is now available in over 150 countries and has over 1 billion active users monthly. This is a substantial rise from the 680 million active users monthly in 2018. With users spending an average of 52 minutes per day on the app, it is well worth having a presence on the platform. Below is an introductory guide to TikTok marketing for businesses.
The TikTok app was previously Musical.ly a short form dance video platform. Now, TikTok is a short video streaming and sharing app. Users can create videos from 15 seconds long to 3 minutes long and share them with their audience. There is a large music library and various editing functions available to all users.
There are three main strategies businesses can use to market on TikTok effectively. Theses are;
For any business currently using other forms of social media marketing, these may seem obvious. However, the content you create for TikTok is much different than Facebook or Instagram due to the demographic. Most of the users of TikTok are between 16 and 24 years old. Below are more details about these strategies to get the best reach on TikTok
Hashtags are key for success on TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram. Thus, it is key that you find or create clever hashtags for your business and industry. Users on TikTok will follow certain hashtags, especially those in trending challenges. Thus, you want to ensure that your business always uses the relevant hashtags. In particular, use the challenge hashtag if you participate. Businesses can also create their own challenges, and use a creative hashtag for it.
One of the biggest ways to grow your audience on TikTok is by using influencer marketing. Find an influencer in the industry of your business or an influencer who likes products like yours. This is key, as authenticity is something users look for on TikTok. As the audience is younger, they tend to care less about special camera work and more about the actual personality sharing or selling the product.
Around 6 months after the TikTok launch, the platform began to allow businesses to pay for advertising. Everyone aims to go viral on TikTok to get the most views, and advertising can help with that. A business can create a new challenge then use paid ads to push that challenge video to a larger audience. Businesses have a variety of options available for TikTok Ad Campaigns. These options include, paid in-feed ads, brand takeovers, discover banners, and top feed ads.
Hopefully, this introductory guide to TikTok marketing helps you to get started on the platform. As with any social media platform, it will take time for your business presence to grow. However, as long as you continue to post new content and engage directly with your audience, your business is bound to see success on TikTok. Invest a significant amount of time to creating a content plan and posting schedule to ensure you are present online. Review your posts and analytics regularly to adjust the plan. Then continue to create the content that your audience likes for best engagement.
