The beauty of this social media era is that new platforms and tools for marketing your business in the digital world are always being created. The down side? To stay ahead of the curve — and the competition — businesses need to keep up with the hot new digital trends and master every platform they use. You may feel like you finally got the hang of Instagram when — BAM! — TikTok took off and reignited the internet. It’s popularity has been unprecedented, and it earned itself the label of “Most Downloaded App” of 2020 in a landslide.
With Tik Tok Marketing, you have direct access to millions of potential customers. Seems like a smart thing to get in on, right?
Yes! Now is the PERFECT time to jump on the Tik Tok bandwagon and leverage this fun and engaging new tool to grow your business’ online reach. Unlike Instagram and Facebook, the Tik Tok advertising market hasn’t become overly saturated yet, and fewer brands are competing for the marketing space. Establishing a space for your brand on this platform now gives you a good chance of getting ahead of the curve and competing with larger brands.
What Makes Tik Tok A Good Marketing Tool?
Tik Tok is unique from other social media apps because it is entirely video-based. Even more than Instagram, Tik Tok users have been able to wrack up millions of followers easily and in a short amount of time…without being a public figure or social media influencer. Everyday users with a unique story or attitude to share have been taking Tik Tok by storm. And while the platform is rich in cat videos (it’s the internet, what did you expect?), users also leverage it to share content such as tutorials, political commentary and book reviews. They’ve even formed communities by sharing stories about student life, parenting, pandemic life…you name it! Tik Tok has proven itself to be a fun and casual way to share content, which is perfect for brands looking to share the personal, light-hearted side of their story.
Though much younger than other social media apps like Instagram and Facebook, Tik Tok has the most engagement by far, and the average user stays on Tik Tok for nearly an hour a day! In comparison, Facebook and Instagram users typically use those apps for about a half hour a day.
Tik Tok: The Nuts And Bolts
While individual videos are capped at 15 seconds, users can combine multiple videos to create an overall stream of 60 seconds, which, to put that in perspective, is longer than your average television ad.
Users can create original content, add special effects, texts, stickers, and even background music. Viewers and users can engage via likes, comments, direct messages, and other communication tools. They can also share your videos, which can rapidly increase the online reach of your brand’s content.
Leveraging Tik Tok For Your Business
Brands that can create entertaining, approachable, and savvy content can thrive on Tik Tok! But getting to know the ins and outs of the platform and growing your initial following takes time and a little practice. At YellowFin Digital, we recommend setting up an account and simply observing the way the many, many cogs of the Tik Tok wheel operate. Follow brands you admire, brands you collaborate with, and even brands you compete with to see what works and doesn’t work for them on Tik Tok. Comment, interact, and share content that speaks to you!
Although Tik Tok users represent every demographic, it’s important to note that the majority of users are under 30 years of age. Being mindful of your audience when creating content will help you maximize your presence online.
Tik Tok Marketing: What Are The Options?
There are three primary ways to market your brand on Tik Tok:
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1. Influencer Marketing
Currently, the most popular content categories on Tik Tok are Entertainment and Dance. If your brand doesn’t fall into one of those categories, you can consider partnering with influencers who operate in those categories. Think of it as word-of-mouth marketing on a massive digital scale! By endorsing your products, influencers can help expand your brand’s reach.
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2. Original Content Creation
If you have the content and team capabilities, consider creating your own original videos to showcase your products or offer services. If you own a clothing boutique, for instance, your Tik Tok videos might include behind-the-scenes looks at product shoots, curation, or 15-second video style guides. Be advised, however, that these short little videos can actually take hours to create and edit.
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3. Tik Tok Ads
Like Instagram or Facebook, you can pay to run your custom ads on Tik Tok! Ads usually require much less time and investment than creating original videos, and they usually appear on Tik Tok within 24 hours. They also allow you to target a custom audience that will increase your chances of converting leads to sales!
Maximizing Your Marketing Results On Tik Tok
Like everything in the digital world, Tik Tok marketing relies heavily on SEO — Search Engine Optimization. The best way to improve SEO on Tik Tok is through hashtags. It’s important to spend time researching hashtags and keywords that will make your content more searchable for your specific customer community. Fortunately, Tik Tok makes it easy to see how popular specific hashtags are — just enter a hashtag into the search bar and review the results.
If you’re going to invest the time, energy, and resources into Tik Tok marketing, it’s worth it to sign up for a Tik Tok Pro Account because of the detailed analytics features that it includes. You can easily measure audience and performance insights, as well as monitor views and engagement to determine how well your various content strategies are performing. Like all digital marketing, it’s important to keep things fresh and try new approaches. With Tik Tok’s analytics dashboard, you can easily see which of your strategies are gaining you followers and converting to sales.
Getting Started
Are you ready to take your business’ online marketing to the next level? Start small and become a Tik Tok user yourself. This will give you time to observe and learn the nuances of this highly evolved social media platform. You can also check out the app’s “Inspiration” section for ideas on what kind of engaging content you might create.
Once you’re comfortable with the app and have built up a solid intuition for the most profitable content trends, consider signing up for a Pro Account and launching your brand into this explosive social media world!
