By Corey Brown on Sep 8, 2021
It’s easy to write off TikTok as an app where people just dance and post videos. However, with the buzz the app has been making over the years, it’s safe to say TikTok is taking over the social media space.
TikTok started getting a lot of attention around 2019 when it became the second most downloaded non-gaming app. By 2020, TikTok was the number one app.
The platform has a billion monthly active users and a hundred million of them come from the US alone. With such numbers, there is a great chance that your brand’s target audience is on it.
So, it’s no surprise that many people are taking their businesses there to reach their potential customers. If you haven’t already, it’s time to find out how you can use effective social media advertising to grow your business on TikTok. But how exactly can you make TikTok marketing work for your business? We will get to that in this article.
Before we go into how you can use TikTok for your business, let’s get into how the platform works itself.
Launched in 2016, TikTok is a video platform where people can share and edit videos. TikTok allows people to share videos that max out at 15 or 60 seconds. The fun part about TikTok is that it has fun editing effects and allows people to add music to their videos. Also, users often engage in challenges and trends that involve making creative videos to a particular song. Aside from sharing videos, users can interact by liking, commenting, or using direct messages like other social media platforms.
There are two main pages on TikTok; the For You page and the Following page. In the ‘For You Page’, you can see trending videos and videos by popular Tiktokers. It’s easy to discover popular hashtags and trends from this page. The ‘Following Page’, on the other hand, shows videos by users you follow.
If you are new to TikTok marketing, it may be difficult to know the best strategy to market your business. Here are 4 out of the many ways to get into TikTok marketing:
Paid advertising is a great place to start driving traffic to your TikTok page. The good thing about social media advertising methods like this is that it offers precise targeting so that your content can reach the exact audience that would like your business. There are different options of paid ads on TikTok and the right one will depend on your budget, brand, and target audience. But with over a billion users every month, it’s safe to say whatever ad options you choose will reach your target audience. Some paid ads options on TikTok include:
This form of native social media advertising allows TikTokers to create videos that show up on others’ For You’ pages. This type of ad is similar to other social media ads and supports website clicks, embedded links, and app downloads.
This involves creating hashtags specific or related to your brand and then partnering with TikTok to promote them. With this, you can create hashtags challenges and get people to participate. The challenge is also likely to go viral and get more engagement because it will show up on the ‘For You’ page, thus reaching many people. Guess did something like this in 2018 with the #InMyDenim challenge as they called for users to create videos of themselves styled in Guess Denim.
This form of TikTok ads allows brands to take over for the day to get publicity. You can create memes, videos, and content embedded with links to your website or hashtag with this option.
Another great way you can use TikTok to promote your business is to create your own content. It doesn’t have to be a professional or perfect performance before you post it on TikTok. You don’t even need expensive equipment like cameras or microphones. With just a phone, you can create authentic content that will rack up engagement.
Tip: Make sure the content is fun, related to your brand, and done in a way that doesn’t sound like traditional advertising.
When it comes to social marketing, you should not underestimate User-Generated Content. If you are new to UGC, it is a simple way of getting users to advertise for you by sharing content and reviews related to your brand. This includes encouraging people to use your hashtag in their videos and then reposting it. Vessi does something like this: they get people to show off their footwear using the hashtag #Vessifootwear. To make it more effective, Vessi combined it with a giveaway strategy so that everyone who shared a post using the hashtag stood a chance of winning a new pair of shoes.
You can also take advantage of TikTok advertising by working with influencers. TikTok influencers range from popular to very popular and the one you choose to work with will depend on your budget or niche. Influencers help promote your product to their audience by creating video content. For example, Chipotle partnered with an influencer who started the #ChipotleLidFlip challenge on TikTok. The challenge got about 230 million views from more than 100,000 people who participated in the challenge in a month.
Tip: When choosing an influencer, make sure you work with someone that fits your target audience.
Ready to get into TikTok Marketing? Here are some tips to keep in mind for effective results;
Whether it’s TikTok or Facebook, one thing to note is that social media advertising is most effective when you post brilliant content that resonates with your users. Since we are dealing with TikTok, what you need to create are videos. Fun, creative videos!
Also, try to join challenges, include your URLs, make specific brand posts, and use hashtags. You should also make your videos natural so that they don’t come off as traditional advertising. People interact more with natural videos than videos that come off as advertisements.
If you are new to TikTok, you don’t have to rush into creating videos. Try as much as possible to understand how the platform works. Observe, watch and pay attention to what other brands are doing until you adapt to the social media space. Once you understand the type of content that works on TikTok, you can easily fit in your business.
TikTok is a fun place, and that’s why you will find a lot of silly or even wacky videos. That is what the users love. TikTokers aren’t there for sales pitches or formal promo videos and that’s why you need to be very creative with your content. Nevertheless, you don’t have to go over the board to make videos that don’t fit your brand. A popular way people make videos is to show off their products by setting the background to a trendy song on TikTok. You can also make your marketing strategy a seamless process by involving a social media advertising agency to run your TikTok campaigns.
TikTok isn’t Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. It solely focuses on videos and that’s what people are there for. Posts things that are fun or teach something in a fun way.
As said earlier in the article, a lot of TikTokers get involved in trends and challenges. Join those challenges, use viral songs as your background music and show the human side of your brand.
One social media advertising strategy that works quite well is the hashtag. Join hashtag challenges and even start your own. One popular method is to encourage users to create content featuring your product or adding your branded hashtag to content made about your brand. For example, if you sell beauty products, you could start a challenge of people using your product and including your hashtag when they post. The point is to make it fun too. If you learn how to do this right, you can introduce your brand to numerous audiences.
Asides from creating awesome content, consistency is essential. It’s a good idea to post consistently to engage your customers and get used to your business. You can also get a content calendar to plan ideas for content or schedule when and how often you’ll post and
From a business perspective, TikTok is a free marketing channel where you can capture the attention of your potential customers. While the platform is renowned for showcasing creativity and entertaining followers, its marketing potential is currently underutilized. Thus, it’s relatively less competitive, making it a great place for social media advertising.
To get the most out of your TikTok promotion strategy, just follow the tips above and learn how the platform works. If you are looking for a channel to improve your business growth, TikTok is worth it. So, get started by sharing creative videos, challenges, fun facts, tips. Or you can go for paid ads using TikTok advertising and influencers. And if you are out of ideas, try reaching out to a social media advertising agency like Umbrella Local. We offer a wide range of services and strategies to help grow your business.
Get in touch with us today to learn how we can help you get the best out of social media advertising.
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