Once dismissed as a teenager friendly fad, ignoring TikTok for business is no longer an option when it comes to an effective social media marketing strategy.
First launched to the western world in 2017, it’s hard to pinpoint another global phenomenon with the same level of growth as TikTok. Surpassing over two billion app downloads in just two short years, the Chinese owned platform has revolutionised how we consume short form video.
While parents with teens were left scratching their heads as to why their kids were performing and recording dances, skits, pranks and more, many business owners once dismissed TikTok as a social media platform that wasn’t worth their time.
Today, failing to carve out a presence on this channel is arguably one of the biggest mistakes in social media marketing that any brand can make – but what are some of the basics when it comes to mastering TikTok for business?
Six Insider Tips When Using TikTok For Business
Even for those new to the TikTok arena, it’s easy to see why this platform is surging in popularity: quite simply, there’s no other app or community quite like it. From a commercial perspective, TikTok is filled with content creators and brands that are looking to grow their audience, increase engagement, and reach millions of people.
Viewed as one of the ‘more fun’ social media platforms, mastering TikTok for business is all about showcasing a less curated version of your brand, experimenting with video without the need for expensive equipment, and to ultimately drive traffic to your website. You don’t need an expensive recording set up, nor an overly complex content marketing strategy. In fact, the best approach is often to keep it simple.
Although not a suitable social media platform for every industry or sector, TikTok for business is on the rise thanks to its ability to humanise a brand. It’s not the place for stiff or formal marketing campaigns, and instead should be viewed as a tool to connect with audiences in a much more casual manner. For brands who are ready to take on TikTok as a marketing tool, here’s a few of the basics.
Know Your Audience – TikTok tends to appeal primarily to young people, as 41% of its users are between the ages of 16 and 24. Among these TikTok users, 90% say they use the app daily. As a result, connecting with this demographic requires engaging content that is fun, yet cuts straight to the point while staying within the fifteen second to ten minute window.
Check What’s Trending – Trends are shown on TikTok’s explore page, or the page with the search logo. The page enlists the trending hashtags and challenges that are dominating the app, with just a handful of the most recent ones including #posechallenge, #filterswitch, #dontjudgemechallenge, #homedecor, #hitormiss, #bottlecapchallenge and more.
Create Valuable Content – The easiest way to create exciting business content for TikTok is by adopting the same strategy commonly deployed when brainstorming ideas for blogs. When writing a blog, you try to address your audience’s interest through addressing their problems, or providing further information about your products, services or even industry.
Get Your Formatting Right – TikTok is designed for mobile viewing, so when crafting your video do ensure that it’s in the portrait format and not landscape. Nobody likes to watch an upload with two giant black lines, so make sure to capture video in this format. In addition, don’t skimp on adding components such as music or captions to your content.
Pursue Influencer Partnerships – Partnering with an influencer can greatly assist in boosting your brand’s position on TikTok. While this process can otherwise take years if you’re doing it alone, partnering with an influencer on TikTok can help brands of all shapes and sizes to capitalise on the influencer’s existing audience, and take a shortcut to success.
Avoid The Hard Sell – If you’re pursuing TikTok for business as a means to push a particular product or service, then you’re setting yourself up to fail. Instead, approach the platform as a means to increase brand authority, connect with new audiences, and keep existing ones engaged. This is a place to show who you are and what you do, not what you sell.
Needless to say, video marketing is rapidly becoming a key staple for any successful content marketing strategy, and it doesn’t require loads of expensive gear or training to get started. However, if you have a vision for what your brand’s visuals look like on screen but lack the confidence to bring it to life, it’s easy to feel deflated.
If you’re one of the many small business owners who lack the time, energy or experience necessary to master content marketing, the good news is that it’s never been more affordable to offload this task to the experts – but where do you find them?
The Key To Good Marketing Is Great Content
Here at Content Hive, producing top quality digital content is exactly what we do best. We have itemised a list of digital content services, and allocated credits next to each of these. This means that each month, you can use your credits with us to produce digital content such as blog articles, social media posts, videos and even animated Instagram stories. By using this model, we believe that it enables us to produce high quality content with faster delivery times.
If you aren’t quite sure where to start on your digital marketing journey and would like to speak to a professional, why not book in a free discovery call with us at Content Hive today to discuss how we can get your brand buzzing online.
