TikTok is one of the most well-liked social media platforms for users of all ages. It has become a powerful instrument for businesses to sell their goods and brands that do not incorporate TikTok into their marketing plan lose out.
Before the coronavirus outbreak, teens used TikTok mostly to create prank movies or dance to the hottest music. TikTok developed into a platform that allowed people of all ages to pass the time by creating short snippets of authentic, creative content during the lockdown.
In September 2021, TikTok announced that it had one billion daily active users, including 142.2 million in North America. Few other social networks have achieved this feat in as little time as 4.9 years.
One of the aspects that distinguish TikTok and makes it so alluring to businesses is the fact that it runs on a content graph rather than a social graph. Users are not confined to merely viewing content created by people in their social networks or the people they follow. The TikTok algorithm instead displays material on the videos that viewers view and engage with. This enables firms to communicate with a big audience even if they don’t already have a sizable fan base.
Not sure where to begin when trying to interact with your TikTok audience? Find out how by reading on.
TikTok Offers More Than Other Social Media Platforms
Compared to other similar social media platforms, TikTok actively fosters a sense of community. The niche communities that have developed over the past year offer something for everyone, and as more users register for the site, new niches keep emerging. For instance, company owners and professionals can share tips, anecdotes, and even livestream some of their activities in the specialised communities BusinessTok and BrandTok. Furthermore, BookTok is a popular community where readers gather to discuss books and welcome new releases.
The Creation of a TikTok Marketing Plan
It would be incorrect to approach TikTok marketing the same way you would Instagram or Facebook marketing. TikTok is a completely distinct social network with its trends, features, and user behaviour.
Determine Your Market Reach
Who are you hoping to connect with on TikTok? Before you begin creating content, investigate the demographics of TikTok users to see who would be interested in your company. Or, if you have already begun, you can learn more about the kinds of users who have been engaging with your video by following these steps:
- You must first confirm that you are logged into a Pro Account. For anyone looking to expand their business on TikTok, access to their analytics and demographics section is only available to Pro Account users. By changing your settings to reflect a corporate account instead of a personal account, you can accomplish this. On your profile page, click the button with the three horizontal lines in the top right corner to access your settings. Click “manage my account” and “convert to business account” from here. You’ve now successfully created a Pro TikTok account!
- On your profile page, click the three horizontal lines, choose “creator tools,” and then choose “metrics” to examine your analytics. By doing this, you’ll be directed to the analytics page, where you may see data on your followers and the popularity of your material.
- To find out which of your posts have been the most popular and what type of traffic brought readers to your site, select “content”.
- To learn more about the types of people that are seeing your material, choose “followers”. You can discover which gender and regions of the world have shown interest in your material. To tailor your content and increase your reach among the people you want to interact with, you can also receive a breakdown of how they use TikTok.
It’s crucial to be adaptable within your niche. Many companies make the error of limiting their scope by adhering too closely to their field of expertise. “Content must be designed to be appealing to a wider public, instead of pre-selecting your audience from those most likely to be enthusiastic towards your product,” says Replai.
For example, if beauty is your area of expertise, you might provide makeup lessons or just general guidance on upcoming releases. Another example is that some lawyers offer legal counsel to their viewers directly on TikTok.
Performing a Audit of Your Competitors
Do your competitors use TikTok? If they are, you might be missing out on the action. If they aren’t, TikTok might be a way to get a competitive advantage. Analysing the content of your rivals will also reveal useful information. What kinds of materials are they publishing? How are viewers responding to the information? Are there some post kinds that are more popular than others, and if so, what characteristics do these posts share? All this information may be used to streamline your content so that it appeals to your target market more.
Setting Goals That Are Consistent with Your Brand’s
Even while you can create TikTok videos for fun, it’s ideal to have goals in mind that can be tied to your professional aims. Do you, for instance, want more people to visit your website? Amass a sizable fan base on TikTok? A rise in email inquiries from customers?
Making better choices when it comes to posting can be aided by having a clear knowledge of what you hope to accomplish with TikTok marketing.
Post Content Regularly
The creation and adherence to a content calendar are essential to a successful social media strategy. Again, having access to analytics will be helpful in this situation since you can determine when your target audience is most active on the platform and time your posts accordingly. Follow these steps to determine when your audience is most active:
- Go to your profile page using a Pro Account, and then click the button with three horizontal lines in the upper right corner.
- Choose “creator tools,” “analytics,” “followers,” and then “creator tools”.
- Choose the “follower activity” tab from here. This will show you a breakdown of the peak TikTok activity times for your audience.
- Make regular posts during the time slots when your followers are consistently most active to boost views, follows, likes, and comments.
Track Your Development Over Time
When marketing on TikTok, analytics is not only the most important place to start, but metrics are also a quick way to assess the success of your strategies. Check your progress at least once a month to make sure you’re accomplishing what you set out to do. You may access the following data and monitor your user activity by choosing various tabs on your analytics page:
- Total number of likes and comments a post has received
- A post’s overall share count
- The duration of the average post view
- Total complete views of a video
- Number of users a post reached in total
- Traffic sources for each post
Don’t Be Afraid to Try New Things
There isn’t one single trick to becoming popular on TikTok. Make a place in your TikTok marketing strategy for creativity, curiosity, and adaptability. If your postings aren’t performing as well as you would like, you can utilise your followers’ favourite types of content as an inspiration by learning what they enjoy. Here’s how:
- Click the settings button on your profile page to see your analytics page.
- Go to the “followers” tab.
- Choose “music your followers listened to” and “videos your followers saw”. This will give you a clear idea of the kinds of content that are popular with your target audience and may enable you to aim your content better.
Examine Fresh Trends
Find relevant hashtags for your brand by doing some research. You can promote your videos by creating content and keeping up with trends. If you use well-known noises and memes, users find it engaging. Emerging trends must be considered to stay current on this platform, as they are likely to attract more views and participation. Because people commonly utilise trending hashtags when searching for content, your content can reach a new audience. Using well-liked hashtags will also improve your chances of showing up on the “For You” pages.
TikTok users are substantially younger than users of several other social media platforms, with 60% of them being between the ages of 16 and 24. The largest generation present on TikTok is Gen Z (born between 1997 and 2012). Because the oldest members of this generation are currently in their early 20s, brands must target and promote them. Be aware that trends on TikTok change frequently, so you must ensure a quick turnaround if you are producing content in response to trends.
Displaying a Business’ Creativity
You may access TikTok’s marketplace for creators, where you can check each one’s audience demographics, engagement analytics, and partners if you register for a business account. It’s a great way to figure out which creators will benefit your company the most. Furthermore, the features are far superior to other social media platforms.
Working together with creators may be quite successful for marketers. Not all your content has to be original to you and you only. You may locate influencers who are interested in your brand through the Creator Marketplace. After deciding how much you are ready to pay for TikTok marketing, look for influencers that are a good fit for your company. Choose your influencer carefully because the right one could place your business in the spotlight on TikTok:
- Start by logging into the TikTok Creator Marketplace, where you will arrive on the “find the perfect creator” page. Choose “new campaign” from this menu and enter the necessary data. The “influencer brief” is another name for this.
- Then, modify the search filters to identify the creators who are most compatible with your needs. You can alter the region criteria, the demographics of the audience, the average content reach, or the niche.
- A list of users who meet your criteria will then be given to you. From this point on, you can get a closer look at each creative by viewing examples of their work as well as details about their target market and current trends.
- You may now narrow down the list of creators you want to collaborate with and email them your brief. Your relationship can then progress based on whether they accept or reject your proposal.
Advertisement and Entertainment
TikTok is mostly utilised by consumers to share amusing content, therefore broadcasting an excessive amount of content that is only comprised of adverts will not engage and interest your audience. It is essential for firms to have a personality on TikTok and to be humorous and engaging to draw people to your videos because they will skip past normal commercial content.
Furthermore, promotional information might come in a variety of formats and doesn’t have to always be overt in nature. Marketers might utilise covert techniques like tutorials, reviews, or recipes to promote their products. You may create an engaged and connected group of potential customers by balancing your leisure time and promotional content. Considering that 60% of TikTok users use the app for pleasure, making endless promotional postings won’t help you get very far.
Captivating Your Audience
TikTok video uploading alone is insufficient for active engagement. It’s also essential to engage the public using the app’s comment area and other features, like duet or stitch. Try to engage individuals more directly and personally so that you may more easily develop relationships with potential customers and a loyal customer base. Try:
- Following and watching other makers, celebrities, and users.
- Make amusing comments on stories relevant to your company or items.
- Encourage viewers to comment on, react to, or otherwise engage with your videos.
- Create a challenge, a dance, or a trend to nudge users toward producing pertinent content.
Post Regularly on TikTok
Your company’s engagement, visibility, and awareness will all rise because of consistent original content publication. Furthermore, through trial and error, you can discover the concepts and information that work and don’t work. However, this only works if you upload enough content to visualise emerging patterns.
To genuinely create a connection to your brand through your content, it must be honest, relatable, and unique. To advertise your business and strengthen these relationships with potential customers, be truthful with your audience.
You may be able to trick the TikTok algorithm and make your videos show up more frequently on “For You” pages by experimenting and releasing fresh content frequently, but the content itself has to be good to encourage user engagement.
A good strategy to guarantee your brand has a consistent presence on TikTok is to schedule postings there. To schedule posts on TikTok:
- Open a web browser on a desktop computer and log into TikTok. To access the upload page, click the cloud icon in the top right corner.
- Publish, edit, and create your video.
- Before posting, slide the “schedule” slider to the right by scrolling down. After that, a calendar will be shown to you so you can decide when the post will be live.
TikTok can be challenging, particularly if you’re trying to use it to grow your business or brand. Even though it only takes one video to go viral, don’t give up if it doesn’t happen right away. Never give up. Repeat: never give up.
One of the videos you submit will gain traction but if not, it’s okay to try new things and switch it up to find what works best for you. As Scotwork says, “…whilst it may be worth sticking to your objectives (as long as they are realistic) you should be flexible with your strategy”.
