Think again if you believe that TikTok is just a platform for dancing teenagers and comedy sketches. TikTok is one of the biggest social networks with 1 billion monthly active users, and it’s the fastest growing platform as well.
Many big brands like Guess, Puma, M&M are actively using this relatively new platform to grow their businesses. And they have a good reason for that. TikTok offers immense opportunities for brands to find their audience and show them their products.
Like every other social platform, TikTok has its own unique features that you need to know before running marketing campaigns there. If you’re new to TikTok or TikTok marketing, we can show you how to use TikTok for business and get the most out of it.
How to Use TikTok Ads?
To advertise on TikTok, you need to create a TikTok For Business account. It helps marketers to set ads, reach their target audiences, and analyze their ad performance. They also have e-learning services to help create better ads on the platform.
TopView Ads
These ads appear right after the user opens their app for the first time, once a day. TopView ads can be up to 60 seconds long, which is longer than average TikTok videos. So it could work great when you want to promote your products that require a longer time of attention. Users can engage with these ads by commenting, sharing or liking them.
In-Feed Ads
When users open the app, they land on the “For You” page, where they see videos tailored to their app activity. And this is where in-feed ads appear. They are the fourth video that users see as they scroll through their feed. If you’re unfamiliar with TikTok ads, in-feed ads are quite similar to those appearing in Instagram stories.
In-feed ads can also last up to 60 seconds. Similar to all videos on TikTok, viewers can like, share or comment on it. But unlike topview ads, they can feature CTA. If you want to drive conversions, then this type of ad can help you reach your goal.
Keep in mind, that users can easily skip your ad if it’s not interesting. You need to grab their attention in 2-3 seconds so that they watch it. Some brands collaborate with influencers to make in-feed ads and include CTAs to drive more sales.
Branded Hashtags
Branded hashtags are an exclusive type of ad that you can find only on TikTok(and quite costly too). They can be both organic and sponsored. Basically, brands just create a hashtag and gain exclusive access to it, which can cost around $150,000 USD for six days. This is a great opportunity to encourage user-generated content.
When users click on sponsored hashtags, they’ll go to a page on TikTok with the brand’s logo, website link, a description of the challenge, and videos using the hashtag.
You can create a new challenge and encourage people to create videos by using the hashtag. You just need to make sure to have a clear goal and what results you expect to get.
Hashtag challenges can be found on the Discovery page, which is similar to Instagram’s Explore page.
Brand Takeovers
Branded effects are shareable stickers, AR, 2D, 3D filters that people can use to create videos. They are excellent for increasing engagement and brand awareness, and, usually, they require playing brand-specific games.
You can create branded effects along with a hashtag challenge to encourage people to create more videos.
Branded Effects
This is a great opportunity to reach new audiences. People all around the world are using this entertaining video platform. As video content is more popular than ever, chances are more people will start using TikTok and you can use it to increase awareness.
Besides, TikTok videos can be shared on other platforms as well, so you will reach even more people on Facebook and Instagram.
How to Use TikTok for Business?
Optimize Your Business Account
Let’s start with your account first. You need to create a new account or optimize the existing one. Switch to the business account and choose your industry from their provided list.
Then you need to think about how your profile would look. You need to choose a profile picture that represents your brand. It should be visually connected to other digital platforms. You should use the same logo and same colors to show the connection of your website, Instagram, Facebook and other accounts. Besides, this way your audience will more easily recognize you.
Next, you should write an engaging bio. With only 80 characters you need to provide enough info to learn about your brand and include a CTA. If your brand image allows you, use emojis to save some characters and add some personality.
And lastly, you need to pick up the right URL. It can direct to your website, other social media accounts, or a landing page. Choose the right one according to your goals and strategy.
Create Relevant Content on TikTok
This part is harder, and I’d suggest doing some research and find out more about TikTok and your audience to understand what kinds of videos you should create. Pay attention when your audience is more active and create a content calendar according to your research data.
TikTok is a fun and engaging platform, and you need to adjust your business to its nature. Here are some tips to look more engaging and relevant.
Be Authentic
Being authentic is important for all platforms, but here it’s more than essential. TikTok’s users value genuine content, and it’s the only way for you to build trust among your audience. Show the human side of your business. You can film your colleagues, and show people what your working process looks like.
Forget About Too Formal and Scripted Videos
You don’t need a fancy setup and expensive cameras to make TikTok videos. A smartphone and good lighting are enough. And there is no need to overthink and write long scripts for a video. TikTok is about simple and fun videos. And sometimes spontaneous videos can work better.
Share User-Generated Content
User-generated content performs really great and many brands love using it. It’s a type of content created by users. UGC content has more chances to become viral. You can create a special hashtag and encourage users to use it and create content featuring your brand. You can also create a challenge or collaborate with influencers to start a trend.
Follow the Trends
This is crucial to succeeding on TikTok. If you research it, most videos will be about a few trends. Constantly follow the trends and create your videos around them. This way you will be closer to your audience and become part of their community.
Create New Challenges
TikTok is famous for its challenges and millions of users participate in them. Though it’s not so easy to create viral content. But if you do, you can highly increase your brand awareness, promote your product and get new customers. There are many ways you can promote your challenges to make them go viral, which we’ll talk about in the next part.
Partner With Influencers
As mentioned above, TikTok works great for influencer marketing. Do some research, find influencers in your niche, and work together to create outstanding videos. With the help of influencers, you can start a new challenge, promote your products or simply let people learn about your brand.
Why is TikTok Worth Trying?
Why should brands start using TikTok? I mean, you already use Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, why to use a platform for teenagers. Well, TikTok is not only for teenagers, in fact, only 25% of its users are 10-19 years old. Even if your audience is older, they are definitely using it too.
Read further to find the many other reasons why every brand should consider adding this new channel to their marketing strategy.
To Reach More People
This is a great opportunity to reach new audiences. People all around the world are using this entertaining video platform. As video content is more popular than ever, chances are more people will start using TikTok and you can use it to increase awareness.
Besides, TikTok videos can be shared on other platforms as well, so you will reach even more people on Facebook and Instagram.
To Attract New Customers
Tiktok is all about fun and engaging content and if you can create videos that will catch users’ attention, then you will create closer relationships with people. This increases your chances of attracting new customers.
It’s Still Unsaturated
Unlike other social media platforms, brands are not so widely using it. And you can become the first brand in your niche to use it. In a year or maybe in months, it will become more saturated. And now is your chance to be ahead of competitors and win the hearts of your customers.
To Increase User Engagement
TikTok has a great engagement rate. And if your content is engaging, people will stop and watch your video. TikTok has unique delivery algorithms which increase the chances of your content going viral. Even if you have just posted your first video, it can have millions of views in a matter of hours.
To Benefit From Influencer Marketing Opportunities
Influencer marketing is one of the most effective marketing channels, and you can use it on TikTok. There are many users with a big following who can become your new influencers. If you’re targeting a specific group of people in a specific location, you will likely find several influencers who your audience follows.
These are just some reasons to start using TikTok. There are many other benefits you can get from TikTok.
Now let’s see how to use it for business growth.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, TikTok offers exceptional opportunities for businesses to reach new people and increase conversions. So don’t pass by it while it’s still not widely used by brands.
Remember that TikTok is about fun and entertaining content, so do thorough research on your audience and create engaging content that they will love. Explore the platform, create a content strategy and start making outstanding content on TikTok.
