TikTok’s rise from obscurity over the past year has been remarkable. A new social platform launching in the West with no money behind it would normally be a no-hoper. But TikTok has become the fastest growing social media platform of all time in terms of downloads. It is now close to reaching one billion downloads, even faster than a company like Facebook.
At first glance, TikTok appears to be copying features from other social platforms such as YouTube and Snapchat. Yet its growth is wholly attributable to the young Asian demographic that uses it and its effectiveness as a marketing channel tailored to this demographic.
Here, we have examined the potential of TikTok. To enhance your marketing success on the platform, we provide a list of TikTok marketing strategy pointers that you can use.
What is TikTok Marketing?
As we’ve already mentioned, TikTok is expanding quickly in the social sphere. TikTok may be utilized as a marketing tool by influencers, producers, and brands much like any other social media platform. To put it simply, TikTok marketing is the ideal instrument for building your brand. This can be accomplished through paid, natural, and influencer activities, all of which have as their main objective raising brand recognition on the platform.
Looking for a solid place to start? A TikTok Insights solution from Dash Hudson includes a number of tools to simplify TikTok marketing.
Who Uses TikTok?
TikTok is a distinctive social platform since it is widely used by a cross-section of generations and has more than 1 billion active users per month. Although Gen Z dominates the TikTok user base and is the most engaged demographic, there are chances for companies to engage with customers of all demographics on this app. According to gender data, 57 percent of TikTok users are women.
The Benefits of TikTok for Brands
Although it can be intimidating to launch a company on yet another social platform, TikTok is here to stay. Users’ expectations for brands are being redefined by TikTok’s entertaining, quick-paced content. In contrast to how they are represented on other social media platforms like Instagram, brands have the chance to present a distinct aspect of themselves on TikTok. Use Duolingo as an illustration. By utilizing TikTok, this brand has created a completely new reputation for itself. By partaking in current trends and occasionally pushing the boundaries, they broke out of the corporate box that many businesses fall into. Is this something that your company is prepared to do? Set up a business account first, then.
Creating Your Own TikToks
The most freedom is offered by this choice. Start by setting up a Business TikTok account for your company (scroll down for comprehensive step-by-step instructions).
The possibilities are truly endless; you may publish anything from product showcases to day-in-the-life films to dancing competitions. Scroll through your For You page for ideas for a while.
How to develop a marketing plan for TikTok
TikTok trends can appear haphazard – do you remember the Adult Swim craze that dominated the app during the summer of 2021? Furthermore, there is no foolproof marketing plan. However, there are legal actions you can do to support the success of your company on the app.
Here’s how to create a TikTok marketing plan that will evolve as you use the app.
A Beginner TikTok Marketing Strategy for Brands
How can businesses increase their engagement using TikTok and Instagram Reels? There are a few ways that businesses can create a beneficial and effective TikTok marketing plan from scratch.
1. Define Your Purpose and Excel at Branded Content
Consider your “why” for appearing on these channels first and foremost. Short-form video is becoming increasingly popular as viewers come to see their favorite creators’ real, uplifting, thought-provoking, and entertaining work. Utilize this channel to develop the voice of your brand through user-generated content and product reviews (UGC).
This is your chance to demonstrate to your audience the process involved in creating your brand. Give insider accounts of what it’s like to work for your brand, whether they come from influencers or staff.
Top-performing content features employees having fun at work, influencers opening items, the campaign shot footage, and lip-syncing to relatable music. Instead of polished videos, users visit TikTok for lighthearted fun. Fortunately, lo-fi short videos are simple to make; all you need is a phone.
2. Build Loyal Partnerships with TikTok Influencers
Consumers are increasingly searching for entertaining and informative content on TikTok as influencer marketing has developed into a creator-driven industry. By collaborating with creators who can effectively convey your brand’s message, your company should try to revitalize your influencer strategy on TikTok and Instagram. On Instagram, you can feature creators in a variety of ways, including your feed, Stories, video, and Instagram Reels, by using the unified suite of tools.
3. Understand Current TikTok Trends
One of the most crucial aspects to consider when figuring out how to go viral on TikTok or Instagram and when developing your plan is jumping on trends and adding to the conversation. To create content that fits your unique brand language, pay attention to what’s popular on the For You and Discovery sections. Make it a practice to view the top 10 videos on each platform, and take attention to how the hashtags, noises, effects, and transitions are consistent.
Your brand can always benefit from anything to expand its reach. Find unique ways to integrate your business with current TikTok trends to stand out from the competition.
4. Understand the Nuances of Short-Form Video Engagement
You only have a few seconds to make a good first impression on your viewer because TikTok is made for scrolling from video to video. To prevent users from scrolling and maintain their attention on your brand, try to keep your material front-loaded on entertaining.
It’s reasonable to anticipate some content overlap between your Instagram and TikTok accounts. So that you may appear with unique material in both places without spending a lot of extra time developing content for your cross-channel marketing strategy, plan your content production carefully. Food52 posts the same recipes on all of its channels, but the company is aware that viewers on Reels will be more interested in food and recipe pictures than those on TikTok, where viewers can be a little more themselves.
You need to appear for Instagram and TikTok viewers with something (at least slightly) different in each social channel if you want to increase your following and engagement on each platform.
5. Reels and TikTok Analytics Speak Volumes
The objective is to produce visually appealing material that attracts attention, but the data tells you how it performed. Reels Insights’ in-app debut has given brands access to all the metrics they use to produce engaging videos.
Open your TikTok statistics and pay attention to the postings that are creating the most reach, video views, and shares when you are formulating your marketing strategy. For access to even more brand analytics, you can upgrade to a business account (pro account).
In order to continue curating a high-performing and aesthetically beautiful feed, look for similarities among the top-performing posts inside each specific app.
6. Create Fun Video Content That Entertains Your Audience
Having fun is ultimately what short-form video is all about. The majority of viewers over the age of 26 (72%) and Gen Z (74%) said they want to see humorous content from companies. With the stuff you’ve never created before, like hashtag challenges or dancing challenges, it’s a terrific chance to explore, take chances, and have fun. Consider incorporating user-generated content into your plan after observing what TikTok influencers are doing.
You can use the variety of native effects available in TikTok’s video editing tool to improve your content and engage viewers. Use emojis or stickers to make trendy and fun videos, or use text to explain what’s happening. Try out the impacts that increase brand engagement the greatest.
7. Make use of TikTok marketing
Utilizing TikTok advertising is one of the best ways a brand can enhance its TikTok marketing plan. Why is TikTok effective for marketing? owing to reach. TikTok is so widely used that there are countless possibilities. Brands can precisely personalize their campaigns thanks to the many ad formats available.
The steps involved in creating a campaign are identifying an aim, establishing a budget, choosing placements, selecting the right audience to target, and determining your bidding approach. When all of these conditions have been met, it’s time to write your advertisement. It only remains to enter your copy and creative into the ad template at this stage since you should already have them ready to go.
What’s Next for TikTok?
TikTok’s popularity will only increase over time. Moving forward, the emphasis of any marketing strategy needs to be on social entertainment and short-form video.
Therefore, it is now more crucial than ever for brands to use TikTok and plan their long-term strategy.
It’s critical to take advantage of the newest trends, leverage the influence of TikTok artists, and use TikTok Analytics to inform your plan if you want to be successful with your Reels and TikTok strategy and produce highly engaging ad campaigns. Check out Dash Hudson’s TikTok Marketing Playbook for a comprehensive guide on how, to begin with, TikTok marketing.
TikTok Marketing Strategy FAQs
What length is ideal for a TikTok video?
TikTok movies can be anywhere from one second to three minutes long, but for best results, they should generally be 10 to 15 seconds long. In order to keep viewers from going on to the next video, your videos should ideally get to the point swiftly.
How frequently ought I to publish on TikTok?
Like other social media sites, TikTok advises posting 3-5 times each week. It is difficult for your brand to be seen in the TikTok algorithm if you post less frequently than that, and publishing more frequently than five times a week might be too much for some of your followers. Consider purchasing TikTok advertisements if you want more people to watch your content.
On TikTok, how many hashtags should I use?
According to TikTok, utilizing #fyp won’t increase your chances of making the For You Page; instead, keeping to 2-3 hashtags will help your posts perform the best. Although it is tough to foresee the TikTok algorithm, you should choose hashtags that are more pertinent to your post in order to find your ideal target audience.
What aspect ratio are TikTok videos supposed to be?
Your TikTok movies must be 9:16 in length and cropped to a 1920 x 1080 full-screen image. It’s advisable to stick with the aspect ratio that is native to the channel when editing videos rather than experimenting with the size because your video will either not fill the entire screen or the top and bottom will get cut off.
Conclusion
TikTok is one of the most dynamic social media networks out there. It keeps growing in popularity, and the sector of users is broad and diverse, including everyone from celebrities to major brands. If your brand is as dynamic as TikTok itself, you should be driving engagement on the platform, too.