Although TikTok was initially scorned as a plaything for Gen-Zers and Millennials, businesses and advertisers have recently started to sit up and pay attention.
It’s clear to see why.
Even though it is largely targeted at tweens and pre-tweens, the app has been downloaded over 2 billion times! This clearly offers an insane reach worldwide and recently the platform has been joined by celebrities of all ages, politicians – and most importantly, brands and businesses.
Aside from this, TikTok is very attractive to advertisers and marketers because users spend an average of 52 minutes a day on the app. TikTok marketing, then, has the potential to be really impactful because this is a really long time to spend on one single application.
It’s fair to say that TikTok pretty much took the world by storm. For a long time, though, its immense potential for businesses and marketers simply went untapped.
Now is not that time anymore, however!
Let’s see just how helpful TikTok can be for your business.
How does TikTok work for business? Well, there are actually a couple of different options which we will run through quickly now.
INFLUENCERS AND COLLABORATIONS
TikTok Marketing is the next big thing
This is most definitely a word that the millennials and Gen-Zers would be more accustomed to hearing.
That is, after all, how a lot of money on platforms like Instagram and TikTok gets made.
You can pay people to feature your product or mention the services your business offers in their own content.
As you get started, you will find this trickier because bigger names will be less interested in hearing from you – but obviously this will get easier.
The other thing to look for are influencers or brands also within your industry, with whom there might be the possibility of an organic collaboration.
This allows both of you to gain some traction and get your names out there, and might be easier as you begin.
TikTok has recently created the ‘TikTok creator marketplace’ which allows you to see metrics associated with influencers so you can be slightly more confident as to what kind of a return on investment your collaboration will give you.
ORGANIC CONTENT
This is obviously the easiest way to get started with TikTok as all you have to do is create content that users will just naturally discover.
It doesn’t have to be funny, either, although humour is a great way to engage audiences on TikTok. Instead, you could post interesting or educational content overlaid with filters or other effects like voice overs and music.
For example, if you sold a beauty product you could do videos on how to use it, ideas for a ‘self-care’ or pamper evening or some kind of other relatable meme but using your product as the key element.
Much like choosing a topic for your blog post, you need to think about what topics your customers actually find interesting. Don’t know what your customers want to know?
That’s easy.
Just ask them!
Look at frequently asked questions relating to your industry, product or service that are often searched and then answer them in an amusing or interesting way!
As with any online content, you need to do some keyword research to see which ones you should be hitting with yours.
You also need to ensure your content is discoverable – meaning you simply have to use hashtags!
TikTok will actually help you to narrow down which ones are the most relevant for your content if you just do a search for a broad one.
Hashtags do count towards the caption length, however, and this is limited to 100 characters. Therefore you might not want to go too crazy on them, or there won’t be any space at all for you to actually write a caption.
Then, there are the famous hashtag challenges which can really help skyrocket engagement. However, these can be pretty tricky to get started with if you don’t already have much of a following on the app – so probably best to enlist the help of some bigger names in order to ensure people actually hear about yours.
TIKTOK ADS
Lastly, you’ve got the straightforward option of simply placing an ad on TikTok for users to see as they scroll through their feeds.
These are the five options officially offered by the platform:
- In-feed ads
- Branded hashtags
- Top View ads
- Branded effects
- Brand Takeover
In-feed ads are the most simple (and cheapest) way to get started with TikTok.
Rules for ads are pretty much the same as normal videos and it’s relatively simple to get started – just create a TikTok ad account and get going!
So, there you have it: 3 simple ways to get started with advertising on TikTok. Whether you pick influencer collaborations, creating your own organic content or sticking with TikTok Ads – the possibilities for engagement are honestly endless.
