This article explores the power of TikTok Marketing, but if you haven’t already heard of the video-sharing app TikTok, you simply must check it out. Launched in 2016 originally as musical lip-syncing app ‘musical.ly’, where users could video themselves singing along to their favourite songs, it was then taken over by Chinese technology giants ByteDance. In 2017 they made the app ‘Douyin’ which they released internationally a year later and renamed ‘TikTok’.
TikTok is an app for making, sharing and watching short videos, usually under a minute long and shareable across many platforms.
When you open the TikTok app, you’ll be presented with a ‘feed’ of videos to scroll through called your ‘for you page’ or ‘fyp’, which eventually will be tailored to the types of videos you watch, interact with and share. But why is it a good marketing tool you ask? Video creators have a variety of tools at their fingertips on TikTok from popular sounds, hashtags, filters and trends to jump on to bring more attention to your page and business.
Here’s our top 5 reasons why you should consider using TikTok as a marketing tool:
1. Reach a variety of different audiences
In digital marketing, not only is it important to find the right audience, it’s also important to find and share your content with different audiences that you may not have the opportunity to do elsewhere.
Tikok was the most downloaded app of 2020 and it has an average of 1.2 billion active users as of the end of 2021 with 1.8 users expected to be active by the end of 2022, making it the place to promote your business. It is worth noting however, that you’re more likely to find a younger audience on TikTok with the platform reporting that 80% of users are between the ages of 16 and 34. If your business generally attracts an older audience, TikTok is the perfect opportunity to hit an entirely new market audience.
Aside from the age of its users, stats published by FanBooster seem to indicate popularity fairly evenly across the board.
- 58.4% of TikTok users are male and 41% are female. This is a flip from 2020, where the gender split was in similar proportions, but skewed the opposite way.
- The app is available in 150 markets in 39 languages.
- TikTok generated an estimated $4.6 billion revenue in 2021, a 142% increase year-on-year.
2. Create professional and fast-paced content
Since TikTok relies on viral content, you need to have a strong relationship with your audience to grow your company and brand on the platform. Everything that you need to create your content can be done in the app itself.
From editing the length of your videos into smaller clips, adding trending sounds, trending effects, filters and so much more, TikTok is a one-stop shop for everything you need.
Generally speaking, TikTok users appreciate it if you concentrate more on the video content itself and make it entertaining, rather than focusing on advertisements (we’ll get to those soon!). Before creating a video, it’s worth researching your competitors and similar markets to see what particular trends are in place and matching your content to your audience’s needs.
Once your content has the elements of virality, it will rank up in the ‘For You’ page of users and make your brand more visible.
3. Paid ads
Putting your budget in the right place is crucial in any marketing campaign, but especially when it comes to online advertising.
If you’re not sure where to start or simply don’t have the time to come up with creative ideas and turn these into videos as well as engage with your audience, TikTok Business can be incredibly helpful with their Ads Manager service.
With a super easy set up, TikTok will share your products and services with the platforms community in a range of different ways, and provide you with the most popular videos and trends so you don’t have to research these.
You can promote your business through top view ads, in-feed ads, hashtag challenges, brand takeovers and create your own branded effects. You can even design your own branded challenge, inviting your audience to participate. The more “out-of-the-box” and unique the challenge is, the more chances it’s got to go viral and generate more publicity.
4. Work with TikTok influencers
TikTok is filled to the brim with creatives, from people making personalised items like t-shirts and cups to baking videos, fitness influencers, graphic designers and so much more. TikTok really is a place for everyone, no matter the talent or business. The best thing is that as TikTok is already established and hugely popular, some of these users have millions of followers and subscribers who trust them and are influenced by the products and services that they promote.
One in three consumers trust an influencer’s opinion more than what a brand says, so it’s important to use this to your advantage by using a portion of your marketing budget to partner up with influencers and create a marketing campaign that has the potential to bring you a huge chunk of new customers. You’ll gain the trust of new customers too if you have a reputable influencer promoting your brand and products.
It’s important not to just reach out to the most followed influencers however, as this can often be seen negatively if that user has several brand deals at one time. Find those who have the most organic content and post popular videos that relate to your industry by using the ‘discover’ tab and searching keywords.
5. Use #Hashtags
As with most social media platforms, Hashtags make it easier for people to find particular content. It can be trial and error until you find your niche, but using hashtags on TikTok can help you reach an organic audience, with a few different ways to use these in a marketing strategy.
- Find popular and trending hashtags – Keep an eye out for popular videos on your ‘discover page’ and check the hashtags. If these fit your brand or business – use them! Users often follow hashtags and if it’s already popular, it’ll bring more visits to your videos and page.
- Use basic hashtags – Using basic hashtags like #fyp #viral etc are generally always popular and can be simple yet effective in increasing traffic to your page.
- Look at influencers – take hints from influences and use hashtags that they are using to generate interest on their videos. If they relate to your brand, test them on your own videos and see how well they do.
All in all, TikTok is a fantastic marketing tool that has a great deal of potential if used right. Get your best marketing hat on and get started today!
