Are you planning to grow your audience base? Do you want to connect to a billion people at the same time? TikTok recently recorded over 1 billion active users across 150 countries. The social media platform is one of the biggest social networks worldwide. TikTok business has become a true powerhouse to generate leads, boost e-commerce sales and create brand awareness.
Launched in 2018, TikTok is a social media platform for creating, sharing and discovering short 15-second videos. The app is used by billions of people as an outlet to express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy, and lip-syncing, and allows users to create videos and share them across a community.
Did you know?
- The TikTok app has been downloaded over 2.6 billion times globally
- TikTok users spend an average of 52 minutes per day in the platform
- A user opens the TikTok app 8 times per day
- 60% of TikTok users are Gen Zers
- Influencers have the highest engagement rate of 17.96% on TikTok
- 167 million TikTok videos are watched in a minute on the internet
- Consumers spent over $535 million via their TikTok app in 2021
There are many benefits of the TikTok. The social media platform has diversified its uses and experiences a huge audience that is widely used by many brands. Following are the top three benefits of TikTok for businesses.
1. Staying on top of trends
Generation Z users are masters of hashtags, challenges, and trendsetters. If you can follow the trends, you can be one step ahead in your marketing game.
2. Engaging with your target audience
Because of its social and community facet, the app provides simple ways to interact with your followers. Whether it’s a new challenge, a duet feature, or the basic comment reply with a video response, it’s safe to say that engaging with your audience is easy yet entertaining.
3. Increasing brand awareness
Tiktok is a great platform to show your brand’s personality. You can showcase your brand in creative ways while exploring the app. Working with influencers can help your market positioning with the younger public.
Brands have welcomed TikTok with open arms, whether they are typical consumer brands, technology firms, or events. In 2022, TikTok’s organic reach potential has made it the most important social network for activating influencers and raising awareness for new businesses and services.
Hashtags
When a merchant adds a hashtag to a video, it becomes visible to all those who search for that particular hashtag. Businesses may utilize the correct hashtags by participating in relevant topics and increasing the audience base.
Benefits of Hashtags
- Increases visibility in the app
- Attracts viewers to your business page
- Boost engagement of viewers
- Build a community for your products or brand
- Identify competitors
- Identify famous influencers
- Fun and relevant to the viewers
- Trending hashtags on TikTok
#1 – The Vogue Challenge
In this viral TikTok trend, creators are editing their favorite photos to look like they’re on the cover of a Vogue Magazine.
#2 – Picture Trend
This is a simple video trend in which you put pictures and ‘someone falls in love with you’. If you’re a creator, use well-shot, hi-res images of yourself or your work.
#3 – Album Cover
This has to be one of the funniest trends on TikTok where the challenge is that anything can be an album cover.
#4 – Turn your DMs into Quotes
In this trending TikTok challenge, creators are sharing their most funny, weird or even nasty DMs in the form of inspirational quotes.
#5 – What I Mean When I Say I’m From
This TikTok trend is one where creators show pictures from where they live. Creators from around the globe have used the trend to show their country or town’s most special places, local food, experiences, etc.
Collaboration with E-commerce Platforms
TikTok’s collaboration with Shopify last year made it apparent that they want you to shop on their platform. In 2022, TikTok and marketers will likely push for additional in-app shopping experiences.
User-Generated Content
Companies like Starbucks have set the bar for how huge companies may leverage user-generated content as a primary source of content. Brands will seek out material from their communities and reward them with features and tags on their accounts.
Advertising Spend
Brands will devote a far higher amount of their ad and influencer budgets to TikTok this year than in prior years. Influencers who can produce high-performing creative will have a consistent stream of employment, and agencies who can produce creative that mirrors influencer content will rise as well.
Video Games
Expect to see more gaming brands, influencers, and platforms ascend to the top as gaming accounts like Roblox, Among Us, Xbox, and Fortnite on TikTok. TikTok’s recently released mobile video game streaming functionality is a direct attack on Twitch. In the coming year, companies and creators can expect to see a lot more video games streamed on TikTok.
Audio approach
On TikTok, a viral audio track is far more valuable than a viral video clip. In 2022, media and entertainment accounts will prioritize Tiktok lyrics and audio over video, with the goal of ensuring that any viral audio generated by their IP is solely controlled by their TikTok accounts.
Podcasts
Podcast interviews and clip segments get people’s attention like no other. More video podcasts and interview-format content for media firms, TV shows, and celebrities will be available on TikTok in 2022. Podcasts will become TikTok’s equivalent of TV talk shows.
To utilize TikTok to its best, a business should have a proper strategy. Following is a step-by-step process of creating content for the TikTok business.
Define TikTok Business Goals
It is critical to have a clear understanding of your TikTok business. Marketing on this platform grows by using SMART goals for your marketing on TikTok. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals. This gives a proper foundation to your business marketing strategy.
Experiment With Content and Find Business Niche
Once your business goals are set. A merchant can proceed with experimenting with content and finding their business a comforting position. TikTok business works best when you write specific content for your page. To make sure your marketing goals are on the right track, consider your targeted audience and the type of material, sound, and filters you are using.
Be Consistent
A merchant has to be consistent with the TikTok business. One can make a schedule of daily posting. As you begin posting every day, your work will pay off. You may view that by increasing TikTok followers on your business page.
How to Make a TikTok Video
There are five main steps to creating a TikTok video:
- Set Up Your TikTok Account
- To create a TikTok account.
- TikTok app download from either App Store or Google Play.
- Now sign up with Facebook, Gmail, and Twitter, or create a new account with a username and password.
- Use your brand or company name for your username.
- Once you set up a TikTok account, it is time for editing your profile.
- Write a short and unique bio for your TikTok profile. TikTok bio ideas should be creative. And connect your other social media channels on your bio via link.
- Upload a decent profile picture. Which should connect viewers to your brand.
Live video
- Login to your TikTok business account.
- Select the plus sign at the bottom-center section of your app screen.
- Click on the ‘live’ button, located right next to the option to record.
- Now enter the title of your Livestream.
- Select “Go Live” to start.
If you are not able to see the option to go live. It’s because your account hasn’t satisfied the necessary requirements for using the Livestream function yet.
Storyboard Your Business Concept
It’s generally a good idea to have a strategy in place before you start recording. TikTok is unlike any other site in that it has a unique audience demographic and algorithm. With this in mind, it’s beneficial to create TikTok-specific content.
The following are important to answer before uploading content
- What topics make the most sense for your brand? Food, Fashion, Clothes, etc.
A natural fit for your brand. - Are there any TikTok accounts that are performing really well? What does it take for you to be inspired by their content?
- What form of material will appeal to your target audience and who are they? Tutorials, or behind-the-scenes, are some possibilities.
- Once you know the above answers. Spend some time looking around the app and taking note of the images, text, trends, and aesthetics. Storyboard your content by breaking down things that are trending on the app.
Shoot or Upload Video
There are two ways to post content on TikTok. A merchant can either shoot content directly or upload it from the camera roll. To shoot the content, press and hold the large red button on the creation tab of the TikTok app.
A merchant can take the following advantages of the app by shooting it directly from the platform:
- Sound: A merchant can browse through TikTok music.
- Flip: Can directly switch the front and back cameras.
- Speed: A merchant can change video speed to .3x, .5x, 1x, 2x, or 3x.
- Enhance: The app provides an automatic filter on your TikTok shooting video.
- Filters: Choose from hundreds of video and photo TikTok filters.
- Timer: You can set a 3 or 10-second timer.
- Reply: A merchant may create a video for TikTok comments.
- Effects: TikTok provides hundreds of effects.
Alternatively, a merchant can upload video directly from the camera roll. This method is helpful when you have footage that you want to use across multiple platforms.
Edit Your Video
It’s time to add the finishing touch to your videos, such as text, subtitles, voice effects, etc.
Below, is a list of TikTok’s video editing features:
- Text: This is where you may alter and add on-screen text. Colors, fonts, alignments, sizes, and shadows are all options. You may also control the length of the text by selecting “Set duration” from the menu on the text.
- Stickers: These make your video look attractive. Add stickers from an array of engagement stickers. You may add question boxes, GIFs, or emojis.
- Effects: You may edit by adding effects. You can type effects from visual, motion, transition, or split effects.
- Filters: There are hundreds of video and photo filters available on the app.
- Adjust Clips: Adjust your video clips by tapping each clip to edit individually and long press on the clips to reorder.
- Voice Effects: These change the way the voice sounds.
- Captions: You can edit the text right in the captions editor, from the auto generated text of TikTok algorithm.
- Voiceover: To record a voiceover, tap or long-press the record button to start.
- Noise Reducer: To edit and reduce background noises.
Publish Your Video
Once, you are satisfied with your video. You may proceed to the next step of publishing your TikTok video.
Remember to upload the following important things before publishing your business video.
- Cover photo
- Cover design
- Cover text
- Video
- caption
- Hashtags
All these small things add value to customer satisfaction. Further, you may customize your video settings like who all can see your video, what type of video it is, etc. Once you change the settings with your preference, hit ‘post’ to publish your video.
Ways to Use TikTok Business
Marketing Campaigns
There are numerous opportunities for businesses to join TikTok marketing global discourse. There are hotbeds of innovation for businesses. As the TikTok trend is always changing. TikTok promotes both authenticity and trend-followers. To guarantee that your videos attract the proper viewers, educate yourself about the TikTok algorithm and how it promotes content before designing your campaign.DEI and nonprofit partnerships
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives and nonprofit partnerships are the best ways to reach the widest possible audience. However, make sure the vision of both alignments is the same. It spreads awareness related to your company and makes your marketing campaigns successful.Promoting company culture
Showcasing your team and company plays a significant role in presenting your brand. You never know if your viewers can be your next coworker. Hence, promote your business culture and team spirit by giving behind-the-scenes glimpses of different sessions. Other strategies to promote your business culture on your TikTok account:- Create a “day in the life” series for different departments of your business.
- List countdown perks of working at your company.
- Record how your team reflects the brand’s mission in their lives.
- Make a video on a tour of your office space.
- Capture glimpses of employees’ experience at your company
Showcasing products
Showcasing unique and trending products on TikTok is used by many businesses. Viewers on TikTok buy products from the platform. Therefore, creating trending content and videos related to business products is important. You may turn your trending videos by creating content based on trending hashtags and updated challenges.Product education
Businesses create TikToks for two types of audiences. Their target market and their current team members. For the target market: To go viral and increase brand exposure, businesses use TikTok for their product education and adoption initiatives. The platform is user friendly and allows effortlessly to produce and share content. Brands use TikTok training, product education, and marketing operations. For current team members: Companies may turn new employee training into an easily digested, reusable, and quickly available series of instructional content by generating films. Which illustrate product demonstrations, workflow best practices, etc.Influencer marketing
Many businesses are using influencer marketing to broaden their audience or to introduce their brand to a new demographic. Marketing on TikTok is dominated by influencer marketing. Due to an algorithm, the platform was practically designed to breed the next generation of influencers.
Benefits of Influencers on TikTok:
- Due to the large following of their influencer partner, the brand gains a lot of popularity.
- Users will trust your brand when being promoted by a familiar face.
- Followers of Influencer partners are eager to experience the products being promoted.
Remember to partner with the right influencer. As he/she is to be the face of your next campaign. Make someone with whom you can share the same interests as your brand does. Also, ensure that the followers of your chosen influencers are members of your target audience.
Recruiting top talents
One feature of TikTok that many businesses have yet to discover is how effective the platform can be for TikTok jobs. Organizations interested in continuing to acquire top talent are adapting their recruitment techniques. As more and more people engage with Tiktok online, recruiters are using top talent on the app for the recruiting process.
Advertising on TikTok
Advertising on TikTok business plays a significant role. Your business video is based on daily trends that increase the relevancy for the same. Further, it allows frequent content rhythm and continual discovery. Which increases brand exposure. To start advertising on your TikTok page, you need to create an account through the TikTok Ads manager.
Instagram ads VS TikTok ads
The advertising platform on TikTok is similar to Facebook and Instagram’s Ad Managers. All you have to do is set a budget and create a targeting audience. However, unlike Instagram, ads on TikTok do not have to be aesthetically pleasing, but should seem like an organic TikTok video on the ‘for you page’.
Benefits of advertising on TikTok
- Global reach and brand awareness
- Drive traffic to your store
- Higher user engagement
In 2022, TikTok launched a contextual advertising solution. Which lets businesses place their brand next to the top content in the For You Feed. There are different types of ads on TikTok. Below is brief information about the same.
TikTok ads
The most successful TikTok ad campaigns combine several forms of ads. The platform makes it simple for marketers to develop distinctive ads that appeal to users. The following are the six distinct sorts of TikTok Ads that you may utilize to design your campaign:
In-Feed Ads
These are the only advertisements that users may create in the TikTok Ads Managers. These in-feed ads are displayed on the “For You” page alongside ordinary TikToks. Add a CTA button to your In-Feed Ads to increase conversion rates and encourage your visitors to take action.
TopView Ads
These ads can be up to 60 seconds. TopView ads are long. They immediately greet TikTok users when they open the app for the first time that day. To ensure that viewers don’t swipe away and miss your Top View Ad for that day. Make sure you save TopView Ads for your longest promotional material and most creatively designed content.
Brand Takeover Ads
Users can be directed to an external website or encouraged to follow the account using brand takeover ads, which play automatically. Because each user can only watch them once per day, brand takeover ads are unique. TikTok ads are also a good strategy to quickly expand your following and promote your content in front of your target audience.
Branded Hashtags
Everyone uses hashtags. Users add hashtags to their TikToks before publishing. However, branded Hashtags are created by using TikTok Ads Manager. They are for a set length of time; businesses who use this form of ad get exclusive access to the hashtags.
Branded Effects
Branded effects are a publicly available tool. These are 2D, 3D, or AR stickers. Businesses can use these on their videos and continue with the trend.
It is essential to review business analytics on TikTok and the overall TikTok marketing strategy.
Check analytics on Tiktok
- Login to your TikTok business account and go to your profile.
- Open the ‘Privacy tab’ from settings.
- Choose the ‘Creator tools tab’ under the account.
- Now select Analytics.
- Below, is how you can check the performance
Overview Analytics
Increasing TikTok views is one way of increasing likes on your post. One can achieve a good number of likes on their post by using relevant keywords, being consistent, and using trending audios. Also, a business should always prioritize shorter videos, as they are engaging and attractive to the viewers.
Follower growth rate
Your TikTok page audience growth plays an essential role. Through the Followers analytical tab you will be able to see when most of your followers are active on the app. This is how a business increases its targeted customers.
LIVE analytics
This tab shows statistics for live videos. Which your business has hosted in the last week or month( within 7 or 28 days). These statistics include the number of followers you have, the amount of time you’ve spent in life, and the number of Diamonds you’ve won.
Website views from TikTok
Use the bio and share option on TikTok to share your website link and promote your products. Users use most of their time on trending apps. Once they find your hashtags and bio, they will use the provided link to your website.
Content analytics
This page displays which of your videos have had the most views over a certain time period. It also gives details about each post, such as the number of views, likes, comments, and shares.
Leads from TikTok
Make sure your ads on TikTok are relative and create awareness amongst all your audiences. The more engaging your TikTok business page will be, the more people will like your brand. An increase in your brand awareness increases sales and customers of your business.
Tiktok Tips & Tricks
Organic Accounts
Organic TikTok accounts like Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max, Peacock, Paramount Plus, CW, Prime Video, and Disney+ are thriving on the platform. Trailers, behind-the-scenes footage, show clips, and more are shared on the accounts. Organic accounts allow brands entire creative freedom and the option to use one of TikTok’s most unique features, the For You Page (FYP).Show Pages
Creating a dedicated TikTok account for an established show can be a simple path to success. Allowing others to use the show’s audio, duet with it, or stitch clips together can give the show’s material a true life of its own. “Friends” is a wonderful example of this, since it has over 2.4 million followers and is one of the most popular show pages on TikTok.Going Live
Now that live videos can be broadcast in the FYP, going live is a terrific way to grow an account on TikTok. To promote the availability of “Harry Potter” movies on Peacock, Tom Felton made a live stream where he reacted to the first “Harry Potter” film. While this footage was originally streamed on TikTok, it quickly rose to the top of the social media landscape as a repost on a variety of other platforms.Audio
By just sharing snippets from famous shows on TikTok, producers are giving the audio in the clips a whole new “second life.” Peacock made its own song and dance with influencers to market it, which was a very innovative use of audio.Regional Accounts
Localized and regional TikTok accounts are an excellent way to use TikTok’s algorithm to quickly grow a following and hyper-target material to specific places. Prime Video and Netflix, for example, both have almost a dozen regionalized accounts and are expected to add more in the future.Conclusion
Is Tiktok free? Is Tiktok safe? TikTok is a fun, entertaining, and addictive free app which has seen a surge in popularity in the last few years. Using TikTok regularly not only increases your digital footprint but also provides organic reach, high engagement levels and increases brand awareness. TheTik Tok app also has the potential to become the next big marketing and social networking platform. With 20+ years of experience in marketing, PROS delivers data-driven and cost-effective social media strategies for social channels like Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram etc. and helps you create unique social media content that matches your brand vision.
Deepak Wadhwani has over 20 years experience in software/wireless technologies. He has worked with Fortune 500 companies including Intuit, ESRI, Qualcomm, Sprint, Verizon, Vodafone, Nortel, Microsoft and Oracle in over 60 countries. Deepak has worked on Internet marketing projects in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange Country, Denver, Nashville, Kansas City, New York, San Francisco and Huntsville. Deepak has been a founder of technology Startups for one of the first Cityguides, yellow pages online and web based enterprise solutions. He is an internet marketing and technology expert & co-founder for a San Diego Internet marketing company.
