3 Ways to Boost Your Social Media Marketing Strategy with TikTok

3 Ways to Boost Your Social Media Marketing Strategy with TikTok

Take a closer look into TikTok, the platform that’s grown to become one of the largest apps in the world, and learn how to promote yourself and your business on this platform. We’ve put together the latest TikTok tips to help your business succeed. You may think that marketing companies say this a lot; but it’s never been more important to have an active and engaging social media presence for your business. As TikTok, the newest social media platform taking the world by storm, has only continued to rise in popularity over the past year, you might be wondering: should my business be on TikTok? 

What is TikTok?

If you don’t already have a TikTok account, you might have heard that it’s “only an app for young people” or that you’re “too old” for TikTok. You might just think that it’s a bunch of pre-choreographed dances or funny cat videos. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Many businesses don’t understand TikTok’s full potential and possible marketing benefits, which are only increasing as the app’s user base grows. 

If you haven’t heard of TikTok, here’s a quick rundown: TikTok is a mobile video-sharing app, similar to YouTube or Instagram, where creators can produce short videos and post them to their followers or publicly. Within the app, the user interface consists of two sections – “Following” and “For You”. Following shows videos into your feed from accounts you already follow, and For You uses an algorithm based on what is trending, your previous likes, similar videos and topics you’ve engaged with, and popular hashtags to generate an endlessly-scrolling feed of videos the app thinks you will enjoy, along with occasional livestream videos. 

What Advantages Does TikTok Have for Businesses?

TikTok isn’t just for scrolling through videos that may interest you – businesses have the opportunity to add either organic (unpaid) or paid advertising videos to the platform to showcase their business and spread their message. On June 25, 2020, TikTok officially announced TikTok For Business, which allowed brands to advertise seamlessly within the app. 

Within TikTok, there are multiple options for ads, including Top View (viewed as soon as you open the app), in-feed videos (seen when browsing through the app’s feeds), and hashtag challenges. However, you can still find success on TikTok without spending your entire marketing budget on advertising. By simply creating an account and posting frequent organic videos, your business can offer consumers a more personalized, behind-the-scenes look into your business. 

Many consumers prefer ads that don’t make them feel like they are being marketed to or directly told to buy something. This creates a great opportunity for your business to showcase how your products or services solve your potential customers’ challenges through informative and engaging video content. Here are some tips we’ve put together for creating and maintaining your business Tik Tok account:

1. Be honest, authentic, and personable

With the average user on TikTok spending nearly an hour a day on the app, you’re almost guaranteed to have an active and engaged audience. It’s important to be able to stand out from the competition by being authentic and inviting. Consumers can often tell when companies or brands make TikTok content solely for the purpose of driving sales, which often drives away potential customers. 

A great way to accomplish an authentic brand with TikTok is to create videos highlighting employees or others within your business. For example, if you own a restaurant, this could mean having a chef give insight into a popular dish, share little known tips that solve common cooking problems, or describe the inspiration or ingredients behind the menu item. For financial or legal industries, where busy days are the norm, a “day in the life” video could be successful by providing an inside look into your industry (just be sure to use the popular #dayinthelife hashtag!). The first goal for businesses on TikTok should be to introduce the viewer to the business comfortably, without rushing to sell them something. As these viewers become more invested and start to engage with your business, the opportunity to sell will appear organically. 

2. Understand and relate to your audience as much as possible

One of the reasons why TikTok has become so successful so quickly is that by its nature, the platform encourages a wide and diverse audience– including one that may be interested in your business. When creating videos, it’s always so important to understand your target audience’s interests and what they find engaging. For example, if you were an auto dealership, your viewers might want information about the exciting features included in new vehicles on the lot, vehicle specifications (triple row seating?! That’s a dream come true for parents!), or even members of the team they may interact with if they choose to visit the dealership. 

Likewise, if you own a smaller-scale retail store based on goods and services, customers will want to know about sales/promotions you have running and the new products arriving soon. An effective way to continue to generate brand awareness and value after a sale or visit might include interacting with customers on TikTok or offering a social-media-only promotion. It is easy to search if your business has any recent mentions, and if you happen to find someone you recognize shopping at your store making a video about their experience, commenting or “stitching” (essentially a video reply) their video can make them feel even more valued. 

3. Use your account as an extension of your other social media accounts

Don’t forget your other social media accounts! You’re also able to add links to your bio in your TikTok profile, or even add buttons linking to your Instagram or YouTube accounts. Many businesses use this as an opportunity to cross-promote their website and other social media pages. Once someone has gained enough trust in your business to consider buying merchandise or visiting your location, this is where you can direct them. Services like Linktree are great ways to combine multiple links together into one location. You are able to customize this page to fit your brand, and you can also track analytics to see which pages people click on after visiting your profile. 

While TikTok is a relatively new app, this is actually an advantage for quick-moving businesses that are able to jump in and start making content ahead of their competition– especially smaller businesses and those that aren’t tied to a physical storefront. For small business, use of social media allows you to expand the size of your audience beyond your location and capture pieces of a much larger market, circumventing local competition altogether. As a marketing agency, we see every new social media app as a new audience to explore. While this can be intimidating, those who are able to jump right in and become a part of the endemic landscape are sure to reap the rewards. 

Have questions about creating a social media strategy for your business, or looking for someone to handle TikTok for you? Contact Pulse Marketing Agency today to learn more about how we can develop your business’s social media strategy; or continue your reading with our other related blogs, including: how to increase brand awareness and recognition through social media and how to measure and maintain your digital campaign’s performance.