How to Use TikTok for Your Business?

Are you one of those who believes that TikTok is just another teenage fad, and have brushed it aside? If you are, give it a second thought. Since its inception in 2017, it has surfaced from being solely a video entertainment app to becoming a marketing and advertising haven. According to Business insider, TikTok has outperformed all other social media apps with 1.5 billion downloads and its presence in 155 countries over the world.

Alright, so now that you seem to be a little more intrigued about growing your business with TikTok, let’s talk a bit about the app’s history. Tiktok was launched in China in 2016 under the name “Douyin”. It was available worldwide for all android and iOS users a year later and ByteDance is the parent company. The main features are creating and sharing small videos 15-60 seconds long, creating duos, lip-syncing, video editing, music, live streaming etc.

Let’s dive deep into the strategies to optimise your brand with TikTok, engage customers and why you should consider Tiktok for business.

BRAND SPECIFIC FUN CONTENT

Don’t want to pay heaps of money on video creation? Don’t have a high resolution camera? Don’t have enough production budget? Don’t worry. These are common problems with small business owners and start-ups. Even for an established business, it is not possible to spin out high quality brand specific videos on a regular basis because they are short of time. In our previous blog , we have seen the importance of posting videos regularly. What is the solution then?  

Yes, you have guessed it right. Tiktok is an application which reveals the authenticity of who you are. You don’t need high quality cameras or video management companies for creating Tiktok content. Just grab your mobile phone lying beside you, go out and create videos. This authenticity and simplicity will reveal the true personality of your brand and your customers will instantly feel the connection.

HASHTAG CHALLENGE

Customers love discounts. At least most of them. You can create challenges on tiktok and ask customers to participate and offer discounts for participation. The best part with this blackhole of entertainment is that, once customers start using it they will no longer look for a discount and participate voluntarily in your challenge campaigns. There can’t be a better marketing channel than your own customers. By taking up these challenges, they are unknowingly advertising your brand to their followers on tiktok and the cycle goes on.

DIVERT FOLLOWERS

Who doesn’t want a large number of followers and subscribers on their social media platform. However, gaining a significant amount of followers on platforms like Facebook and Instagram requires a considerable amount of effort and time. Comparatively it is easier with short tik tok videos to keep your customers engaged and get followers.

Once you have got a considerable amount of followers on your TikTok account, you can divert them to your other social media platforms using hashtags and channel links. There is this amazing shareability aspect to TikTok which you can employ to connect it to your Facebook, Instagram stories and other posts.

INFLUENCERS

No, we don’t need big money here. Partnering with influencers on Tiktok is easy and wont blow up your budgets. Be aware of your demography, follow the trending hashtags and you will know who is the right influencer for your target audience. Since TikTok is fairly young and not all local influencers are sought after, expect to team up with one pretty cheaply.

For instance, Chipotle has partnered with a TikTok influencer David Dobrik for a paid marketing campaign. He featured in #ChipotleLidFlip challenge which got 100 thousand submissions and over 230 million views.

ADVERTISING

If you have enough budget to pay for advertising, you can give this strategy a go. The best part with advertising on TikTok is that you can customise your ads. TikTok offers four types of advertisements;

1. In-feed Native content: Similar to Instagram stories and supports multiple features like website clicks and app downloads.
2. Brand Takeovers: This allows you to take over TikTok for a day, create images, GIFS and videos with landing pages or hashtag challenges.
3. Hashtag Challenges: If you are not confident enough that your hashtag challenge will go viral on its own and you have enough in your marketing budget bank, you can employ this type of advertisement to promote your hashtags and create more user engagement.
4. Branded lenses: A type of advertisement similar to snapchat 2D and 3D lenses for face and photos

As with any other social media platform TikTok advertisements will assist you to market your brand to tons of audiences. TikTok offers the additional advantage of precise targeting, so that your ads land to the appropriate audience according to what you have to offer. Although we would advise this approach only if you have enough marketing budget because the worst part of TikTok advertisement is that it is not as famous as other social media platforms.

REACT VIDEOS

Uploading your brand videos is one thing which you are doing by this point if you have implemented the above strategies. Reacting on someone’s post with a video rather than like would be a great branding strategy. Interacting with other content on social media builds trust amongst the customers about the legitimacy of your brand along with serving marketing and advertising benefits.You can offer discounts or ask your loyal customers to record their reactions on experience of using your services and post it on your wall with your brand’s hashtag.

Tiktok is relatively new to the business world therefore its not saturated as other social media platforms. The advertisements and influencers are also cheaper as compared to other social media platforms. So what are you waiting for? Create your account on tiktok, roll out your phone and start your journey to new horizons of business success.