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“How do I market on Tik Tok?”
It’s a question more and more businesses are asking themselves. Just a couple of years ago, hardly anyone knew what Tik Tok was, let alone how to market on the platform. Now, Tik Tok is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms in the world, with over 1 BILLION installs. That’s a reason to pay attention to Tik Tok!
If you’re a business owner interested in video marketing, Tik Tok is a great choice to reach your audience, particularly if that audience is younger! However, that can be easier said than done. Tik Tok is a new platform, which comes with its own challenges. You’re probably not as familiar with Tik Tok as Facebook or traditional email marketing either.
So, how do you effectively use this platform?
If you’re interested in learning how to market on Tik Tok, you’re in the right place! Our team of social media and video marketing professionals has assembled their best recommendations to help you become a Tik Tok marketing wizard!
What is Tik Tok?
Tik Tok, like its earlier predecessor Vine, relies on short-form, user-generated content. If you remember Vine, then Tik Tok will look relatively familiar. Tik Toks can be up a minute long or longer and are typically quick little videos of the user’s surroundings. (We’ll talk about that later!)
Who Uses Tik Tok?
Tik Tok’s audience skews female with most being under the age of 35. However, the app is relatively new and if past social media app adoption is any indication, other genders and age groups will become more prevalent on Tik Tok in the next few years. (Remember when Facebook was mostly college kids? Oh, how times have changed.)
The actual content on Tik Tok is varied. Remember, it’s user-generated content, so you can find all types of videos on Tik Tok. Common themes include dancing, lip-syncing, art production, and cute animals. The visual and dynamic nature of Tik Tok’s short-form videos lends itself well to product or creative brands. Think of a gym demonstrating a Workout of the Day or an artist showcasing a painting via Tik Tok.
However, don’t think that Tik Tok is only for makeup, artists, and fitness-related product brands! Other industries and service-based businesses can still utilize Tik Tok. They’ll just need to find the right way to showcase that service. It will be a little less intuitive than incorporating a product into Tik Toks, but it can still happen!
How Do I Make a Tik Tok Video?
You don’t need to be a world-class videographer to make great Tik Toks. The platform is known for its user-generated content, so slick and overly produced videos can come across as inauthentic to users. The right camera phone and good lighting should suffice.
Just be mindful of the length of your videos. While the theoretical limit is 60 seconds or even longer for videos recorded outside of Tik Tok and then uploaded, don’t feel the need to record content that long. Plenty of Tik Toks are 15 seconds or shorter and plenty of research suggests that grabbing a user’s attention in the first few seconds of a Tik Tok is crucial.
After all, why take 30 seconds to say what you could in 10? Keep your Tik Toks short and punchy for best results!
What Should I Record on Tik Tok?
Anything! That’s the beauty of the platform. It’s entirely up to you. While that freedom is great, keep in mind what others are recording on Tik Tok. They’re probably a good way to brainstorm what else you could record.
Two great places to begin are Tik Tok Challenges and hashtags. Challenges are viral Tik Tok videos, usually around a dance or interpersonal dynamic. This will be entirely dependent on the business and industry, but challenges are a great way to plug into what is currently happening on Tik Tok. Hashtags are another useful way to tag your content or find related videos.
Be careful with hashtags; they’re like sugars in coffee. 1 or 2 is great; 10 is probably too many. (No offense to those who like it sweet!) Add a few well-placed hashtags, but keep it manageable.
Should I Market on Tik Tok?
Now that you understand the basics of Tik Tok, you’re probably wondering, “Should I market on Tik Tok?” That’s a valid question!
Since Tik Tok is such a new medium, most advertisers aren’t as familiar with it as they are with social media or email marketing. They are understandably unsure about how to proceed.
First, we would recommend evaluating if Tik Tok is truly the right marketing channel for your business. There are myriad ways to reach your perfect audience via digital and internet marketing. Tik Tok might not be the best one for your unique business needs!
We’d suggest evaluating the following before you launch into the wide world of Tik Tok Marketing.
- Age: Who are your perfect customers? If your business gets most of its revenue from people over 50, then Tik Tok, with most of its monthly users under the age of 35, might not be the best tactic. Now, if you’ve learned that your brand awareness is low among 20-somethings, then Tik Tok is a great option. Still, evaluate this facet before your start recording.
- Industry: Some brands just aren’t built for Tik Tok. Law firms, certain types of doctors, and tax professionals are three great examples of businesses that might suffer a reputation hit if they use Tik Tok. It’s not a hard stop rule. These types of businesses could manage a business Tik Tok if desired, but they shouldn’t be putting too much effort or expenditure into Tik Tok.
How Do I Market on Tik Tok?
Now that you understand the basics of the platform, you’re probably wondering HOW to actually use Tik Tok. There are basically three options.
- A Tik Tok Business Account: This is the easiest way to enter the Tik Tok Marketing World. Regularly posting business-related content on your Tik Tok is an engaging, low-cost, and effective way of engaging with your followers. For example, an interior designer could record and post videos of complete projects to showcase the Before and After.
- Tik Tok Influencer Marketing: Paying an influencer on Tik Tok to incorporate your product into their Tik Toks is one option. It’s a great way to get a large number of eyes on your product in an environment they’re more likely to remember than a generic ad. This route can be cost-prohibitive to smaller brands, less relevant to certain industries, or not immediately impactful, depending on the influencer. It’s a great option for some, but don’t feel like hiring an influencer is the ONLY way to utilize Tik Tok in your marketing strategy.
- Tik Tok Ads: Consider Tik Tok Ads a compromise between the control of a Tik Tok business account and the wide reach of a Tik Tok influencer. This tactic lets you target the perfect content and audience for your brand while still scaling. If you’re familiar with the audience capabilities of Facebook targeting, then Tik Tok should be familiar. Again, this will require ad spend. Currently, a $500 campaign budget minimum is required.
Call JSL Marketing For Tik Tok Marketing
Tik Tok marketing, like other social media marketing, can be a dynamic and confusing tactic. If you need a dedicated team of social media marketing experts to help guide you through the marketing world, call JSL Marketing & Web Design at 855.869.4764!
Our team can help you with…
- Audience Identification
- Video Production
- Campaign Set-Up
- Brand Development
- Budget Recommendations
- Creative A/B Testing
- And More!