Are you a business owner or marketer looking for new and creative ways to market your products and services? If so, you need to put TikTok into your media/marketing mix. TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to create and share short videos with others. Unlike other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, TikTok has a youthful and fun vibe that can help you reach a new audience. But don’t let that youthful and fun vibe fool you, the platform’s appeal has made huge gains with consumer between 25 and 45 yrs.
As seen below, TikTok has strengthened its strong hold on Gen Z; surpassing Instagram, and will be as popular as Snapchat in three years.
Source: eMarketer
With over a billion daily users and 94 million app downloads in the US last year, the platform’s growth will conitune to be strong for several years. And that includes a rising popularity with Millennials and Gen X; not so with the 55yrs. and older market so if you’re targeting any older 50 don’t bother with TikTok (yet). BTW – 61% of TikTok users in the US are female so if you’re marketing anything to females 16-40 (especially 18-24) this is a must-do social media platform.
No matter how you choose to use TikTok, the important thing is to be creative and have fun with it. “Entertainment” if by far the highest driver of TikTok engagement so shake off the safe/corporate approach and “get real”.
Interesting TikTok Tactical Stats to Keep In Mind
In a recent study…
- Half of the top brands have no TikTok presence, including Google, Facebook, YouTube and Ikea. Some of them do have official TikTok accounts but haven’t posted any content yet.
- The best-performing TikTok brands post 3.52 times per week on average.
- A 1 percent increase in followers corresponds to a 0.65 percent increase in average views per post.
- 80 percent of the top videos had music, with upbeat songs being the most popular music choice by far.
- Tech, food and gaming brands have the highest average views per video.
- Among the brands studied, So Satisfying, Samsung, TikTok, Chevrolet and Flighthouse were the five most popular brands in terms of average views per video.
- Five of the top 10 videos were created by TikTok itself.
- About 25 percent of the videos featured a celebrity or an influencer.
- Videos promoting brand events drew nearly 20 million views, while those featuring some form of sexuality or animals generated over 10 million views.
- Creative videos with animations and graphics overlays regularly draw over 11 million views per post.
- Video descriptions were 87 characters long on average, despite TikTok’s 150 character limit.
- Video descriptions had 3.26 hashtags on average.
- 87.3 percent of the videos had at least one hashtag.
- Every 100 views generate 12 engagements on average, with engagements defined as the sum of likes, comments and shares.
Who Should and Shouldn’t Use Tiktok To Market?
TikTok is an excellent channel for several businesses and services to build a dedicated customer following. For example, you can create short videos that showcase your products or services in action. You can also use TikTok to create promotional videos that offer discounts or other incentives to potential customers. Sharing behind-the-scenes footage of your business or giving customers a glimpse of your company culture is another way to market your business or products. If you are in any of the following verticles, you should go for TikTok marketing:
- Food and Restaurants
- Tech
- Gaming
- Media/Entertainment
- Personal services such as therapy, grooming, counseling, etc
- DIY, Tips, and Tricks
- Travel and tourism
Remember, whichever service or brand you choose to market on TikTok, it cannot look like an ad, as this platform thrives on being enetertained.
- Here are 6 TikTok trends we forecast for 2022 that you need to capitalize on:
Trending Dances - Glow-ups (before and afters)
- Seamless transitions (fun transitions from scene to scene)
- Referencing current pop culture
- Documenting a day in the life
- Behind-the-scenes videos
When it comes to B2B marketing, TikTok can work but generally it’s not the best spend. We suggest spending that marketing budget elsewhere (e.g. lead gen, content, branded search) to get a better ROAS (return on advertising spend).
Keep in mind, TikTok isn’t a platform to sell a product or service through organic marketing. Instead, Tiktok aims to provide value to the viewers where entertainment or advice is the direct medium through which the users will follow you. Think of it this way…
Use TikTok to sell/build your brand rather than selling a product.
Changes On Tiktok To Make It More Useful For Marketers
The stigma of TikTok being the platform for only the young is no longer true. The star from Shark Tank, “Daymond John” (aged 52), has 129,500 followers on TikTok. According to him, TikTok is turning into something much bigger due to the diversity of its content which now offers something for everyone.
Brands can “make a space” on the platform for their promotions by capitalizing on broad topic and other large trends. For instance, if your brand targets older women you can take advantage of your target user’s lifestage with campaign themes and hashtags that will appeal to them. For example:
#family (67B views), #familytime (8B views) , #parenting (4B views) , #momsoftiktok (44B views), #dad (25B views), #momlife (20B views)
Like most other platforms using hashtags inserts you into the conversation.
Key Tactics To Use For Marketing On Tiktok
Due to its favorable nature algorithm, TikTok can be the success gate to your business if the following tactics are implemented smartly:
1. Starting a branded channel
If you haven’t yet create a branded page – even if you’re not sure if you are going to use the platform or not – this locks your space for future promotional opportunities. The good news is that you don’t need to spend much of your budget getting started – use the platform’s tools and borrow ideas from other creators (this is acceptable on the platform- but be sure to give credit where credit is due)
2. A hashtag challenge
Start a cultural trend by creating a hashtag challenge for the users. For example, the famous E.l.f cosmetics started the trend #eyeslipsface, reached over 4 billion viewers, and became one of the most successful TikTok marketing campaigns to date.
3. TikTok Advertisement
TikTok, unlike Instagram, is more affordable to get clicks and impressions through ads. You can run in-feed adverts, implement banners on the app’s homepage, and sponsor the hashtag challenges. If you are an advertiser, you can get started with TikTok for Business and run self-serve campaigns.
4. Getting Influencers On Board
While the effectiveness of influencer marketing is being called into question in other channels, it’s a great way to get your message out on TikTok. The creator marketplace is the best way to get started – it’s essentially TikTok’s own influencer marketing platform (existing within TikTok’s own ecosystem) where brands and top TikTok influencers can connect.
5. Using Relevant Hashtags
Like most other social medial platforms, Tiktok users rely on the trending hashtags to be seen. By using TikTok hashtags as a brand, you’ll be able to amplify your reach, know your competitors, and get more followers. It’s a key feature you shouldn’t miss.
What To Avoid When Marketing On Tiktok
Go for Your Niche
Look for your niche-specific audience on this highly followed platform. For example, 60% of TikTok’s audience is Gen Z, who are here for entertainment and fun. Knowing what your competitors are doing is a smart way of knowing your targeted audience. Simply posting ads won’t work.
Lacking Creativity
Follow the style of the application. TikTok is a highly creative and energetic video-sharing place for fun and entertainment–embrace that culture but dropping your traditional TV/video norms and let your Creative Director run wild. You need to cut off the classic advertisement methods here and execute new ones.
Running After Promotions
Keep in mind that ads are likely to bother the users. Therefore, don’t run too many. Instead, create unique content that looks a little rough around the edges. People will simply unfollow you if you are too promotional.
Examples Of Successful TikTok Campaigns
Here are a few examples of the successful TikTok campaigns:
- World Health Organization – WHO launched its TikTok channel to spread awareness during the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides critical health-related updates and creates TikTok live videos to serve the community.
- Gymshark – It’s a fitness wear brand that uses ambassadors for its reach. Creating user-generated content sets fitness challenges and routines – a smart idea for grabbing the attention of Gen-Z.
- Duolingo – It’s a language educational app tapping youngsters in a fun way. It also uses trends, e.g., point of view (POV), to engage its users.
Final Word
Bottom line is – you have to be on TikTok if you are in consumer marketing targeting anyone 18-45yrs., especially female-centric brands. Even if you can’t afford to take on a new channel or it’s not yet the right fit for you, set up a basic presence so you don’t miss out on future opportunities. And if you’re waning on influencer marketing, rekindle your confidence and use the tactic on TikTok.
Most of all, if you need help or advice reach out to us here at IDLab.
