Harnessing the TikTok Boom: The Ultimate Guide for Marketers

What is TikTok and Why is it So Popular?

TikTok is a social media platform that lets you make and share short videos, usually lasting anywhere from 15 to 60 seconds. It's become incredibly popular because it's easy to use, has fun editing features and makes it simple to add different music and sounds to your videos. It's a place for creating interesting videos and getting people involved through things like giving them a thumbs up, leaving comments, passing the videos along and saving them for later.

How to Use TikTok for Marketing Purposes

Let's dive into a few strategies that you, as a marketer, can use to make the most of TikTok.

Engage with Your Audience

Connecting with your audience is vital; it makes them feel appreciated and fosters a stronger bond with your business, leading to greater loyalty. On TikTok, there are several ways to engage with your audience:

• Make Your Content Relatable

Engaging with your audience in a conversational, friend-to-friend manner can enhance the relatability of your content and establish a profound connection with your viewers. This begins with a brief and friendly introduction at the start of your videos. When viewers can relate to you on a personal level, they are more inclined to forge a genuine connection and remain deeply engaged with your content. This approach can encompass creating content centred around everyday activities or providing sneak peeks into upcoming projects or events.

• Engage with your audience via live streaming

Engaging with your audience in a conversational, friend-to-friend manner can enhance the relatability of your content and establish a profound connection with your viewers. This begins with a brief and friendly introduction at the start of your videos. When viewers can relate to you on a personal level, they are more inclined to forge a genuine connection and remain deeply engaged with your content. This approach can encompass creating content centred around everyday activities or providing sneak peeks into upcoming projects or events.

• Update Content Regularly

Maintaining a consistent posting schedule is crucial for sustaining your audience's interest and keeping them eagerly anticipating your future content. The goal is to provide regular updates, ideally aiming for 2-3 posts per week.

Build an ad campaign

Incorporating an ad campaign on TikTok will enhance the visibility of your content to a broader audience. This can be achieved through the use of the TikTok Ads Manager. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Create a TikTok ad account.

2. Install the TikTok Pixel on your website.

3. Set up a new campaign and select your advertising objectives.

4. Define your campaign name and budget.

5. Choose your target audience and ad placement.

6. Create your ad and upload your images and videos.

7. Submit your ad for review.

8. Monitor and optimise your campaign.

TikTok offers various types of campaign ads to reach your audience, including brand takeover ads, hashtag challenge ads and in-feed video ads.

Utilise TikTok Merchant Shopping Centre

TikTok Merchant Shopping Centre provides a platform for businesses and content creators to display and sell their products directly on TikTok. This direct access streamlines the process of turning viewers into customers. Here are the steps to follow in order to utilise this feature:

1. Sign up as a seller and complete the onboarding process.

2. Upload your products to the TikTok shop.

3. Link your TikTok Shop account to your TikTok business account.

Consider influencer marketing

Collaborating with influencers in your niche can have a substantial impact on your reach and brand authority. These influencers can co-create authentic content, expanding exposure and gaining the trust of your audience. Marketers can use influencer partnerships to produce content accompanied by a campaign hashtag. Examples of TikTok content ideas for influencer collaborations include:

1. Product Review

Have influencers openly express their genuine opinions about your products and share them on their TikTok account or your TikTok business account. This authenticity helps build trust with your audience.

2. Trend-Based Content

Stay updated with the latest TikTok trends. This may involve having influencers promote your brand while participating in popular dance or lip-syncing challenges. Additionally, marketers can utilise the "stitch" feature to respond to the influencer's content, thereby solidifying your partnership and building credibility with viewers.

3. Focus on Visual Aspects

TikTok, as a visual platform, also demands a focus on the aesthetics of your content to engage your audience. Utilise various camera angles and consider incorporating on-screen text to enhance engagement. Eliminating pauses and seamlessly transitioning between different angles is crucial for retaining your viewer's attention and upholding the visual appeal of your content.

TikTok is a Valuable Marketing Investment

Regardless of your marketing goals, incorporating TikTok into your marketing strategy brings you closer to achieving those objectives. While it may require some trial and error to identify the most effective types of content and features that TikTok offers for your brand, TikTok has proven its value as a worthwhile investment for marketing purposes. It's worth noting that as of October 2022, TikTok is ranked as the second-highest social media platform with the largest return on investment (ROI), according to marketers.