TikTok Marketing

Now would be the ideal time for brands to check out and test TikTok, according to Al Zaccaria, co-founder of Linktree, an Instagram bio link personalization platform. Zaccaria’s rationale is that many brands are still thinking about checking out this increasingly popular platform.

As of November 2019, TikTok had already exceeded 1.5 billion downloads, as per Sensor-Tower. The app analytics provider added that TikTok was ranked third in downloads and even beat Facebook and Instagram, which finished fourth and fifth to end the year.

One addition to the platform, Hashtag Challenge Plus, has enhanced its brand appeal. The in-app feature permits consumers to browse brands associated with sponsored hashtag  challenges without leaving the platform.

Grocery chain Kroger was the first to employ Hashtag Challenge Plus in a campaign to reach college students in last year’s back-to-school season. Kroger encouraged students to display their decorated dorm rooms. When users clicked on the sponsored hashtag, they were taken to a separate tab that displayed links to the chain’s ecommerce channel, as well as some of its products.

A spokesperson for Kroger said the main goal of the campaign was brand awareness and that they saw a large increase in recall. She added that she was surprised by all the analytics TikTok provided. It included everything from engagement and click-through rates, but also a brand lift study.

TikTok for your Brand

TikTok’s audience is made up predominantly of younger users. According to influencer marketing agency Mediakix, 60% of the platform’s monthly users are 16 to 24 years of age. Yet, Mediakix reports only 4% of social media marketers take advantage of the app.

Using TikTok for Marketing

Sign up for a trial run sooner than later, in order to get a better handle on what TikTok is capable of. Study other similar brands on TikTok to see what they’re doing to get ideas on crafting a marketing plan and social strategy. Be sure to include all interested parties who have ownership in the brand to contribute to the plan. Of course, include goals and timelines, and keep everyone informed about the progress of the plan.

Keep in mind that the platform was designed for fun, so have fun with content while staying true to the company mission and brand.

Seriously consider going beyond the informational and educational videos already posted on YouTube and the brand’s website. Recycling is not an option here. TikTok audiences expect a lot more.

In addition, TikTok videos also need to be a lot shorter. 15 seconds is ideal although the videos can run as long as a full minute. The idea is to be funny and open, but to the point. An ideal add-on is music but be sure that it’s either public domain or cleared to avoid any legal issues.

Increase the brand’s exposure by using hashtags. A visit to TikTok’s Discover page may be helpful in discovering trending hashtags.

Some observers believe it’s too early to tell if TikTok has the staying power of Instagram or Facebook, but many also feel it has great potential. Getting in on the ground floor and succeeding, if it continues to grow and be successful, can only give a brand a huge head start with the younger market.

Tips for Going Viral on TikTok

These days, it seems that TikTok has turned into everyone’s app of choice, and many people tend to find themselves spending hours of their time scrolling down the endless loop of videos filled with memes and skits. In fact, most of the TikTok accounts are simply created to watch content on the platform. However, there’s a select number of people and businesses that actually create content and that are looking for ways to land on as many For You Pages as possible. Fortunately, there are certain tips that those creators can implement to increase their chances of reaching more people and potentially going viral on the video-sharing platform.

Grabbing Attention

It should go without saying that captivating the audience and preventing them from scrolling away must be  done in the first few seconds. Creators on the platform only have a couple of seconds to grab people’s attention, which is not an easy thing to do.

Fortunately, there are certain things that tend to grab many people’s attention. Those things include currently trending topics, standing out from the crowd , and humor.

When it comes to trending topics, it’s always a smart idea to keep an eye on them, but the entirety of the content that’s being created doesn’t have to focus on that single topic.

The trending topic can be used to pull in more viewers and to give the rest of that account’s  content a lot more exposure.

Next, by standing out, creators can attract people that are interested in a similar topic or niche, which makes more people stick around and find out about the creator’s experiences. Finally, one of the most defining characteristics of the people on the platform is humor and their love of all things meme. Humor and memes offer endless possibilities, which is why some of the most followed and viewed creators rely on that type of content.

Sounds

Another key element that adds to the virality of a TikTok video is the audio that’s involved in it, which can either be a song or a clip from some other visual content.

While the platform allows its creators to upload videos with their own audio, anyone that’s looking to increase their chances of going  viral should choose a trending sound or song from the app.

However, that doesn’t mean creators have to sacrifice the audio of their original video, because the volume can be adjustable for both sources. That way, creators can include two audios in their videos: one that describes the video itself, and another with a trendy song or sound from the platform.