The power of TikTok cannot be underestimated. In addition to procrastinating for many teens, the app has had a profound impact on sound and culture in today’s world – and savvy businesses around the world are looking to get involved in the action (and money, of course) through TikTok marketing.
A video app might not be right for every brand, especially if your target audience and TikTok user demographics don’t overlap. But many companies have found success with TikTok marketing, from Chipotle to Crocs to the NFL.
Many important brand moments on TikTok are accidental. In Fall 2020, Ocean Spray sales and Fleetwood Mac streams skyrocketed after Nathan Apodaka launched the #DreamsChallenge while riding a longboard to work.
But don’t worry. Even if you’re not one of those lucky brands that randomly stumble into TikTok fame, you can still make it big on the platform. Keep reading to learn how to set up TikTok for business, how to get into TikTok influencer marketing, and more.
What is TikTok Marketing?
TikTok marketing is the practice of using TikTok to promote a brand, product, or service. This can include various tactics such as influencer marketing, TikTok ads, and organic viral content creation.
TikTok marketing can help businesses:
- Increase brand awareness
- Build Engaged Communities
- Sell goods and services
- Get feedback from customers and audience
- Provide customer service
- Advertise products and services to the target audience
Here are the three main types of marketing brands that use TikTok.
TikTok Influencer Marketing
TikTok influencer marketing is a big part of the app’s ecosystem. Megastars like Charlie D’Amelio, Addison Ray and Zach King can have a huge impact on business success (tens of millions of users watch their content every day).
But you don’t need a famous influencer to be successful in marketing – try to find rising stars or influencers in your niche. For example, a small cosmetics brand in Vancouver might search the hashtag #vancouvermakeup and find influencers like Sarah McNabb.
Creating Your Own TikTok
This option gives you maximum freedom. Create a TikTok business account for your brand (keep scrolling for detailed step-by-step instructions) and start creating your own organic content.
There really is no limit here: you can post everything from demos of your products to videos from everyday life and dance competitions. Spend some time browsing the For You page for inspiration.
@vessi 👀 👀 👀 #vessi #vessifootwear #vessieverydaymove #newshoes #falloutfits #photoshoot #fallinspo #fyp
advertising TikTok
If you’re looking to get started and have the money to invest, here it is – TikTok is full of success stories from brands that have started advertising on TikTok, including Aerie, Little Caesars, and Maybelline. Like Facebook and Instagram, the cost of ads on TikTok is based on a bidding model.
Read our complete guide to advertising on TikTok here.
How to set up TikTok for business
In the summer of 2020, TikTok launched the TikTok Hub for Business, and a few months later launched TikTok Pro.
Initially, there was a distinction between the two—one was for businesses, the other was for creators looking to grow—but because both centers provided nearly the same ideas, TikTok ended up merging them.
Now TikTok for business is the only way out. With a business account, you can add more information to your profile and access real-time metrics and audience analysis.
How to create a TikTok business account:
- Go to your profile page.
- Open the “Settings and Privacy”tab in the upper right corner.
- Click Account Management.
- In the Account Management section, select Switch to Business Account.
- Choose the category that best describes your account – Tiktok offers categories ranging from Arts and Crafts to Personal Blog and Fitness to Machinery and Equipment.
- From there, you can add the business website and email address to your profile and you’re good to go.
How to advertise on TikTok
Placing official ads on TikTok (in other words, paying TikTok directly for marketing) is a surefire way to get more engagement for your content. You don’t risk your influencer partnerships failing.
Types of ads available on TikTok
We’ve written about all types of TikTok ads before, but here’s a quick and dirty 101.
Feed ads are ads that you create yourself. Feed ad types include graphic ads (which look like a billboard), video ads (like a TV commercial), and spark ads (advertising content you already have so it shows up in more people’s feeds). There is also a pangle ad and a carousel, which are only available through the TikTok Audience Network and News Feed apps, respectively.
Ads for managed brands may look like feed ads, but additional formatting is available for people who work with a TikTok reseller (you can contact them to see if you’re a good fit).
Additional ad formats include Topview ads (they play when you first open the app and can’t be skipped like Youtube ads), branded hashtag challenges (a live hashtag associated with your brand), and branded effects (like stickers and filters)).
@.chloe.victoria I completed this piercing while trying not to look at the client 😂 #StartUpShowUp #piercings #piercertok
♬ Look at all these beautiful people using my sound — •ᴍʀs ᴄʟɪɴᴇ ᴘᴀɴᴋᴏᴡ•
This is an example of a branded hashtag contest sponsored by Microsoft. While some #StartUpShowUp hashtag videos were paid for by the brand, other users (like the one above) soon jumped on the trend, advertising Microsoft for free.
How to create a TikTok ad account
If you plan to advertise on TikTok, you need to create an ad account for TikTok Ads Manager.
To do this, go to ads.tiktok.com, click “Create Now”and enter your information. (These are just the basics: country, industry, company name, and contact information.)
How to Create a TikTok Marketing Strategy
TikTok trends may seem random – remember the Adult Swim trend that took over TikTok in the summer of 2021? And there is no such thing as a surefire marketing strategy. However, there are legitimate steps you can take to help your business kill it on the app.
Here’s how to develop a TikTok marketing strategy tailored to your TikTok journey.
Get to know TikTok
It would be wrong to approach TikTok marketing the same way you approach Instagram or Facebook marketing. TikTok is a completely different social network with unique trends, features, and user behavior.
@theyknowgeo Like do you want a 🍪 #fyp #relatable
Spend some time watching TikTok videos (newbies, start here). Explore the different features available on the TikTok app and take a look at popular filters, effects, and songs. Look out for branded hashtags, which mostly include a song, dance moves, or a challenge that members have to recreate (Mostly, TikTok uses user-generated content). Don’t overlook the Duets feature on TikTok.
Read also about the TikTok algorithm. Understanding how TikTok ranks and displays videos in the For You tab can impact your content, hashtag, and engagement strategy.
Get full details on how the algorithm works here. You can also brush up on all things TikTok by taking courses at the TikTok Business Learning Center.
Define your target audience
Who do you hope to attract on TikTok? Before you start creating content, learn about TikTok demographics and identify those who might be interested in your brand.
TikTok is most popular among teens, but it would be a mistake to write off TikTok as a teen app. The 20-29 year old cohort follows the teens in the US. In China, “glamorous “shows that fashion only gets better with age. You may want to reconsider your decision. The video sharing app has been banned there since June 2020.
Spend some time researching your audience on other social media platforms and find matches with TikTok. But don’t rule out new or unexpected viewers. Your current audience may not be on TikTok, but there may be subgroups on the platform with similar or slightly different interests. For example, a children’s book publisher’s audience might include authors on LinkedIn, readers on Instagram, and illustrators on TikTok.
Once you’ve identified your potential audience, explore what types of content they like and interact with. Then start brainstorming content ideas for your brand.
Conduct a competitive audit
Do you have competitors on TikTok? If they are, you can skip the action. If not, TikTok could be a way to gain a competitive edge.
Whether or not your competitors are on the platform, find at least three to five similar brands or organizations and see what they’re doing on the app. Try to learn from what worked and what didn’t work for them. If helpful, use the SWOT framework to identify each competitor’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Since TikTok is a creator-driven platform, don’t rule out including TikTok stars and influencers in this exercise. Find people who specialize in your area of expertise, from cosmetics to medicine or education and literature.
Learn more in our complete guide to social media competitive analysis (free template included).
Set goals that match your business goals
You can create TikTok just for fun, but it’s best to have goals in mind that can be linked to your overall business goals.
Whether you’re planning to reach new audiences, improve your brand image, increase product awareness, or strengthen customer relationships through interaction, it’s important to back up your efforts with a rationale. Consider using a SMART goal system or other template to set goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely.
Like most social platforms, TikTok provides analytics for business accounts. To access TikTok analytics:
- Go to your profile page and tap on the three horizontal lines in the top right corner.
- Click Creator Tools, then Analytics.
- Explore the dashboard and find metrics you can use to measure your goals.
Read our complete guide to TikTok Analytics.
Post regularly
Creating a content calendar and sticking to it is the key to a successful social media strategy. Your TikTok content calendar will be like a real calendar, but instead of “Dinner with Dad”and “Dog’s Birthday”, you’ll be scheduling things like “Go Live”or “New Video”. There are plenty of tools to get you started (we created a free social media calendar template).
Track your progress
Analytics are not only the perfect starting point for TikTok marketing, they are also an easy way to see if your strategies are working. Check back at least once a month and see if you’ve reached your goals.
If not, consider testing out different kinds of posts—perhaps an obvious Arkells ad isn’t as convincing as a video of a musician hitting a bandmate with a drumstick (these TikToks have under 600 and over 1.4 million views, respectively).
@much Oops… 🤣 #orchestra #fail (Via @FUNNY VIDEOS)
You can track your progress using the social media report.
Create space for experimentation
There is no such thing as a TikTok viral formula (but you can follow our tried and tested tips to increase your chances).
Make room in your TikTok marketing strategy for creativity, fun, and go with the flow.
In this video, Wendy’s jumped on the (rather short-lived, but hot as long as it lasted) trend of 2021 to flaunt complex pantry organization routines:
@wendys Oddly satisfying. Oddly mouthwatering. Should that be our new tagline?
If something doesn’t work, learn from it and move on to the next experiment. If your brand happens to be trending like Ocean Spray or Wendy’s, make the most of it. Be on the joke. Don’t plan on being taken too seriously on TikTok.
How to Easily Manage Your Brand’s TikTok Presence
With Hootsuite, you can manage your TikTok presence along with all other social media profiles. (Hootsuite works with TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and YouTube!)
With one intuitive control panel, you can easily:
- TikTok timetable
- view and reply to comments
- measure your success on the platform
Our TikTok scheduler will even recommend the best time to post your content for maximum engagement (unique to your account!).