It’s all the craze. It’s like Vine, but way better. Once known as Musical.ly, it was taken over by a company called ByteDance in 2018, and TikTok was born. You’ve probably heard of TikTok, but what the heck is it? At a glance, it’s an entertainment video-sharing app used mainly by teens. From a marketing perspective, it’s an exciting opportunity for your business to take advantage of. TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms in the world currently. Particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, this app saw a huge spike in downloads. At the beginning of 2020, TikTok set the record for the most downloads in a single quarter for any social media app with 315 million installs.
So, what can TikTok do for your business? Well, just like any other major social media platform, the marketing opportunities are plentiful. This app is only projected to get better and better. The real question is, does using TikTok as a marketing tool for your business, the right investment? To help you decide we’ve broken down the basics for you with a few ideas on how you might use it as well.
How does TikTok work?
The app is simple: users can upload videos (or TikToks) of themselves singing, dancing, acting out skits, or anything else they want to do. TikTok uses a variety of different algorithms to decide what videos to show which people on a user’s ‘For You’ page. This is based on how they interact with different content on the app. The more the user interacts with a certain type of content, the more of that content they will see.
One of the most important ranking indicators on the app is video completion. The more people that watch a video from start to finish, the more visibility that video will have in the system. Sort of like how SEO (Search Engine Optimization) works. The more useful or entertaining the content may be, the more visible it will appear in the app.
Who is using TikTok?
Before you jump into making branded TikTok content, you want to make sure your targeted audience is on TikTok first. As we mentioned earlier, the app is dominated by a younger audience. Let’s break it down:
- 60% of TikTok users are between the ages of 16-24
- 26% are between the ages of 25-44
- 80% are between the ages of 16-34 ***note that this audience overlaps with the others above.
Essentially, if your business is targeting an older audience, this may not be the social media app for you. However, if your business directly markets to the age groups above, TikTok could 100% be incorporated into your marketing plan.
But, how can you use TikTok as a useful marketing tool?
Video content is the number one way people consume content online. This is one of the many reasons why TikTok has been so successful. It’s a fun, creative platform for you to share your message and your brand globally with a young audience. What’s also fantastic about the app is you don’t need to have a ton of videos to go viral. Because of TikTok’s algorithm, it’s easier to focus on making one piece of content go viral – as long as your content is relevant, exciting, and overall appeals to your audience.
Why you should add TikTok to your marketing plan?
1. Low competition – Marketing on the app is still relatively new, so you’ll have little competition. This makes it extremely easy to get your message across without having to worry about what your competitors are doing. Low cost, high reward. It’s a win-win IF USED STRATEGICALLY.
2. Stay trendy and relevant – TikTok makes it easy to collaborate with users who are at the forefront of the latest trends and movements. Collaborating is not only a great way to stay relevant, but it’s a way to make your business a part of the trends that matter.
3. REAL content – We live in a world where people have become increasingly wary of advertisements. That is why social media, in general, is a great thing to have within your marketing plan. It’s a way for you to showcase your authenticity and build REAL connections with your audience. Raw, unedited videos can be a great opportunity for you to showcase your brand in a trustworthy way.
Can you advertise on TikTok?
Advertisements are available on TikTok, providing another great opportunity for your business. There are many great perks to advertising on TikTok:
- Easily target your audience: Thanks to the TikTok algorithm, you can target age, gender, location, interest, and device type.
- Variety of ads to choose from: On TikTok, you have options when it comes to the ads you create:
- Brand Takeovers – these ads appear as soon as a user opens the app. The ad can then redirect the user to an internal or external link. However, this type of ad is limited to one advertiser a day.
- In-feed ads – these ads appear in a user’s newsfeed, but you can add a call-to-action link at the bottom of the ad to redirect users to your website or app. They appear as regular content but are labeled as sponsored.
- Topview ads – Similar to Takeovers, Topview ads appear as soon as a user opens the app. They are videos that can run for up to 60 seconds with the sound on.
- Branded effects – Also known as Gamified Branded effects, this enables brands to build games into their TikTok clips.
- Branded Hashtag Challenge – This feature allows brands to share a video using a sponsored hashtag. Then, creative TikTok users can respond by making and sharing their own videos using the hashtag as well.
Overall, TikTok has many amazing perks for your business to take advantage of if your target audience is core users of the app. What’s most exciting about TikTok is that because it is still so new, who knows what’s to come in the future!
Ready to make TikTok a part of your marketing strategy? We can help you out at 3SIXTY Marketing Solutions. We know nearly everything there is to know about promoting your business across a range of social media platforms, and we’d love to help you get started on TikTok. Give us a call today at 705-252-4180 and let’s talk ideas to get the ball rolling.
