TikTok a few years ago was what the virtual reality metaverse is now; something that businesses were aware of but unsure how, or even if, they should incorporate it into their marketing strategy. According to TikTok, in 2021, the app enjoyed one billion active users every month. As part of that same year, a Forbes report claimed that TikTok had more downloads than any other app worldwide, and Statista’s report of first-time downloads claimed it received almost 205 million downloads in Q2 alone. So basically, your business should have had a TikTok account yesterday.
It makes sense that this is something your business would take notice of. As the platform has evolved, many companies and brands leverage influencers with targeted audiences to market their products and services. The app is available in over 150 countries in 75 different languages, so with this much accessibility, it makes sense to include it as part of your marketing strategy.
So, where do you start with TikTok advertising and marketing? We’ve listed six essential tips to consider to ensure your TikTok advertising reaches the next level.
Tip #1: Leverage catalog ads to drive sales
Leveraging catalog ads is a great way to drive sales. You can boost organic content and use Spark ads in TikTok’s ads management tool kit to add links and see a wider reach.
Think of this like A/B testing on Facebook. If you understand your Facebook metrics already, you’ll know that you can see which of your ads are performing well and adjust your advertising as needed based on data like clicks per ad and ROI. These measurements help you make sure your content is actually working for you.
Along with your other strategies, like getting leads from Google ads, TikTok advertising is a great way for you to grow your customer base and following.
Tip #2: Have an emotional message
An official guide from TikTok discusses the elements of the most successful ads on the platform. The winner? Ads that aim for an emotional response from the viewer. As a result, over 50% of the ads on the platform adopt this strategy. The official guide suggests being real and relatable if you want your ad to be successful.
Important note: You are targeting a range of ages with this messaging. Statista’s TikTok statistics state 32.5% of users in the US are between ages 10 and 19. Pew research data shows 48% are between 18 and 29, and 22% are aged 30-49.
Tip #3: Understand the TikTok trends
A follow-on from that last point is that authenticity on TikTok is vital. Your brand’s content should be congruent with your messaging and audience. This not only builds trust but also helps to create a devoted audience. Keeping up with TikTok trends can be a determining factor for how much reach your posts will get. Everyone wants a viral video, and these are more often than not under the latest trending videos category.
TikTok, unlike other social media channels, is driven by the trends in the community. Therefore, understanding the layers of a meme or trending dance is very important. Like Instagram, hashtags are a relevant marketing tool on TikTok. For example, the #dance category has over 340 billion views and is often the source of the various challenges and unique dances that are linked to the app.
Companies like Red Bull have successfully used hashtags (#danceyourstyle) to create their own challenges, which have significantly worked to their advantage.
Tip #4: Join the community
To make sure you understand the elements of the last point, it’s a good idea to have at least one skilled and dedicated person in your team for TikTok, so recruitment and branding are crucial. Their job is to watch videos to get an understanding of the platform, its functions, and trending topics. Find the right person for this role, which can be done remotely, giving you plenty of options when hiring.
With this information, you can center your business TikTok account around the popular user-generated content on the platform. Further to this, having your business as part of the community on TikTok – commenting on videos, adding value to other brands and influencers in your target demographic – helps to improve your current reach.
Commenting on popular posts, responding to comments via the DUET and Stitch features, and other actions can help to increase your community and sub-community reach. If you want longevity on TikTok, you’ll need to build deep connections with the audience.
This is a key strategy for growing your community or driving new followers that do not require regular posting. Couple this low-posting frequency with a quality TikTok scheduler, and adding this extra social platform to your strategy shouldn’t mean adding significant time to your task list.
Tip #5: Create lookalike audiences
Target highly relevant audiences by creating Custom and Lookalike audiences. This is very similar to Facebook and Instagram ads and will ensure that you see the best possible ROI for your ad spend.
The TikTok algorithm has a good understanding of each user’s interests, and in turn, collates highly curated content for them. The algorithm targets users with videos from accounts they have liked, commented, and followed. On top of this, other videos that the algorithm thinks the user would find interesting are added into the mix.
Tip #6: Pay attention to micro-influencers
Finally, when you dive into the world of advertising on TikTok, you’ll need to somewhat forget the things you’ve previously learned about other social media. For example, TikTok isn’t just about the number of followers; users with small numbers of active followers still reach millions of people.
This is great news for you because smaller and arguably less expensive creators can still generate a higher response rate for your content. TikTok may well be the best tool for leveraging micro-influencers available right now.
Make no mistake: TikTok can boost your customer base and following
TikTok advertising is a key pillar of modern social media and can boost your following as well as your customer base. The above tips will help, but interacting with the TikTok app is vital to ensure you keep up-to-date with current trends and understand the best way to talk to your target market.
