Strategies and tips for using TikTok for business

In 2023, TikTok had as many as 1.7 billion users worldwide, almost a quarter of the world’s population. In the United States alone, the app had 150 million active users, while the United Kingdom had more than 23 million.

This exponential growth solidifies TikTok’s position as one of the leading social media platforms worldwide. Notably, nearly half of Generation Z is active on TikTok, a demographic trend with significant implications, as we’ll discuss later.

The platform’s user engagement is remarkable, with more than 1 billion TikTok videos watched every day. Additionally, TikTok announced that almost 1.5 million UK businesses are using the platform to improve their operations. Given these staggering numbers, the rise in TikTok marketing is not surprising. Maybe it’s time to consider harnessing the power of TikTok to build your brand?

Find your target group on TikTok

When you think of TikTok influencers, who comes to mind first? Maybe a Kardashian or other universally recognized celebrity, or maybe an unknown teenager dancing in their bedroom. But what about Laura Pomfret, Holly Holland or David Poku?

Holly and Laura, known as @Financielle, and David Poku, under the name @PokuBanks, represent a fast-growing trend known as #FinTok. As the name suggests, FinTok focuses on financial advice on TikTok. David delves into the risks of unregulated advice and offers tips to avoid online scams, while Holly and Laura simplify the financial jargon and answer questions like ‘should I rent or buy?’

Together they amass more than 350,000 followers, with the FinTok hashtag amassing nearly 5 billion views. This underlines the diversity of niches on platforms like TikTok, where careful research can yield an engaged audience for any company.

TikTok videos rule content creation!

When it comes to posting videos on TikTok, there are insights from it Shoot the 2023 index of social media report provides valuable guidance for effective content strategies. Short video emerges as the best performing format, which is not surprising given the high activity and engagement levels. That’s why it’s crucial to prioritize short video content for your TikTok channel, as Sprout’s report indicates higher engagement than longer formats.

Furthermore, the versatility of short videos makes them easy to reuse on other platforms such as Instagram, increasing their value. To further enhance your marketing efforts, consider deploying special paid advertising options through TikTok ads.

In essence, integrating video content into your content strategy is essential. But what does this actually mean?

Drawing up a tailor-made content strategy

When you use TikTok for business, the specifics of your content will be completely unique to your brand. Your TikTok channel acts as your platform to tell your story in your signature brand voice, so embrace experimentation.

Many successful TikTok users approach content creation with an open mindset, recognizing that testing and learning are integral to maximizing TikTok’s potential. The platform’s algorithm can be unpredictable; a piece of content may initially receive minimal engagement, only to flourish weeks later when it is reposted. Keeping an open mind, a willingness to engage with trends and themes, and the confidence to accept that not every effort will resonate are crucial to TikTok’s success.

As a business account, consider posting content that increases brand visibility and awareness.

Develop content that embodies your core values

Be authentic. This is especially important with TikTok for businesses. The most successful companies and brands using TikTok do so without filters or pretenses. It should be an honest representation of your company values. TikTok users want authenticity, so give it to them.

Tell your story

Whether you are a local butcher, an emerging tech scale-up or a global mega-company, everyone has a story to tell. Use the platform to show and tell your story, knowledge and experiences to your TikTok community.

Show your people

Take a seat people front and middle.

Give them the space to create compelling content on their own terms (with the company’s best interests in mind, of course). This type of user-generated content typically performs very well on TikTok and is a strong method of strengthening and strengthening the employer brand.

Share knowledge and expertise

Try to teach your target group something they don’t know yet. Our FinTok examples above are excellent at breaking down complex topics into educational and easily digestible audio clips.

Entertain

Social media platforms are entertainment platforms. The contents that you put into the world must be entertaining. You have less than two seconds to engage your target audience… so it has to be entertaining above all.

Collaborate with partners and makers

To further expand your presence, creator collaborations could be the next step.

You might not consider TikTok a broken B2B platform… and you might be right. But remember, not so long ago, Facebook didn’t exist either. Neither does Instagram.

The B2B maker and influencer space on TikTok is still emerging. Forward-thinking companies can take action early and explore partnerships with emerging creators, influencers, industry experts and thought leaders.

Look again at the great example of FinTok, with billions of views all related to financial advice. Chances are if you’re a company looking to connect with creators or direct users, there will be a group of people available to you.

When you reach the stage where you collaborate with creators and influencers. There’s more interesting data from Sprout Social on smaller creators’ engagement rates:

5k-10k followers: 76.23%

10k-50k followers: 37.77%

50k-100k followers: 27.87%

100,000 – 250,000 followers: 20.43%

250,000 – 1 million followers: 16.59%

1 million+ followers: 12.69%

As the data shows, creators with smaller followings reach out to their audiences much more, compared to accounts with more followers.

TikTok and the talent crisis

The battle for young talent is a sector-independent challenge. But could TikTok be the answer to many companies’ hiring woes?

In December 2022, PR week delves into this conceptwith very interesting anecdotal evidence, to prove that TikTok is already having a major positive impact on recruitment and the employer brand.

Battenhall

“It’s been a huge driver of recruitment interest for us,” said Taja Woods, senior account executive at Battenhall. She adds that the agency’s most popular video was directly responsible for more than 50 job applications.

Here are dragons

“Every time we post something nice, our inbox overflows the next week. Normally these are people looking for their first job or an internship, so in reality it’s Generation Z. These are people looking to enter the workplace for the first time, who have identified marketing as a discipline they might be interested in. wanted to engage, and he looked it up on TikTok, found our channel and away: ‘That’s a bit of me.’”

To appear

“We have seen a significant increase in applicants, new business and awareness as a result of our TikTok presence,”

TikTok provides business account users with a platform to showcase their values, their culture and the way they work in new, exciting and engaging content. The largest age group on TikTok the category is 18-24 years old, with 36%.

This younger audience is a key demographic in the talent crisis and we can see from these three examples that TikTok is already working to attract potential candidates, new customers and new customers alike.

If it works for them, why can’t it work for you?

Start your TikTok business profile

TikTok stands out as a powerhouse among social media platforms, making it indispensable for improving yourdigital marketing attempts. In addition to creating videos, using TikTok for business can expand your online reach, increase brand visibility, and foster deeper connections with potential customers, teams, and audiences when combined with other social media platforms.

Moreover, the barrier to entry is remarkably low. You don’t need elaborate production setups or expensive equipment to make TikTok videos; all you need is a smartphone and the willingness to explore creative possibilities.