How to Use TikTok to Promote Your Small Business

Updated July 13th, 2022

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How to Use TikTok to Promote Your Small Business

What began as a place to promote short, often humorous films has grown to become one of the most popular social media sites.

TikTok’s growth as a popular social media staple also gives a chance for early adopter firms, many of which are reaping unexpected outcomes from having a presence on the app to leverage the potential of TikTok marketing.

TikTok bills itself as the most popular site for short-form mobile video. According to Hootsuite, the platform had 800 million active users as of October 2019, and it is rapidly increasing, with typical users accessing the app more than eight times a day.

Users on such sites are younger than on other platforms, with Gen Z’ers constituting the largest cohort. What led to this massive boom of TikTok as a marketing platform? There are several factors that led to this outcome.

The Business Case for Video Marketing on TikTok

As the usage of video grows in many sectors of life, from entertainment to education to news, it is becoming an even more powerful marketing tool.

According to Wyzowl’s State of Video Marketing 2020, the number of firms adopting video as a marketing strategy has climbed from 61% in 2016 to 85% in 2020.

Consumers now watch an average of 16 hours of online video every week, a 52 percent increase from 2018. And they’re still hungry for more.

According to Wyzowl, 86 percent of customers want to see more videos from businesses, with 36 percent wanting more educational/explainer films and 14% wanting more product demos.

In terms of where and how marketers expect to use video, the survey revealed that YouTube, Facebook, and LinkedIn were the top performers, but 15% expect to invest in TikTok advertisements.

When questioned about their success rates with video across all platforms, 79% of Wyzowl survey respondents said they had been successful. However, 66% of TikTok users claimed success.

Many see TikTok as having untapped potential, implying that now, not later, is the moment to start harnessing it.

Is it Worthwhile to Advertise on TikTok?

When social media networks are in their early phases of growth, they resemble the Wild West.

The laws are less clear, and companies may get away with more for less. Of course, the Wild West develops with time, and there becomes a much more structured, defined manner of living and promoting on the platform.

TikTok is now in the midst of this shift. This implies that certain routes might give a significant ROI while others may entirely fail. It is completely reliant on the business and how it is represented on the platform.

There are other options, such as conventional advertising, which inserts adverts in users’ feeds in a manner similar to Instagram. These are ideal for lower-funnel KPIs that aim to promote purchases of certain goods.

In between these two is TikTok influencer marketing, which may be done through official TikTok channels or behind-the-scenes with the influencers themselves.

Of fact, depending on the execution and desired effect, any of them may and should be employed interchangeably, and they are frequently utilized in tandem.

The apparent difference between TikTok and other social platforms is its user base. TikTok’s user population is 50 percent under the age of 34, with 41 percent between the ages of 16 and 24.

Furthermore, users spend an average of 52 minutes each day on the network, which is nearly double the time spent on Instagram.

Right now, the cost of entry is substantially lower than that of Instagram, and the ROI is substantially larger (there are case studies to back this up).

TikTok advertising is completely worthwhile if you have at least a few hundred dollars in marketing budget to test and learn with.

Perhaps more than any other medium, the creative execution of the commercials is crucial, as younger generations are becoming increasingly proficient at tuning out corporations that behave (and are) out of touch.

If you are unfamiliar with TikTok, your two best bets are to first download TikTok! Use it for a few hours to see how it feels. Second, simply search TikTok. There are several excellent pieces by journalists that investigate TikTok.

If you can afford it, like with any advertising and marketing services, hiring an outside professional to execute on the platform is beneficial. If not, simply understanding more about the platform and its capabilities might help you get started.

TikTok will soon be as important to your marketing budget as Facebook and Instagram.

Tips for Leveraging TikTok for Business Marketing

1. Make your brand more “discoverable.”

You may begin by informing your other social networking networks (such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter) that you have a TikTok account. You may further alert your followers by publishing a website announcement that includes a link to your TikTok account.

Because the business is new to the platform, you must make your account discoverable by tagging your videos with important #hashtags. You may search up the hashtags you want to use and see how popular they are.

It would also be beneficial if you immersed yourself in the TikTok community by following prominent creators in your sector, following your audience, commenting, and talking with them.

2. Maintain the visual identity of the brand.

While TikTok may appear to be a more relaxed platform, it is still important to preserve your brand’s visual identity and not stray too far from your typical tone and style.

Keep in mind that the appearance and feel of your TikTok account is the first impression that users will have of your business.

Check to see if your account appears to be out of sync with your other social media networks.

3. Create a multi-channel strategy.

Once you’ve established your presence on TikTok, make sure your new fans know where to find you on other social sites.

Connecting your social media accounts helps increase the credibility of your brand. Create a TikTok video version of your Instagram or YouTube material to maximize your content schedule.

Your CTA might encourage TikTok viewers to watch the full version on other platforms.

4. Make sure you’re speaking to the right people.

Create video content topics that are pertinent to your brand and target audience.

Investigate the types of themes, hashtags, and video trends to which your TikTok audience may connect.

Because this app is more relaxed, don’t be afraid to try out interesting and innovative stuff that your audience will appreciate.

5. Keep your brand consistent.

As the brand is new on the TikTok platform, you may stick to areas that your brand is strong at and create material that demonstrates you are a leader in your sector.

Post on a daily basis to ensure that your presence is consistent. You may also experiment with posting at different times of the day to see how your platform engagement changes.

6. Only share genuine, high-quality stuff.

Remember that the quality of your video content, not its format, will make your video memorable to your viewers. Keep current trends and difficulties in mind, but make them relevant to your brand’s identity.