The fun thing about marketing is that there’s always something new to learn and try. Whether that be a new piece of content to test with your audience, or a new social media platform to have a presence on, marketers have to be willing to keep an open mind and adapt with the ever-changing industry. As of recently, TikTok is the new kid on the block. Many businesses— small and large— have been dabbling in TikTok videos as a new form of content marketing.
TikTok, a short-form video platform with over 1 billion global users has become wildly popular for its vast array of content and audiences. But because it’s newer, marketers are still trying to figure out how to tap into its success. What works on TikTok and what doesn’t? How does the platform fit into a team’s existing marketing plan?
In this blog we share tips for how your team can craft a real TikTok campaign.
Define your audience
First and foremost, who is your ideal customer? That is the demographic you should be aiming to target on TikTok. Once you hone in on your target audience, you can craft your content to appeal to them. For example, if your ideal audience is millennials you might choose to be more cheeky in your videos. On the same coin, if you’re hoping to reach entrepreneurs and small business owners you can opt to be more informational and provide value to your audience that way.
Set a voice and tone
Is your content going to be humorous and entertaining, or informative and relatable? Before you start creating content for your TikTok marketing campaign you need to settle in on a voice and tone. Make sure that same voice and tone is present in all videos moving forward in that campaign so that your audience recognizes it (and your brand) when they see it.
Follow current trends
Before you craft a TikTok marketing strategy, it’s important to note what’s trending on the app. Is it a certain sound, specific satire, or text overlay? Figure out what is trending, and performing well on the algorithm, and incorporate that into your campaign plan where it makes sense. Of course, what a clothing boutique business is posting might not land well with a law firm’s TikTok audience. Take your followers, and your brand, into consideration when pulling inspiration from current trends.
Consider an influencer program
If you’re new to the platform— like many businesses are— you might consider running an influencer campaign on TikTok to gain an initial following. Influencers come with many benefits for companies looking to expand their social media presence from content creation and testimonials to a wider reach. Before you launch your own TikTok campaign, look into partnering with influencers with similar content to generate buzz about your brand. Then, when you’re ready to launch your campaign there's a better chance that users on TikTok have already heard of your company.
Be consistent
Like any social media platform, consistency is key. However, different from Instagram and Facebook where a post a day is considered enough, TikTok experts recommend users post as often as 1-6 times a day for optimal exposure. Where quality might be more important on Instagram, TikTok definitely favors quantity. All that to say, your consistency is all for naught if your content isn’t valuable. Commit to a feasible number of posts each week where you can gain some traction without compromising the importance of your content.
Encourage engagement
Engaging on social media has proven to help the success of your posts. When you go live with your TikTok marketing strategy, encourage your followers to engage with your content by responding to comments, liking like-minded posts, and tagging people or other brands. By simply engaging with your followers and encouraging them to engage with your posts, you’re building a community on TikTok that will eventually turn into long-time customers and people who trust your brand.
Take advantage of hashtags
Hashtags are highly underrated on social media. Using hashtags relevant to your content can help with discoverability. On TikTok, there are trending hashtags that might boost your content to new for-you-pages (fyp) and get more eyeballs on your account. But you can also use custom hashtags specific to your industry, content, or campaign. Don’t get into the habit of using the same hashtags every time, mix things up based on what you’re sharing in your post and what users might be searching for.
Utilize TikTok ads
A lot of businesses have struggled trying to crack the code of what works and what doesn’t on TikTok. Utilizing ads on TikTok is a great way to boost your marketing strategy and optimize your reach, especially when you’re testing different types of content. Putting money behind a post not only gets your video more views on TikTok but it could result in more followers, engagement, and traffic to your website. If you’re just starting out and don’t have a lot of followers, TikTok ads are a good option to put some power behind your posts to make sure they don’t flop.
Get your team aligned on campaign goals
Your team could have an air-tight TikTok strategy, but things could still fall between the cracks if you aren’t clear on deliverables, timelines, and goals. Using a social media strategy presentation can help you present your campaign’s background research, campaign goals, task lists, deliverables, all in one organized place. Teams can use the deck to reference throughout the course of the campaign, or for future social media marketing strategies to compare ideas.
Marketers looking to craft a TikTok marketing campaign might also be interested in the marketing campaign plan, influencer marketing proposal, or social media report presentation templates. Each template is pre-built by industry experts and fully customizable to fit the needs of your own team’s strategy and campaign efforts.
