The Next Big Thing – TikTok

TikTok has been named “the world’s leading social media site” with over 600 million monthly active followers. This new platform enables users to create and share short videos, paired with visual and sound effects, ranging from 15 seconds to three minutes long. Even if you are not one to use other forms of social media, TikTok is unique as it features many different genres, including but not limited to dance, comedy, collaboration, and education. Often, users create these videos in hopes of going viral or spreading their content quickly to a large audience. As a result, we have seen many businesses hop on this trend as a new form of digital marketing. However, although TikTok may seem simple, we have found that companies struggle with projecting their message within a few seconds. Therefore, we recommend experimenting with TikTok’s different features before posting to the platform.  

Why should you use TikTok to promote your small business?  

 As previously mentioned, TikTok has millions of users, and the platform is projected to double within the next few years! Due to this growth, businesses can potentially increase their reach when using this platform. Similar to other forms of social media, TikTok allows you to target your business’s ideal age, location, and interest. We have seen companies who use social media marketing to target younger users because they are the dominant consumers. On TikTok, about 60% of users are those ranging from 16 to 23. If this age group synchronizes with your target audience, we recommend creating your TikTok account now! 

What type of content is most successful?  

TikTok has various videos that users can produce; however, the most popular ones engage other users. For example, a viral video challenge, like the difficult dance to the song Renegade, creates a competitive stage for consumers to communicate. Individuals can also collaborate with other users by merging two videos. This collaboration can introduce followers to new accounts, ideally increasing your awareness and overall following.  

On the other hand, life hack videos are popular on TikTok because they quickly fix common problems. Such videos can range from helpful cleaning tips to effective weightless remedies for users to try. Either way, TikTok provides a platform for people to visualize the result of these hacks. In addition, many TikTok users have found success in simply talking to their followers. In the end, people are nosey, and therefore, it is common for users to find interest in people gossiping about their job, relationships, or hobbies.  

How can you create content for your small business?  

When debuting your TikTok account, we recommend trying any of the mentioned trends to engage your audience. As a small business, you can customize these challenges to relate to your products. For example, could your good or service become a resourceful hack for users? If so, create a video showing exactly how to use your product! You can also try making your own challenge for followers to try. If successful, you could have millions of followers tagging your business with each video attempt.  

What else can help my content’s popularity? 

Just like any other form of social media, hashtags will benefit your account by categorizing your posts with related topics. However, be cautious of hashtags like #digitalmarketing, which has 478.3 million posts, because you do not want your video to get lost among those other millions of posts. In addition, TikTok creates weekly trending hashtags relating to its sponsors. For example, Chewy, a pet product retailer, partnered with TikTok to create #chewychattypets. Not only does this hashtag encourages users to create pet-related videos, but it also optimizes these posts. If these trending hashtags connect to parts of your business, use them!  

We also recommend finding the ideal posting time for your business. For example, our research found that Tuesdays at 9 a.m. and Thursdays at noon work well with our audience demographics; however, like other social platforms, this is custom to each industry.  

TikTok is a fun and exciting new platform to use in digital marketing. But whether you decide to follow trends or create your own, try not to take yourself too seriously!  

We encourage you to look at some of the TikToks we created for Premier Nails Source, Eddie and Sam’s New York Pizza, and Absolute Marketing Solutions for inspiration.

If you are interested in inquiring about social media management, please contact the Absolute Marketing Solutions team.