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TikTok feels like a party for users, but for brands and marketers, it can feel like a maze of trending videos, in-feed ads, and stickers. You want to use it as part of your social media marketing strategy, but TikTok is unlike any social network on the planet—and that means you need to bring your A-game.
TikTok has been available internationally since September of 2017. Although it started out as Musical.ly, the TikTok app has made a name for itself over the last few years.
With over 1 billion users and 3 billion total downloads, TikTok is one of the biggest social networks of 2022. The stats don’t lie: 69% of U.S. teens are on TikTok, and 29% say it’s their favorite social network.
No platform has taken advantage of short-form video as well as TikTok. With engagement rates as high as nearly 12%, it’s clear that there’s a lot of opportunity here for boosting brand awareness with short videos.
7 Battle-Tested Tips for Nailing Your TikTok Marketing Strategy
TikTok isn’t like any other social media platform. The algorithm cares more about high-quality content than it does about follower count, so you have to be spot-on with every TikTok you post.
Everyday consumers might be going bananas for TikTok, but for brands, this short-form video platform is a tough nut to crack. If you need to receive more brand equity on TikTok for your marketing efforts, try these seven content strategies to get more traction.
1. Know Your Audience
Who’s your audience? Before you invest in your brand’s TikTok account, you need to understand your audience demographics.
Not every customer will be on TikTok. You might think you need to pursue Gen Z teens, but what if your ideal shopper is actually a 40-year-old soccer mom who isn’t on TikTok?
Make sure your customers are, in fact, active on TikTok before you pour your energy into a new platform. This will save you a lot of time by ensuring that your content resonates with TikTok users.
2. Nail the Basics
TikTok isn’t like any other social network. If you’re trying it out for the first time, you have to nail the basics in your marketing strategy. That means:
- Knowing how the TikTok algorithm works: The TikTok algorithm determines what you see on the For You Page (FYP). Instead of giving you tons of views based on your follower count, TikTok prioritizes engagement rates. That means you have to give it 110% every time you post TikTok videos.
- Creating content only for TikTok: Avoid filming an Instagram Reel and re-sharing it to TikTok. They’re two separate platforms, and the users expect to see different types of content.
- Creating a TikTok for Business account: This will give you access to enhanced features that make it easier to grow your brand, like TikTok Ads and TikTok Analytics.
- Using TikTok regularly: Seriously. Don’t try to promote your brand on a platform if you don’t know the norms of the platform, like using popular sounds, adding text, making video replies to comments, and using closed captioning. A lot of brands miss this part, and it leads to content that users don’t want to see. Spend at least 10 minutes a day on TikTok—we guarantee you’ll love scrolling through it after a while!
3. Post Edu-taining Content
Some brands make the mistake of being overly promotional with their TikToks. While a little promotion is okay, most TikTok users didn’t open the app to hear you talk about yourself. They’re on the app because they want to be entertained and educated.
That’s why your brand’s content needs to be both entertaining and educational. Unlike YouTube, where you can upload an hours-long video, TikToks can range from 1 second to 3 minutes. On average, people say 6-12 seconds is the optimal video length, but it’s different for every brand.
Not sure what to post? Try filming TikToks of:
- Interviews
- Trending sounds, songs, or dances
- Behind the scenes
- How-tos
- Impressions or parodies
- Hashtag challenges
- Short skits
The good news is that you don’t have to pump a lot of resources into filming a TikTok! As long as you can distill information into a few seconds, you’ll captivate new customers while growing your brand.
It can be difficult at first, but if you want people to see your brand, you need to post at least one TikTok a day. If you don’t have the internal resources to do that, consider partnering with a TikTok influencer through Markerly to lighten the load.
At the end of the day, TikTok isn’t a place to take yourself seriously. It just won’t work if you’re too stiff, so live a little! As long as you can tie the content into your brand, product, or target audience, you’ll master edu-taining content in no time.
4. Partner With TikTok Influencers
Did you know that, on average, TikTok influencers receive an eye-catching 18% engagement rate? That blows all of the other social networks out of the water!
Thanks to the TikTok Creator Fund, influencers have always been a substantial part of the TikTok ecosystem. These folks know what it takes to not only make awesome content, but to keep users coming back for more.
TikTok influencer marketing is a must to grow your brand’s presence quickly. Do a brand takeover, an unboxing review, or a parody video—your imagination is the limit!
Instead of starting completely from scratch with your TikTok marketing strategy, tap an influencer through Markerly to help you out. We help brands find experienced TikTok influencers who are both content creators and community-builders. That translates into more time saved and more engagement for your brand. What’s not to love?
5. Encourage Engagement
When you go through the effort of writing, filming, editing, and posting a TikTok, you need to squeeze as much engagement out of it as possible.
That means you need to:
- Ask interactive questions: Users inherently want to answer questions, especially if you’re asking for their opinion.
- Take requests: If you aren’t sure what to say in your next TikTok, ask your viewers! They’re usually more than happy to offer suggestions, which increases engagement and saves you more time.
- Use hashtags: This isn’t like Instagram, where you cram as many hashtags into a post as the platform allows. On TikTok, you only need 2-5 hashtags, max. As always, keep your TikTok hashtags relevant to what you’re posting.
- Stitch strategically: TikTok allows you to do a Stitch with other users, where you show a snippet of their content and reply with your own. This is great if you Stitch with a video or creator who gets a lot of traction on TikTok already.
6. Keep Up With TikTok Trends
This is social media, so trends come and go on TikTok. Music, sounds, dances, challenges, and memes change on a weekly (if not daily) basis, and you need to be prepared for that.
TikTok is a timely platform, so it doesn’t always make sense for you to pre-plan your TikTok content calendar three months in advance. It’s okay to do a few evergreen posts, but keep your marketing plan agile enough that you can quickly respond to trends.
Make sure you spend at least 10 minutes on TikTok every day so you can identify what’s trending this week. Bring it up ASAP with your marketing team so you can capitalize on the trend before it’s gone.
7. Check Your TikTok Analytics
How do you know if your TikToks are getting traction? Instead of fumbling around in the dark, use TikTok Analytics to see what’s going well.
If you sign up for a TikTok Business account, you’ll have access to a robust suite of tools that will tell you how each video is performing. It’s hard to produce a viral winner every time, but checking your metrics is the best way to know which TikTok videos get more results.
Look at your most successful content. Why do people like it? How is it different? Can you use it as a blueprint for future content? Use your analytics data and comment section as a guide to optimize your content going forward.
Get Real Engagement With a TikTok Marketing Strategy
TikTok isn’t the future of digital marketing—it’s the here and now. But if you’re falling behind, don’t worry! Brands can play catch-up with a TikTok marketing strategy built around how the platform was designed to work.
While these seven tips will help you create a solid social media strategy, you can’t ignore the fact that influencer marketing is a huge component of TikTok. Save time, reach your audience faster, and boost your TikTok performance with a powerful assist from Markerly. See how we match brands with experienced TikTok influencers.
