In 2018, TikTok launched and quickly attracted millions of creative, young individuals and has shown no signs of slowing down since then. TikTok makes it easy for anyone to go viral – whether it be a cute puppy or a mom showcasing her best dance moves, there’s content on the app for everyone. If you are interested in changing your social media strategy, it’s time to invest in a TikTok strategy.
Nowadays, there has been an increase in brands marketing their services and products on Tiktok. Utilizing TikTok trends and viral sounds, companies can transform their social media strategies into fun, quirky videos. With TikTok’s new ability to include links and commerce URLs in your videos and profiles, TikTok has become the hip new platform to find out what’s popular right now. Barnes and Noble even has a section in-store and on their website labeled specifically “Book Tok.”
Get to know TikTok
Utilizing a new social media platform can be daunting, especially if you are unfamiliar with the app. The first step to creating your TikTok strategy is to study the platform. Start off by creating an account and familiarizing yourself with the features of the app. Practice recording a video or testing out different effects such as the disco feature or the green screen feature. Popular TikTok sounds can be the reason your video goes viral; tap Add a Sound to find which audio fits your video best. You can even add text to your video or narrate it using the “Text-to-speech” option.
TikTok is all about fun, creativity, and visually appealing content. Check out the TikTok Trending page to familiarize yourself with popular sounds, trends, and hashtags. The benefit of TikTok is that you don’t need any prior video editing experience to create videos. It’s all done on your smart phone. Don’t know where to start on your first TikTok? Check out TikTok’s recommendations for 6 frameworks to tell your story.
For example, Scrub Daddy, a scratch-free sponge company that made its debut on Shark Tank, does a great job at creating on-brand content using viral trends and sounds. In only a year, they have grown to over 500,000 followers and 7.1 million likes. They transform a product as simple as a sponge into creative, funny videos that appeal to both the younger generation and their parents.
Keep your videos simple and fun! The authenticity of your business will shine through your videos and will keep people engaged and coming back to your page.
TikTok Challenges
Now that you have become familiar with TikTok and its trends, utilize hashtags to the best of your abilities. Brands can leverage TikTok challenges by asking people to perform a certain task and share their videos using a specific hashtag. TikTok challenges can help increase brand awareness and present your brand as authentic and relatable.
Chipotle Mexican Grill launched a “Boorito” branded hashtag challenge on TikTok, asking Chipotle fans to show “before and after” shots of their Halloween costumes. They awarded free burritos for a year to the top 5 TikTokers who received the most likes. Their campaign got over 4 billion views on the platform.
TikTok challenges don’t always have to be giveaways to gain traction. GUESS launched their #inmydenim campaign and challenged users to “Show us how you style your denim.” Several TikTok verified users hopped on the trend and the campaign gained over 53 million views.
Hashtag challenges are great because they encourage engagement and give a simple way for users to connect with your brand. If you want to start off smaller than creating your own campaign.
Giveaways
TikTok giveaways are another way to drive users to your page. I mean, who doesn’t like free stuff? Here’s how to use content marketing to get more followers and likes through a TikTok giveaway.
Create your giveaway with the goal of increasing engagement through TikTok likes, comments, views, and shares. On TikTok, analytics can be viewed after posting to determine the reached audience, audience region, average watch time, likes, shares, and comments.
There are a couple of different ways you can giveaway your products or services on TikTok. First, create a video showcasing your product or service and randomly select a winner. Have users follow you, tag 3 friends, and answer a question in the comments below. Alternatively, you can also have users duet your initial video and select a winner based off the highest number of likes, most creative video, or best story.
You can also utilize TikTok Challenges to create a hashtag surrounding your giveaway and ask users to post videos using your hashtag. Planters peanuts recently held a campaign to show off your best “trick shot” using the hashtag #PlantersTrickShot. The winner received $50,000 and the hashtag gained over 6.9 Billion views.
Influencer Marketing
Working with TikTok influencers can help you reach a greater audience and help you make a connection with users. Find an influencer whose audience matches your target audience and utilize them to help promote your product or service. This can be as simple as sending them a free sample of your product to feature on your website or inviting them for a free session.
Fitness influencers are popular on TikTok where they post daily videos about their fitness routines, eating habits, cheat days, and more. Fitness brand GymShark utilized influencer marketing by partnering with six influencers who had a total following of almost 20 million. They paired this strategy with their 66 Days Challenge where users were tasked to pick a fitness goal and track their progress. Overall the campaign hashtag was viewed over 200 million times.
TikTok makes it easy for anyone to become an influencer. Do some digging on the app to find which influencers would genuinely enjoy your product or service. This gives influencers the opportunity to give real feedback to their followers and establishes trust and authority for your brand.
Does your company want to hop on the TikTok train and utilize it for your marketing strategy? Everyone from influencers to moms to Gen Z and even a few cool grandmas are on TikTok, incorporate TikTok into your marketing strategy for a fun twist on traditional videos! If you are interested in getting your company on TikTok but are feeling overwhelmed on where to start, reach out to our team!
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