Let me start by saying, TikTok is not just for kids. Since its inception, TikTok has been perceived as a social media platform for users aged 13-24. The idea of dancing and cracking jokes seems juvenile, but TikTok is so much more.
TikTok is one of social media’s newest additions; it is an app for creating short videos. TikTok was initially launched in China, but by 2017 it has expanded to other countries. So, in 2017 TikTok’s parent company (ByteDance) purchased Musical.ly which gave them access to targeting in the US. Remember Vine? Well, TikTok is very similar to Vine, but in my opinion, Vine didn’t survive because it was ahead of its time. Video was still very new to people, so Vine did not have the same as TikTok has now. TikTok took notes from Vine’s decline and introduced features on their platform that Vine lacked. See, when it comes to social media the end result is always the same, growth. People want to grow and they want to grow quickly and TikTok gives people the opportunity to grow quickly.
With the app, we’ve seen people go viral overnight. Typically, the people who become overnight sensations are a part of the younger demographic, but businesses can have success on the app too.
Content
Your content is crucial when it comes to success on TikTok, so we are going to discuss some types of content you can create to help you go viral. Your best bet is to try to incorporate some form of humor into your content. People like to laugh, so by creating content that is funny, people will most likely save, share and like the post.
Another option for content would be to jump on current trends. From my personal experience with TikTok’s algorithm, I know that if I like one or two posts from a popular trend, then more continue to populate on my For You Page (FYP). Whenever you see more than 10 TikToks about the song then it’s most likely about to go viral and you should get ready to put your own twist on it. Some popular songs/sounds used on TikTok that business owners could use were Zodiac by Will Gittens, No More Parties by Coi Leray, Best Friend by Doja Cat, It’s Tricky by Run DMC, and the BGC Drama Effect Sound by @whozmanzz on TikTok. For inspiration, find the sound on TikTok and see what others are doing and then put your own unique spin on it.
The other piece of content you could create would be informational content. Remember, there are three types of content that do great on social media, educational, entertaining, and emotional. Business owners could get on TikTok and position themselves as subject matter experts.
I constantly see realtors and people who work in multifamily giving apartment hacks and home buying tips, they get multiple likes and shares because they appeal to people in the market for houses or apartments. I’ve seen doctors, dentists, and dermatologists giving medical, teeth, and skincare tips and hacks. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, TikTok can be used to provide people information they didn’t know before which is guaranteed to go viral.
User-Generated Content
If creating content isn’t your thing, do what Chipotle does. Chipotle currently has 1.5 million followers on TikTok and after scrolling their feed, I’ve noticed that they did two things. The first thing that contributed to their success was to create a branded hashtag challenge. Two hashtag challenges they created were #ChipotleLidFlip and #GuacDance, of course, the hashtags had an incentive at the end. Chipotle also partnered with successful influencers to give the challenge more traffic and to date the challenge as over 1 billion views.
The other thing Chipotle does is repurpose user-generated content about their brand. Chipotle reposts literally ANYTHING with their name attached to it. Some of the most popular ones they reposted are “Chipotle is my life”, ways to get free guac, and Chipotle ingredients as zodiac signs. If your brand is popular like Chipotle, Fenty, and Nike encourage your followers to create USG and repurpose it on your page; this helps your algorithm and theirs.
Interact
3 ways to interact with the community on TikTok are through the Duet feature, Stitch feature, and replying to comments.
Duets are a way for users to comment or post alongside another person on TikTok. I’ve recently seen a lot of these especially when it comes to new health trends and hacks. R&B Singer Lizzo has popped up on many duets regarding the Natures Food trend that is circulating. Many TikTok comedians have posted duets alongside other TikTokers who post interesting food combinations such as bell peppers and cream cheese. The Duets are a great way to interact with others’ videos, collaborate across the platform, and give your posts greater reach.
Stitch is also another way users can interact with others’ content on TikTok. With the Stitch feature, users can clip scenes from a creator’s video into their own video. While the Duet feature puts the two clips side by side, the Stitch feature blends the two videos together.
Creators do it time and time again and you can do it too. Commenting on posts is an integral part of TikTok culture and there is no better way to respond than with a new video. Taco Bell does a great job with interacting in their comments and creating new videos to respond to some of those comments. This is equivalent to Wendy’s responding to tweets or brands commenting when users comment on Instagram.
Advertisements
TikTok didn’t start off with ads, but as we expected they have joined the ads game. In an effort to be more pro-business, TikTok launched an advertising platform. The social media app allows different ad formats such as TopView Ads (ads you see when you first open the app), Infeed Videos, (ads in between content), Brand Takeovers (brands takeover for the day), Hashtag Challenges, and Branded Effects.
If you’re looking to increase brand awareness then TikTok is the perfect solution. If you are interested in creating for TikTok, you need to set up a business account on their platform. The ads platform gives you the opportunity to target by age, gender, interests, location, and other distinguishing factors. You also have the option for daily or lifetime budgeting, and custom or lookalike audiences. TikTok has a minimum campaign budget of $500 and an ad group budget is $50.
Because the ads are still in their early stages, now is the perfect time to test out the platform.
TikTok has 1 billion users. Influencers, creators, and large companies are all on TikTok right now and you can be too. Hopefully, at this point, any TikTok doubt you have has slowly faded away because if you aren’t trying to make your mark on TikTok you’re missing out. When you think that TikTok isn’t for you, think about your audience, think about the value you can provide, think about innovating and stepping outside of your ‘normal. Give TikTok a try, you won’t regret it.
If you want to read more about current social media trends, check out our blog.
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