3 Ways To Use TikTok For Business

The increasing number of TikTok app downloads and daily active users have certainly caught your attention as a business owner or a marketing expert.

Any company that wants to integrate TikTok in their marketing channels should first consider whether its target audience hangs out on TikTok.

It is a well-known fact that this social media platform has become a lifeline for Gen Z and Millennials. According to statistics, 41% of tiktokers are aged between 16 and 24. If this is your audience, then you should give TikTok a chance.

There are 3 ways you can use TikTok to create buzz around your business:

1. Create and grow your own TikTok account,
2. Advertise on TikTok,
3. Collaborate with Influencers.

Set up your own TikTok business account

If your target audience is on TikTok, having a dedicated business profile is a necessity. Most popular brands such as Nike, Adidas, Amazon, NFL, Guess have been using TikTok for their campaigns for a long time.

How to create a business account

To create a business account, you should download the app and sign up as a regular user. You can create an account with either an email address, phone number or existing social media account.

When you are done with the sign up process, complete your profile by adding the required information:

1. Add a profile image,
2. Write a short bio,
3. Add your website link,
4. Link to your business Instagram or YouTube profiles.

It is highly recommended to switch to a Pro account. To do so, go to Settings>Manage my Account. On the very bottom, click on Switch to Pro Account.

The Pro Account gives you extra analytics features that help you analyze the performance of your video content and your profile. Later on, when you start creating your video content, you can head to the Analytics section and get insights on weekly and monthly views, number and demographics of followers, and other helpful data.

Advertising on TikTok

In early 2019, TikTok launched a beta version of its ads platform. It offers unique engagement solutions and immersive formats for brands to reach and grow their audience.

In the TikTok ad platform, we can distinguish 4 types of ad options:

1. in-feed native content,
2. brand takeovers,
3. hashtag challenges,
4. branded lenses.

In-feed ads are native ads similar to Instagram story ads. They appear in the feed as a part of the video queue when users are exploring content. The ad duration can be from 9 to 15 seconds.

Brand takeover ad option allows a brand to take over the app for a day to create images, GIFs, and videos. Whereas, only one brand per day can take over this ad format.

Brands can host sponsored hashtag challenges to promote their business. The challenge encourages users to share content on TikTok on the brand’s behalf to receive prizes. Challenges generally last 6 days.

Branded lenses are similar to Snapchat or Instagram filters. A branded lens is always displayed in TikTok’s trending section, and users can apply them to their videos.

Are you already excited to launch your first campaign on TikTok? Create a TikTok ad account to get started. You might need to check out if your country is eligible as it is still not available in a few countries.

Collaborating with TikTok Influencers

TikTok is an online space for people who demonstrate their life, their creativity and ideas through video content. Some creators produce unique content which enables them to stand out from the millions of users in the app.

Those popular accounts are the TikTok influencers. With their help, hundreds of brands have launched numerous successful campaigns on TikTok. These success stories show how strong and rapidly growing influencer marketing is on TikTok and why it’s time for you to be a part of the journey.

What is Influencer marketing?

But why influencer marketing? The research shows that a recommendation from a peer is more likely to influence the purchase decisions of Gen Z and Millennials than any form of digital ads.

This is to say, you may allocate $100k for your advertisement budget and get the same results you would have made by paying 10 times less to a group of young people making video content in their way.

To get started with influencer marketing on TikTok, you first have to do research and find influencers who can best transmit your brand story. Influencer Marketing Hub has put down together a really helpful list of platforms where you can find influencers.

At the same time, you should keep in mind that the relevance of an influencer is a higher priority compared to the number of their followers.

Influencers work hard to find their niche and it is even harder to nurture and grow their audience. And when they promote a message that does not align with their previous content, their audience will spot the fakeness in no time. In essence, sharing the same values should be your #1 criteria.

When you have selected the influencers, you will need to legalize your partnership. I highly recommend having a look at this article on key contract considerations for brands who are dealing with social influencers.

Lastly, there is no doubt that your brand has dozens of creative video ideas. But when it comes to influencer marketing, you should grant creative freedom to influencers who know how to persuade their audience the best.

Here are 8 influencer marketing campaigns that can inspire your next campaign on TikTok. Review the article(piece) to have a clearer idea of how the campaigns and overall TikTok work.