One cannot underestimate TikTok’s power these days. Through TikTok, brands reach a wider demographic of audiences, particularly Gen Z. The platform can be leveraged to enhance brand recognition, and increase virality of video marketing campaigns with bite-sized, snackable content.
I would say that TikTok has profoundly influenced pop culture worldwide and can help businesses or brands that are looking to capitalize on popular trends for marketing.
The purpose of this post is to discuss why brands should invest in TikTok marketing and provide some helpful tips for making the most of the platform. From garnering loyal audiences to building a strong brand identity, you will find that TikTok is quite useful for it’s features and content formats.
(We will also mention some successful brand examples, so read until the end!)
Why Consider TikTok Marketing?
Social media is dominated by short-form video – and TikTok is its leader. According to a recent social media marketing report, 44 percent of marketers have said their companies are active on the platform. Before you jump on the bandwagon, you need to consider if it’s the right fit for your brand as well and strategize for an effective TikTok marketing campaign.
For brands or businesses looking to diversify their content distribution and create engaging videos, this can be a very useful tool. Here are a few reasons to consider marketing on TikTok and using videos to educate or convert potential customers.
– Consumable Content Format
With short-form video content, you can easily increase your online presence and showcase your business’s offerings to your audience.
– Segmented Audience
A digital marketing strategy created by SEO professionals will incorporate every social media site – whereas a TikTok marketing strategy will only focus on TikTok.
– Multi-Channel Distribution
You can repurpose your TikTok videos for Reels, Instagram Stories, and YouTube Shorts to attract a broader audience.
– Higher Reach
A TikTok account with a handful of followers generates millions of views on a video, unlike other platforms where your account must have a massive following to get popular. (Users may still see views and engagement decline if their account has been shadow-banned.)
– Emerging Consumers
It must be noted that Gen-Z is not the only demographic that uses TikTok. Although the platform is popular among 18-25 year olds, it is also gaining traction with other age groups. So you can boost brand recognition among new potential customers by featuring your logo design or company visuals in videos.
Although TikTok marketing may seem a bit tricky to master at first. But once you are able to understand what your audience prefers and interacts with, you can see a high ROI in a short time. It has also has a strong global user base. By April 2024, TikTok reported over 121 million users in the United States.
Image Source: statista.com
Due to the quirky nature of TikTok, brands must be creative with their social media storytelling campaigns to attract their audiences’ attention. This fast-paced app might not work well with a simple advertisement or sponsored endorsement by an influencer. Now, let’s take a look at some TikTok marketing tips you can implement for your brand.
7 TikTok Marketing Strategies to Try
Take a look at some of these TikTok marketing strategies that might help you breakthrough on this platform. It is unlikely that you will create ‘viral’ content right away, but hopefully, you will get to see great results.
1. Optimize Your TikTok Profile
You should completely optimize your profile with a clear bio, branded hashtag and CTA like ‘follow for more information’ or ‘visit our website’. Integrate your visual brand elements with the account to be recognizable.
For an effective TikTok Marketing strategy, it is important to optimize your business account and follow the steps below.
Add a photo or video to your profile. You can customize the profile avatar. A high resolution brand logo of any type goes a long way in optimizing accounts for better recognition.
Name of your business. Enter your brand name with which you want people to identify you.
Username. Please include your business name that has unique characters to optimize for TikTok search.
A brief biography. You can summarize your business description 80 characters and add industry keywords that you want to rank for. Make sure it’s engaging and relevant for your audience.
Email Address. Enter the email address of your company’s contact person.
Nonprofit Label. You can tag nonprofit organizations with which your business is affiliated or supports using your profile.
Category or Niche. Select the category representing your industry if you have not already done so when creating your business account.
Social media Integration. Ensure your TikTok profile contains links to your Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube accounts.
Automated Responses. You may also set up an auto-message wto response to queries in DMs — select Business Suite from the hamburger menu, then Auto message from the Business Suite menu. In addition, once you reach 1,000 followers, you can add the link of your professionally designed website to your profile.
2. Segment your Core Audience
The key to success with TikTok marketing is knowing who and which demographic you wish to reach before anything else. With audience segmentation, you can make sure that your marketing campaign reaches the right group of people and generates the desired result.
Otherwise, you can reach many people and engage them. Still, the effort will not lead to any sales or subscriptions for your business, which may be enjoyable but doesn’t contribute to its profitability.
In terms of its audience, TikTok caters primarily to younger individuals. Approximately 17.3 percent of TikTok users are women in the age range of 18-24 years, while about 19.3 percent of the audience is made up of men.
Image Source: statista.com
For effective segmentation, create a customer persona that reflects your business’ target audience and implement your TikTok marketing strategy for a high ROI.
3. Create Vertical and High-Quality Videos
To make a successful video for the platform, you must learn the format and viewing settings. The first step involves doing some research on your own. Take the time to familiarize yourself with TikTok and browse through the videos shown in your “For You” section unless you are a frequent viewer. The, shoot videos vertically and in full-screen mode for the best quality.
It is crucial to prioritize user experience as that converts more than any TikTok marketing tactic. Most commonly, the videos are shot in a 9:16 ratio as that makes a strong visual impact on the users. If you consider some of the most viral campaigns on the platform by Airbnb or Duolingo, you will see how the video quality led to memorable content.
There are also quite a few travel marketing campaigns on TikTok that have worked well. To find inspiration for content, you can look at what’s trending on the TikTok Discover page. This section contains various popular hashtags, sound bytes, and accounts.
You should test different video types on TikTok to determine which will most likely appeal to your audience. The key to a successful profile is diversity. Consider recording your team in the creation process. Provide a demonstration of your product’s features. Use popular sound bytes to create funny videos.
4. Run Short and Persuasive Paid Ads
You should devote resources to TikTok ads to reach a broader audience through social media advertising. Similarly, as Facebook and Instagram ads are priced based on bids, these costs are based on bids too. The process begins with selecting your target audience, creating a funny video ad, and finally promoting it based on the budget you have specified for the campaign.
Keep the video ad short and creative, with an urgent CTA that convinces people to find more information about your product or service. Make sure the content is educational or engaging enough to evoke the interest of the viewers. This strategy can help you drive your TikTok marketing campaign to success.
5. Promote with Influencer Collaborations
Using influencers for TikTok marketing is another popular tactic. Through TikTok, thousands of social media influencers and content creators create fun, engaging videos for brands to share on their social channels, spread the word about other brands, and encourage their followers to buy from them.
You can find quite a few popular influencers in the fashion industry for instance who work regularly work different clothing or shoe brands. They are one of the most important fashion brand marketing resources of today for raising awareness and attracting Gen Z buyers.
Below are a few tips for marketing with TikTok influencers:
Find Niche Influencers. Collaborate with a micro-influencer to promote different products or service. If you have a limited budget, you can receive a shout-out in one of their unboxing or merch videos.
Shoot Branded Videos. Create videos that feature your product exclusively. These videos can get expensive so you need to keep that in mind.
Launch a New Product or Service. Introduce a product or service in collaboration with a celebrity or influential person that they can market to their followers and receive a share of the revenue. It’s a win-win situation, but you should always work with highly relevant influencers in your niche.
6. Monitor Analytics to Optimize Campaigns
Keep an eye on the analytics or business insights for your TikTok marketing campaigns. By monitoring them closely, you can change or remove elements from your videos that are not working. This can help you optimize your campaign to generate high impressions and engagements.
Track the analytics or insights with tools for the best results. You can also access the metrics provided by the platform. This feature is only available if you switch to a business account. Still, it can be invaluable in identifying the most popular videos and posting at the ideal time each day.
The following metrics are among the most important to track:
Views of the video
The rate of growth
Trending Videos
Average viewing time
7. Jump on Relevant Trends
Unless you are Ryan Reynolds, chances are that you may not have a lot of views or impressions by creating videos on popular trends. But if done right, your brand could be the next Duolingo on TikTok! When it comes to TikTok marketing, it is important to hop on trends that are align with your brand’s purpose or mission.
For instance, Ubank created a video from a popular trend that quickly saw hundreds of comments.
@Girl On Couch Found him
The audio was relevant to their industry and gave them an opportunity to get creative with their content.
If you are looking to follow trends, try to look for ways that you can incorporate visual elements like relevant colors or your brand mascot if there is one.
Viral TikTok Marketing Campaigns
Now that you understand TikTok marketing tips, let’s look at some of the famous brands that have implemented them and found success.
1. Duolingo
Among the most talked about brands on TikTok is Duolingo (I’ll never stop talking about this!) What is the secret to their success? Other than their mascot, Duo the owl, it’s their unforgettable content. The brand is known for keeping up with the latest trends on the platform and allowing their social media team to go wild with their creativity.
But TikTok’s marketing strategy goes beyond humorous videos. Furthermore, they are very active with engagement, continually participating in the discussions on the videos of other companies and creators to build their community.
@duolingo sad g(owl) hours #duoplushie #duolingo #languagelearning #emo
Pro tip: Go with animal logos or bird icons which can work well as memorable mascots.
2. Marc Jacobs
When it comes to making an impact with their TikTok marketing, Marc Jacobs has got it right. Their collaboration with influencers to create the ‘Perfect as I am’ campaign helped them attract a lot of new customers and connect with Gen Z successfully.
It had emotions, a positive message and encouraged people to share their experiences as well. This marketing strategy also saw a lot of impressions from UGC (user-generated content) on the platform.
@sofiawylie I am PERFECT! Join the #PerfectAsIAm challenge by duetting @rickeythompson ‘s video and show the world your PERFECT self! #MJPerfect #fyp
Pro tip: Promote a social cause that aligns with your brand and involve niche creators.
3. Chipotle
The TikTok marketing strategy employed by Chipotle is an ideal fit for businesses operating in similar niches like the food industry. Before working on your strategy, make sure you get attractive food logos designed so potential customers can identify your brand easily on the platform.
By partnering with other popular creators, they have grown their audience on the platform. As a result of working with comedy creators, they can build their brand by association with their comedy and reach audiences who are also humor-loving.
i’m working late, cuz i’m Chipotle
Pro tip: Go behind-the-scenes and leverage employee humor for relatibility.
4. Nuggs
As an online favorite for plant-based chicken nuggets, Nuggs produces snappy and culturally relevant content for a younger generation audience. They produce intentionally low-resolution videos featuring their social media manager, which give the impression that you are watching one of their favorite comedians. That’s how it works.
Nuggs’ keen sense of community awareness contributes to their success with TikTok marketing. A brand is aware of what their fans are doing – which TV shows they are watching, what fashion trends they are following, and even situations that they consider embarrassing.
It’s a company secret
♬ Horror, suspense strange sound – DN.FACTORY
Pro Tip: Find a central character or person to drive your campaign and look for trends.
5. Fenty Beauty
On TikTok, tutorials are among the top content types. Some brands are better suited to this content than others, but one of the best examples is Fenty Beauty. This brand utilizes the platform to post makeup tutorials, trial videos, and product announcements to its profile.
Other than Rihanna’s star power, Fenty’s TikTok marketing strategy centers around promoting valuable content. To create short, snappy videos, you can consider any paid or free social media marketing tools.
Turnin’ up the volume with this blowout @Becca Mader uses The #ProtectiveType for more than just the heat protection. The #ProtectiveType smooths, detangles, reduces frizz + adds shine to hair. Replenicore-5 has always-on repair, EVEN when you’re heat styling. Shop the 5-in-1 heat protectant styler at fentyhair.com!
♬ original sound – Fenty Beauty
Pro Tip: Create a step-by-step tutorial that lasts around 60 seconds for best results.
6. Gymshark
This brand puts out a a variety of exercise challenges, motivational fitness stories, and relatable fitness humor to make the gym a more pleasant experience.
A famous TikTok campaign by the brand is the 66 Days: Change Your Life challenge, which emphasizes how habits form over 66 days. TikToker users submitted videos of their workout journeys to win a Gymshark membership.
Roughly 45.5 million impressions were generated by the hashtag #gymshark66, making the campaign an overwhelming success.
#gymshark66 day 52 @gymshark would you believe me if I said I got to 11 but I ran out of storage so nothing recorded & I had to redo it
♬ Just Wanna Rock – Lil Uzi Vert
Pro tip: Introduce a motivation challenge or contest for a UGC campaign.
7. Scrub Daddy
Scrub Daddy is a company that produces cleaning products that make videos about sponges entertaining. Its videos typically receive between 10,000 and 150,000 likes on TikTok, which has over 4 million followers.
This brand has enjoyed great success with its TikTok marketing strategy due to its humor and ability to integrate its products into various TikTok trending topics. Keeping a constant pulse on TikTok trends and challenges ensures that Scrub Daddy’s content remains current and relevant.
Smiling… And Watching. #scrubdaddy #cleantok #cleaningtiktok #americasfavoritesponge #smile
♬ original sound – Scrub Daddy
Pro Tip: Be creative with product placement in your videos and add trending audios.
8. Crumbl Cookies
The cookie company is known for their unique TikTok marketing videos that feature different menu items.
Potential customers can learn about the business and the business can generate interest in the unique cookie flavors. All their videos have high-quality shots of the items that can leave the viewer craving for more!
Pro Tip: Take professional product photos and create a montage featuring each one.
With TikTok marketing, brands can reach a younger audience and provide them with exposure in a highly playful environment. Creating exciting content is key to success on the platform, so prepare to experiment with new formats and embrace your creativity. Make sure you create a logo for your social media profile that can feature as the display.
The post How TikTok Marketing Can Help Brands Succeed appeared first on ZD Blog.
