As TikTok gains steady popularity in the world of social media, brands have started realizing its potential as a marketing tool. Top brands such as Samsung, Apple, Chevrolet, Amazon, and others have incorporated TikTok as a part of their marketing initiatives. With more than 90% of the TikTok videos having some form of product placement, TikTok is indeed a perfect platform to promote your business offering.
However, you need to understand that not every content creator gets viral on TikTok. Rather, there is no sure-shot path to getting viral on TikTok. Studies show that the most popular TikTok brands post videos 3.52 times a week.
By increasing the frequency of your posts and being consistent on the quality, you only increase your chances of getting viral. At the same time, we recommend that you invest your efforts in understanding how successful brands are leveraging TikTok in their growth story.
As a brand that is keen to make a mark on TikTok, you need to take a planned approach to video making. Knowing how brands are leveraging TikTok will put you at a competitive advantage.
53% of TikTok users who are engaged in the platform have uploaded at least one video in the past month. Thus, there is no dearth of video content in TikTok, and you need to be a cut above the rest if you want to make an impression. Here are some ways to get a good ROI on your video-making efforts.
Create Your Channel and Upload Relevant Videos
The biggest challenge in establishing your TikTok presence is taking the leap. Start by downloading the TikTok application from the AppStore or PlayStore, and sign up with your email id, mobile number, or social media accounts. You will be guided to verify the contact details with a one-time password.
Post successful validation, you will be prompted to enter a username and password. Ideally, the username should be your brand name or a phrase that people generally associate with your brand. For the final touches, add your brand logo as the profile picture and mention the company website in the TikTok bio section.
By now your TikTok profile is ready for videos. Post relevant content and try to be consistent in all your videos. The use of brand logos and brand colors is highly recommended. If possible, try to plan a posting schedule to ensure that your followers are served diverse content and that they do not get bored with your brand.
Look For Collaborations
TikTok is a social medium and collaborations are a welcome addition. 25% of the videos on this platform have an influencer or a celebrity. Identify influencers or micro-influencers who have popularity among your target audience. Then, send out friendly proposals outlining your plan for the collaboration. Collaborating on videos will help you expand your reach to potential customers and contribute to your sales.
If you have passionate customers who are satisfied with your business, request them for short testimonial videos. Such videos are genuine and appear more convincing to potential customers who are having a hard time making a purchase decision. Also, creating such videos require lesser effort as compared to coming up with innovative promotional content.
Timelapse Your Collection
As a brand, there may be situations where you have a lot to show to the audience. You need to understand that the attention span of the average internet user is dwindling by the day. To avoid boring them with long-form content, try to create time-lapse videos of your designs or products.
Add upbeat music to your TikTok video and color correct them to ensure that it catches the audience’s attention. Considering that 80% of TikTok videos have background music, your choice of music will play an instrumental role. When you add popular music to your videos, TikTok’s algorithm sees the video as viral content. That way, the video appears in the feed of more viewers, and you improve your brand reach.
The clothing brand, GUESS was one of the pioneers in leveraging timelapse TikTok videos in their #inmydenim campaign. Over the years, many small and large businesses have joined the bandwagon and used TikTok to connect with potential customers.
Showcase Events in Real-Time
The authentic appeal of TikTok is what sets it apart from other social media platforms. As a brand, you can leverage this by showcasing your events in real-time. For example, let us suppose that you are a product-based firm that is launching an innovative product. While it may not be plausible for you to invite all your followers to the physical launch event, you can always showcase it as a Live TikTok video. That way, your followers will feel included, and you can build a community around your business offering.
Similarly, educational brands can share in-campus videos of sports or cultural events to create a buzz. As these videos are filmed in real-time, they do not need any editing. This simplifies the process of video creation and gives you a good ROI.
Get Creative with Hashtags
Today, over 87.3% of all TikTok videos have at least one hashtag. These hashtags are an efficient way to help your video reach the correct target audience. While we do not encourage the addition of too many hashtags to a post, you do not need to restrict yourself to a single hashtag.
A look at the viral video content of TikTok will reveal that they have 3.26 hashtags on average. Understand that in TikTok the hashtags are a part of 150 characters that you can use on the caption. The use of too many captions will force you to compromise on the caption length and quality.
As a brand, you can make the most of hashtags by organizing hashtag challenges. In such a challenge, you will come up with a unique hashtag and encourage viewers to create videos with your products. The videos with the hashtag. As more people post videos with the hashtag, it will get viral and improve your brand reach.
Understand that branded video challenges are effective ways of promoting your business with minimal effort. Since the content will be filmed, edited, and shared by your followers, there is not much involved at your end. However, we recommend that you indulge in a hashtag challenge only after you have a certain number of followers.
Thus you see that with creativity, TikTok is an ocean of opportunity for brands. You do not need a huge marketing budget or a dedicated content studio to establish your TikTok brand presence. With proper planning, you can leverage user-generated content and live videos to establish an authentic digital presence.
Understand that the platform is relatively new and that there is ample room for experimentation. So, put on your creative hats and set out on the journey of TikTok brand marketing.
