Ways Brands Can Make Use of TikTok in Their Marketing

This is a guest post from Invideo, which allows you to create stunning videos, easily.

TikTok began a revolution with excellent prospects of using it as a marketing tool for B2B and B2C categories of businesses. It is the pioneer in short format videos with scores of downloads and users. The popularity and scope for business can be understood by the widespread addition of short video options at leading social media channels such as Instagram Reels, Facebook Short Videos, YouTube Shorts, etc.

We will explain how TikTok works, its marketing methods, and ways for brands to use the platform for business strategies.

What is TikTok? 

ByteDance owned, Tiktok is a short video-focused social networking service provider. In China, it is known as Duoyin. People from all walks of life can create and share funny, educational, creative, dance, and several other genres of videos. The duration of the video should be 15 minutes to three minutes. It was introduced in September 2016 for the Chinese market and launched for Android and iOS systems in 2017.

TikTok went global after merging with Music.ly on 2nd August 2018. It is also a Chinese social media service provider company.

Why do businesses need TikTok marketing?

Before we start analyzing significant reasons for using TikTok for marketing campaigns, let us share a few authoritative points from HubSpot and Neil Patel to make the analysis more relevant.

According to HubSpot, TikTok offers excellent engagement and growth potential for brands. The platform with short videos on loop with sound and music effects has crossed the one billion mark recently.

Neil Patel also advocates using TikTok for marketing as it offers great prospects. He has given several tips and tricks for brands to use the short video app for their business. According to his blog, the video platform has more than 100 million active users in a month within the USA. 

Reasons to use TikTok marketing for business

• Research says more than 38 percent of the TikTok users are aged above 30 years. It means businesses can target a wider section of the population, not only youngsters, contrary to common belief.
• Another reason for TikTok marketing is low competition. B2B and B2C businesses are yet to tap the unlimited opportunities on this platform. It means you can get affordable ad rates and a larger customer base.
• Celebrities, politicians, and commoners, everyone is on TikTok. Businesses can do target marketing and get the clients and customers according to the product and service segment. In addition, influencers on TikTok are comparatively cheaper than on other social channels, so you will save a lot on the marketing budget also with the platform.

How can brands use TikTok for an effective digital marketing strategy?

Businesses can leverage the TikTok platform through the following methods and approaches.

1. Influencer marketing

A highly effective, affordable strategy with great returns, influencer marketing can boost your business significantly. Though this method of marketing is desirable for all businesses, it is a must for startups or if you are expanding your business.

Influencer marketing is promoting your brand through an influencer on a social media platform. Here the platform is TikTok. People with lakhs of followers make videos around your brand and post from their accounts. They make it interactive and interesting in their signature style.

TikTok influencer marketing sends a brand message to a wider audience with an affordable marketing budget.

2. Trendy content for marketing

As a business owner or the person responsible for social media marketing, search for recent trends and the highest shared videos. Make your original content and integrate the message with the hottest trends on TikTok.

People are already enjoying the music, structure, etc., use it for your business benefit.

3. Paid advertisement

TikTok offers a ready audience base that you can target by creating an advertisement and running it on the platform. Currently, the short video-making app provides five options for ad making.

• Branded Hashtags
• In-feed Ads
• Branded effects
• Top view Ads
• Brand Takeover

Marketers can customize ad options and target audiences according to the brand. You can adjust demographics, the objective for the campaign, etc.

TikTok in-feed ads should not exceed the time limit of normal videos. 

It is advisable to make ads of nine to fifteen seconds for the optimum impact and maximum viewership.

4. TikTok Optimization

Optimize the content to reach and convert your target audience. Use hashtags such as #socialmediamarketing, #B2Btips, #B2Ctricks etc. Hashtags should be part of all videos on the platform with relevant information so that when customers visit the landing page, they find the ad-specific content. You also need to customize the homepage to make TikTok marketing successful.

Examples of TikTok Marketing Campaigns from Leading Brands

Nothing explains like real-life examples, so we have shortlisted a few brand campaigns on TikTok to further clarify ways to promote your business on this short video on-loop web application.

1. NBA

The NBA roped in Steph Curry from the Golden State Warriors for their TikTok account. The aim was to target younger people through relatable, funny videos like players dancing on popular music numbers, dancing in the game court, interaction with fans on the go, etc.

2. Dunkin

Dunkin’s TikTok marketing campaign with mega influencer Charli D’Amelio was an excellent example of influencer marketing. With this campaign, Dunkin saw a 20 percent spike in sales and a 57 percent increase in downloads.

3. The Washington Post

The Washington Post used TikTok to post comedy videos based on current and breaking news. They used different special effects and comic hashtags to make the news interesting for all generations.

4. Indian Brands Doing TikTok Marketing Campaigns

Companies in India using TikTok marketing campaigns include Pepsi India, Zomato, Lays India, FoodFood, Hopscotch, and many more.

In a recent event, International Cricket Council launched #CricketWorldCup on their TikTok account. In a couple of days, viewership reached 9.9 billion. Later the OTT platform, Hotstar also joined the trend and posted some cricket moments on their TikTok account. Their account also reached 26.9 thousand followers in a few days.

Conclusion

In this blog, we have explained ways that brands can use TikTok for their marketing strategy with reasons and examples. In functioning, it is a little different from traditional social channels, and you need to do some research to get used to it. 

That said, once you understand the features and marketing options, start working on a stunning TikTok marketing campaign. Due to its immense popularity, strategically using this platform is bound to make you excel in your B2B or B2C enterprise.