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When you think about social media, what are the first platforms that come to mind? I bet it's Facebook and Instagram, eh?
Nowadays, however, many businesses are realising that another platform is becoming increasingly important – TikTok. If you aren’t familiar with TikTok (formerly known as Musical.ly), it is a social media platform which allows users to create short videos that include popular music and add their own captions, filters and drawings.
Whether you love or loathe it, TikTok is quickly becoming a very vital marketing tool for businesses across all sectors and industries, with over 1.53 billion users as of 2023. However, many businesses don’t know how to utilise this platform to its full potential.
Here are some of our tips and tricks to help you get the most out of this platform!
CONSISTENCY
Be consistent with your posting. There are many rumours going around with the the best suggestions on how many videos you should be posting per week for the best for engagement and growth on TikTok. But the truth of it is daily posting will always be something that we should be considering for any platform we're using to keep relevant and ahead of the competition. The only thing you need to ensure you're doing is creating content that "makes sense" to your audience. Posting randomly just for the sake of it may do the opposite of what we want to do.
FOLLOWERS
Don’t be disheartened if you don’t gain followers! TikTok uses an algorithm that promotes videos to accounts that watch similar content, rather than boosting videos to followers. This means that followers do not equate to views and vice versa. The thing that boosts videos more than anything is the content, rather than the creator. The majority of accounts that come up on our FYP are small – medium-sized creators, and many times these creators feel a lot more genuine and honest than creators with hundreds of thousands of followers. This is especially important if you are trying to promote a product/service as viewers need to, first of all trust, you and your brand before even considering purchasing from you.
CONTENT
As we spoke about with consistency you need to ensure you are posting content relevant to your brand. This is so that your videos are pushed to people that may be interested in your brand i.e., people that could become customers. If you post content that isn’t relevant to your niche, your viewers may be people that would never shop from your brand. However, don’t feel like you cannot post trends etc, just make sure that you are not posting things wildly unrelated to your brand.
It can also be beneficial to post content about yourself and help your viewers/followers to put a face to the brand. Going back to what we said about trust, posting content like this can really help. We find that brands that post things like ‘days in the life’, seem a lot more relatable and engaging to follow than brands that solely post promotional content to sell their products.
Also, make sure you are intentional about the length of your videos. Although it shows that videos longer than 54 seconds get more views, this is only the case if the video is engaging for this length of time. Don’t post long-winded videos that are uninteresting to viewers just because that is what the stats say, make sure that every second of your videos is relevant, engaging, and intentional.
TikTok makes it so easy for viewers to swipe and move on to a new video and if your video is not engaging, this is what viewers will do. Videos must capture the attention of viewers in the first few seconds otherwise they won’t stay to see it through.
Another great, though risky, way to get engagement on your videos is to post some controversial content. Now we’re not suggesting that you post anything offensive, rude or derogatory, but something harmless that will get people debating in your comments can really boost your videos. Many trends are based on celebrity controversies such as Selena Gomez vs Hailey Bieber, Jeffery Star being cancelled and the Johnnie Depp vs Amber Heard Trial. Or, you could go down another route of controversial topics such as pineapple on pizza, chocolate being kept in the fridge or not, or whether the toilet paper should be over or under. Remember to keep this kind of TikTok light-hearted and fun, as you won’t get very far if your brand gets cancelled!
TRENDING SOUNDS
Don’t underestimate the power of trending sounds! I’m sure any TikTok user would tell you that when a sound is viral, it seems like every other video on the FYP is using it. This can have a positive and negative effect on the views on your videos. Firstly, it can put your video on the FYP of lots of users, which can increase your views, engagement, and followers. However, if the sound is ‘overused’, people may start getting sick of the sound and skip your video instantly. It is important to find the balance between a trending sound, and a sound that every creator has been and is using.
There are also many trending sounds that can be changed to be related to your brand. For example, the trending sound ‘Everybody told me that I sound like CG5’ could be used by any brand and applied to their niche.
Remember, trending sounds are NOT a guaranteed ticket to going viral, though when you are starting on your TikTok journey they can be a helpful tool to get you on the FYP.
Potentially the most important thing about creating content on TikTok is that you are creating content that you enjoy! If viewers pick up that you are not creating content because you WANT to but because you HAVE to, they likely won’t enjoy your content either. If you think you are creating content for the sake of it, it probably won’t work.
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