How to Incorporate TikTok into Your Marketing Strategy
TikTok is a rapidly growing social media platform that has changed the way we view video in the social media world. Short clips with trendy songs and popular hashtags serve as the framework leading to the platform's success. Let’s explore if TikTok is a social media platform worth investing in for your business.
As I discussed in my latest blog, TikTok is a platform for creativity, fun, and trends. Does this align with your business messaging? TikTok might be the right platform for you. First, let’s discuss how the for-you-page (otherwise known as the fyp) can promote your business.
The for-you-page is TikTok’s take on the Instagram explore page or the YouTube recommended page. Attempting to promote users exploring different channels and relatable content, TikTok uses its for-you-page to disburse videos to the masses. Getting on the for-you-page is the biggest challenge, but once your video takes off, views and engagements swiftly follow. If you’re wondering how to get your videos on the for-you-page, let me explain.
Quality content is key for any platform with TikTok being no exception. Along with this, consistency will produce results. Posting on TikTok may seem overwhelming, but for popular users, the bare minimum posting schedule should be three or more times per day. The more you post, the higher chance your video will hit the for-you-page. Remember, quality must be within every consistent video. If you post videos that are not quality simply to remain consistent, followers will unfollow. Maintaining and pleasing your fans is important, so make sure you're posting quality content as consistently as you can. Don’t worry about timing, just get those videos out there!
Trends, trends, trends, this is what TikTok is all about. This platform is heavily focused on trending songs, hashtags, transitions, and actions. Let’s dive into each element of trends on TikTok.
Songs: Music on TikTok can completely change the niche or “vibe” you are looking to attract. Various songs are known on TikTok as “sounds”. If you’re new to the platform, try to find users that attract a similar clientele and take inspiration from their sound choices. Similar to hashtags, users can scroll through videos associated with a specific sound. Use them to your advantage as sounds can be a useful tool for increasing reach.
Hashtags: Within the social media realm, hashtags have been used as direct routes to find new content and users. With TikTok, you will see hashtags on almost every video. The trick is determining which and how many hashtags to use. When tying hashtags to a video, try to use between four and six varied tags that are relevant to your niche. TikTok will allow for around 20 to 30 hashtags depending on character lengths, but this will crowd and distract from your video. Staying refined and concise will help the perfect user find you.
Transitions: You may be wondering what I mean by transitions. To keep it simple, transitions are a way of moving and editing in order to make a video look smooth and captivating. Popular users on TikTok create new transitions that become trending with millions of users following. Though transitions are hard to master, your business only needs to gather the skills needed to perform the simplest of transitions. This will help videos become more appealing and attract a wider range of users.
Actions: Dances, movements, and processes would all fall under the “actions” category within TikTok trends. Though this is vague, when opening TikTok, actions and trends start to blend together. For example, a new dance may arise from a popular user. This dance is then deemed to be trending as many other users will copy it and post a version of their own. With businesses, various actions can be seen in this same light. In recent times, businesses are showing the behind-the-scenes processes of packaging up an order. Oftentimes, the order is from a user that follows their account. We typically see this from smaller shops such as those on Etsy but larger companies have seen success using this trend as well. Take a peak at what other business owners are posting and try to gather inspiration from them.
Though TikTok can seem overwhelming, it becomes much more simple once you get the hang of it. If you think this platform can help boost your business, try it out for yourself. Experimenting in the marketing world is how we find new ways to attract consumers and convert. Keep these tips in mind and you should be set for your first trending TikTok video!
Guest Blogger: FFM Intern Makenzie Anderson
Makenzie was born and raised in Olympia, Washington. In high school, she completed her first two years of college through the Running Start Program. This has allowed her the path to graduate with a Bachelors of Marketing and Advertising, with a minor in Entrepreneurship Studies, in 2021. Through her internship with FFM, she hopes to gain the skills needed to work remotely in social media marketing
