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In the last few years, TikTok has taken the internet by storm.
In just four years, the video-based app has amassed over 3 billion downloads and penetrated a third of all social media users across the globe, something which took Facebook and Instagram almost a decade to achieve.
What was once just a tool for teens to post videos of themselves lip syncing to popular songs has now become a space for people of all ages to create a wide range of content and trends that go viral.
Savvy businesses everywhere are also jumping on the bandwagon, using TikTok as a new platform for social media marketing.
So how can you get in on the action and what exactly makes a good TikTok content strategy? Keep reading to find out…
If you aren’t already familiar with TikTok, the first thing you should do is get to know the platform and understand how it works.
The best way to do this is to use the app yourself and get to grips with it, but if you don’t even know where to start, here’s a general summary:
When users open the app, a video automatically starts playing on their ‘For You’ page.
This is a feed which is generated by TikTok based on the user’s interests and similar videos to the ones they have shown interest in previously.
This means the more an individual uses the app, the more tailored the content becomes as it learns what they like and don’t like.
Users typically scroll through the 'For You' page, much more than they do the 'Following' page, which shows content only from accounts they have followed.
To create or post a video, a user can either click the ‘+’ button at the bottom of their screen or press ‘Use this sound’ from a video on their feed.
This brings up a camera for the user to record their video in the app as well as the option to select videos and photos from their Photos app.
Once the user has chosen a sound and either recorded or selected their videos (up to 3 minutes), they can then edit the clips together and add text, filters, stickers and video & sound effects.
From there, they can either choose to post it or save it to their drafts to post another time.
When exploring the app yourself, take note of which sounds, effects and hashtags are trending.
Once you’ve been down the TikTok rabbit hole for a while, you’ll start to notice prominent trends that do well on the app.
What are your goals when it comes to marketing? Maybe you’re looking to:
Who are you hoping to reach? Before you begin to create content, take a look at TikTok’s demographics and make sure your target audience falls under it.
Don’t just write TikTok off as a teens app, look at the statistics.
In the chart above showing the distribution of the TikTok influencer audience in the UK in 2021 by Statista, we can see that the TikTok age demographic is as follows:
This shows that ¾ of the TikTok influencer demographic is actually over the age of 18, with the greatest demographic being aged between 18 and 24 years old.
Another thing to consider is your audience’s location. It’s worth noting that TikTok has been banned in India, so if that’s where your audience is, TikTok likely isn't the platform for you.
Once you have identified your target audience, take the time to research what types of content they like and engage with. Then start to brainstorm content ideas for your brand.
The way in which brands use TikTok can differ significantly from the way in which they use other platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.
For example, Ryanair has created an incredibly effective strategy that has gained them 1.5M followers.
Once they established that comedic content worked well, they then introduced the same type of posts on their Instagram.
Depending on your industry, you might be able to find your competitors on TikTok and see what they’re doing well and not so well, such as the sounds and hashtags they use and the trends they take part in.
You can then take the best parts from their strategy and improve it to make it more specific to your company.
When you have got a strategy, you can start creating your TikTok videos.
Once you’ve posted your video, make sure to share it with your existing followers on other social media platforms, either by posting a story or reposting the TikTok video as a ‘Reel’ on Instagram or a ‘Watch’ on Facebook.
This lets your followers know you’re now on TikTok, and you can start to grow a following.
This will also help TikTok to determine the type of people who are most likely to be interested in your company and will show your videos on their For You pages, helping you to gain a very relevant following.
As with any other social channel, it’s all about learning from your own posts.
Once you have published a few videos, you should be able to use your insights to determine what works well and what doesn’t.
If a video of just your product/service hasn’t done so well, but a video of your team working on it behind the scenes has performed excellently, it’s clear that audiences are more interested in the human aspect of your business.
You can then use this insight to come up with other content ideas, such as weekly product reviews from each team member.
Don’t be too disheartened if your content doesn’t perform too well to begin with. TikTok is still a relatively new app and it’s very different from other platforms, so it can take a while to get the hang of it.
It’s also important not to worry too much about the number of followers you have. Going viral on TikTok isn’t dependent on your following and accounts with as little as 3 followers.
On 25th September 2020, Nathan Apodaca (@dogface208) - a user with hardly any followers- posted a video after his car broke down, so he took his skateboard to work.
Nathan filmed himself skateboarding to work, singing along to “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac and drinking Ocean Spray’s cran-raspberry juice from the bottle.
The TikTok video went viral, getting a million views within 24 hours and has since gained 13.2 million likes and 70 million views.
If you have been posting for a while and find that none of your existing content is working, it might be time to take a different approach.
Sit down with your team and brainstorm a few ideas on how to get your business seen and heard on TikTok.
Last year, Jammie Dodgers hosted a scavenger hunt by posting a video on TikTok that challenged TikTok users in certain locations around the UK to find a sticker to win a year’s worth of Jammie Dodgers.
This was a fun, interactive challenge that generated lots of engagement from those locations as people set out on the hunt.
This was a large-scale scavenger hunt across the UK, however, you can scale this down to just your local area such as Manchester and make sure to use hashtags relevant to the area e.g. #Manchester #Piccadilly #Oxford Road #Deansgate etc.
If you still can’t quite get the hang of TikTok, it may be worth consulting professional help from a marketing agency such as Statuo.
We’re always looking out for the latest trends and content ideas and can help you to run a successful campaign to meet your goals, whether that be to increase brand awareness, engagement, reaching new audiences or making more conversions.
Check out our recent case study to find out how we helped Wigan & Leigh College to run a successful TikTok campaign challenge.
For expert help with creating your TikTok strategy, get in touch with our team today.
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