TikTok for Business: Your Guide to using TikTok

What is TikTok?

TikTok is a social media platform known for creating, sharing and discovering short videos. Young people primarily use the app, with 43% of users aged between 18 and 24 in 2021. Tiktok allows users to create and share globally across a community.

You can film various videos lip-syncing, dancing, or acting out sketches, and trending videos are popular. Videos are generally 15 seconds long; however, multiple clips can be connected for up to 60 seconds of footage. Recently, TikTok expanded the time limit to 3 minutes for longer videos recorded outside the app. TikTok also has video editing and customisation tools, and you can access a library of songs, effects, filters, and sound bites to add to videos. You can also “duet” with someone by replying to a video, creating a split-screen.

As a business owner, you need to keep up with trends, and TikTok is the future of social media. Tiktok now has 1 Billion monthly active users as of January 2022.

How to use TikTok for business

When used for a business, TikTok has two options for advertisement; an ad platform with paid ads or the option to create a profile and produce self-made videos. TikTok ads appear between videos on the app and are often creative and look similar in format to regular TikTok videos.

The majority of social media users do not have access to expensive cameras or equipment. Instead, content is made on phone cameras, giving an authentic natural feel to the videos, which users can relate to. Using the same approach for your business will provide your brand or company personality, and something people will relate to you.

Knowing that the platform’s highest users are young people, humorous and entertaining videos are the best way to engage. Keeping engagement and interest is vital; people will scroll past quickly if the content is not engaging. Users spend, on average, around 24 hours in a month on the app. TikTok is not the place for squeaky clean first impressions and neat edges; it’s a place for authentic entertainment, humour and fun. The app revolves around community engagement and hashtags. Research, find videos and content you enjoy, then recreate them to make it your own! Have fun with it.

Why use TikTok for business?

TikTok is the new growing trend that business owners need to get ahead on and can be very beneficial if used strategically. It allows you to grow a community and promote towards a new audience differently than you may have before.

TikTok is one of the most used social media platforms, rising in league with Facebook, Instagram and Youtube. It’s a popular way of advertising for companies wanting to reach a large audience. A large audience gives a higher chance of eyes on your ads, and Tiktok has 1.2 billion active users globally.

People are downloading and actively using the app and engaging with content. The average user spends 858 minutes per month on the app giving your business a chance to see high engagement.

TikTok gives you a chance to be creative and have fun with your business! It isn’t for being professional, clean and neat. To have a higher engagement, create relatable and enjoyable content. It’s a great way to advertise to a new range of audiences.

Advertising on Tiktok

There are five types of advertisements on TikTok, including in-feed ads, brand takeover, top view, branded hashtag challenge and branded effects.

Let’s have a look…

In-feed

In-feed ads are advertisements that pop up between videos seen whilst scrolling on the for you page. They work similarly to Snapchat or Instagram ads, are played in full screen and are skippable. It is essential to stop people scrolling straight past by making them seem similar to general videos seen on feeds. You can include multiple call to actions which can be 60 seconds or less. Encourage users to shop, download or visit websites straight from TikTok. Then measure their success through tracking clicks, impressions and engagement.

Brand takeover

TikTok brand takeovers are full-screen, high impact ads being the first things you see when opening the app. They are one of the best ads available on TikTok, directing the sales straight to the customer’s face, straight to your target audience. Not only appearing as you open the app, they can also be found within the for you page, seen as images, gifs or videos. Brand takeovers allow one brand to take over the app for the day. In addition, you can create ads that appear over the top of the app, like topview ads and even add embedded links to internal and external landing pages. These ads are non-skippable. The only downfall is that they are costly, so they may not be the best choice for smaller companies. But for larger companies, they are the best option for fast growth, reaching a large audience.

TopView

TopView ads are seen at the top of the for you page. They can be up to 60 seconds long and are the largest ad that TikTok offers. It is a valuable marketing tool and quickly grabs users’ attention, being at the top, and creating considerable awareness and engagement. This ad easily captures the user’s attention without competing for content drawing attention elsewhere.

Branded Hashtag Challenge

A branded hashtag challenge is an ad style where a brand will ask users to perform a specific task and tag them using a unique hashtag. Challenges are popular on social media and tend to go viral. They are a one of a kind ad exclusive to TikTok, are best for encouraging user-generated content and building brand awareness and are just tonnes of fun! They are great for collaboration and building relationships with the TikTok culture and community. Know your objectives and what you want to achieve from your challenge before posting for a higher chance of success.

Branded effects

TikTok branded effects allows companies to design custom filter or stickers on the app, similar to Snapchat’s branded lenses. People in their videos can then use these filters or lenses. Branded effects last up to 10 days and are great for getting users to interact and engage with you and have fun. It’s an effortless advertisement style that is definitely worth your time!

Conclusion

To sum up, we know that TikTok is a growing platform that can be a great advertising opportunity for businesses if used wisely and correctly. TikTok is a unique platform heavily focused on short, snappy videos that are primarily funny and silly. When posting, find the least heavy information content from your company to advertise, and you may just be surprised at the outcome! There are many ways to promote on TikTok, ranging from expensive paid apps to free self-created ones! Anyone can advertise on TikTok, be it by themselves or with one of the inpaid ads supplied by TikTok. TikTok has a high user rate and a very high engagement rate; it would be foolish to miss the opportunity.

Any questions? We offer TikTok management. Get in touch today!