TikTok has over 100 million active users per month in the United States, making it an ideal choice for your next social media marketing strategy. The social media platform offers various features to increase brand engagement, and there may be little competition on the app, depending on your industry.
So, how effective is TikTok for marketing? Here’s an overview of what we’ll cover in this guide to answer your question:
- What is TikTok marketing?
- Benefits of using TikTok for marketing
- How to create an effective TikTok marketing strategy
What is TikTok marketing?
TikTok marketing involves using TikTok to promote your product, service, or brand. The platform allows brands to engage with consumers, improve brand awareness, and advertise and sell products and services. Three popular TikTok marketing strategies include:
- TikTok advertising: TikTok advertising involves paying to show your target audience promoted content.
- TikTok influencer marketing: Influencer marketing involves partnering with TikTok influencers in your niche to encourage the use of your products or services.
- Organic content: Organic content is the creation of trend-driven original content used to promote products and services.
5 benefits of using TikTok for marketing
TikTok will improve your marketing strategies in various ways. Here are five benefits proving how effective TikTok is for marketing your brand.
- Choose from various ad types
TikTok ads are new to the platform and already rising in popularity because they allow you to create engaging advertisements that influence fast brand recognition and meet marketing needs. Five types of TikTok ads include:
- In-feed ads: These ads appear on the For You Page (FYP) in between other organic videos as users scroll.
- Branded hashtag challenges: This ad type allows you to start a challenge and build brand awareness through user-generated content (UGC) by asking users to post a video of themselves participating in the challenge and including the brand’s hashtag.
- TopView ads: This ad is the first in-feed video users see after opening the app, giving the ad a guaranteed three seconds of attention.
- Branded effects: Branded effects allow you to create shareable branded filters, stickers, and lenses to spread awareness through UGC.
- Branded takeover ads: These ads are the first advertisement users see when opening the app before any in-feed videos play, giving you a guaranteed five seconds of attention.
- Many TikTokers buy what they see on the app
The viewer-to-customer rate on TikTok is noteworthy, given that 49% of TikTok users have bought a product they saw on the platform. Users even have a hashtag they use when purchasing products they discover on TikTok called “TikTok made me buy it” — one of TikTok’s most famous product-based social media trends.
- Every video has a chance of going viral
Regardless of how many followers you have, all your videos have a chance of going viral because TikTok prioritizes presenting users with content from different creators every day. One of the best ways to go viral is by hopping on an existing trend or using the same music or hashtags those trending videos use.
- Influencer marketing boosts brand awareness
Working with popular or rising TikTok influencers is a great way to raise brand awareness. An influencer within your niche may promote your brand by making a video talking about the benefits of using your product or service and adding a link to your website in their caption to motivate viewers to make a purchase.
- TikTok provides analytics to monitor performance
TikTok provides an analytics feature that allows you to track followers, content, and visibility metrics and see how well your videos perform. This feature is available on TikTok Pro, which is free and only requires activation.
How to create an effective TikTok marketing strategy
One of the best ways to improve the success of your TikTok marketing strategy is by naturally fitting into the platform as an engaging creator. Here are five steps you should follow to create an effective TikTok marketing strategy.
- Get familiar with TikTok
Becoming an active TikTok user is the best way to educate yourself on how TikTok works and what content you should create. Watch branded content to get a feel for your ad preference and inspire creative ideas for engaging your audience.
- Define your target audience
Research and narrow down who your target audience is and then explore the type of content they would enjoy and engage with on TikTok. Start by considering the following factors to narrow down your audience and brainstorm content ideas:
- Location
- Gender
- Age
- Industry
- Interests
- Reasons to buy
- Audit business and content competition
Identify your competition and study the type of content they create and which ones attained significant engagement levels. It’s also critical to note which content received reduced levels of engagement to understand what content to avoid. A valuable practice for creating better content is building a SWOT analysis of competitors.
- Choose a promotion strategy
Find out what products and services you want to promote and how you will promote them on TikTok naturally. It will be helpful to explore what popular products on TikTok are similar to yours, try out various ad types, and measure their effectiveness by analyzing your TikTok metrics.
- Post regularly and track progress
Successful social media strategies follow a consistent content calendar and post regularly. Doing so helps increase your chances of virality and brand awareness. It will also help you see which videos foster more engagement. Tracking your progress through analytics will also guide you in improving your strategy to gain better views, likes, and comments.
Create an effective TikTok marketing strategy with Inbound Marketing Inc.
TikTok is a powerful tool for boosting your marketing efforts in a natural manner that viewers welcome. To streamline your brand’s TikTok presence, we recommend partnering with an expert TikTok marketing team that knows how to maximize brand engagement and awareness.
Inbound Marketing Inc. is a digital marketing agency that takes care of all your marketing needs. Our team of over 500 experts has generated over $3 billion in revenue for our clients and 7.8 million leads. To create an effective TikTok marketing strategy, contact us online or call us at 888-675-9886 today!