How to take advantage of TikTok as a business
With over 500 million active users, TikTok is an entirely new beast of social media, which should not be ignored. In terms of users, it has surpassed the likes of LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and Snapchat, which is no small feat. To better understand its insane growth, it took Instagram 6 years to gain the same amount of users that TikTok reached in 3 years.
Garnering 1.5 billion downloads, it’s easy to see that TikTok is an ideal platform for brand promotion, through paid and organic advertising, as well as influencer marketing. In a more local perspective, 1.6 million Australians already use TikTok, with it unsurprisingly, being most popular among generation Alpha & Z. (Generation Alpha being those born from 2006 onwards).
Large brands have already taken advantage of paid advertising on TikTok, which can take the form of full screen video ads, which then transition to in-feed video, branded lenses, branded hashtags, and more. The successful use of organic content can be just as useful, such as this Orangetheory Fitness video that gained 255.5k views, without any advertising spend.
Almost all viral videos centre around humour and authenticity, which generally takes time and energy. However, presenting genuine wit, combined with a subtle brand reference, can generate a huge amount of awareness at zero cost.
Top 3 Benefits Of TikTok
Brand awareness / Community Presence
As mentioned above, TikTok presents a great opportunity to grow brand awareness. This is achieved through balancing general humorous content with brand promotion. A further benefit is how the TikTok algorithm takes into account location of the user. TikTik videos that were made in the same country, city or suburb as you, are prioritised in your feed. This can help connect with your local community in a completely unique way.
Conversions
Continuing from TikTok’s location based algorithm, connecting with prospects in your local area with videos, can turn into gym members and sign ups. This can be achieved through an address, or contact details on your profile page.
Early Advantage of TikTok Ads
Like all social media platforms, TikTok has developed ‘TikTok Ads’ to allow brands to pay for advertising. As TikTok is still in the early phases of paid media, there is less to no competition, which allows for more reach and engagement, at a lower CPM.
Top 3 Limitations Of TikTok
Virality of content
Each day, certain trends may go viral on TikTok, gaining millions of likes and views. However it’s safe to say that staying on top of these trends is difficult. You must know the ins and outs of pop culture, references, and the overall zeitgeist of internet meme culture. This is difficult to stay on top of, which may be seen as a barrier.
Lack of ad history performance
The lack of competition in the TikTok ad space also serves as a double edged sword. There’s less data, and a lack of consensus over the do’s and don’ts of TikTok ads.
Limitations of the medium
As TikTok is strictly video based content, you are not able to have text, or photo posts. This somewhat limits the content output, as well as making ads have a somewhat higher production cost.
As we’ve discussed most aspects of it, let’s take a look at some branded TikToks Below:
Summary
With it being such a new platform, most people are unsure, and unaware of how big it has truly become. It can seem daunting as well, with so many trends that change daily. However through diving in, and using the app, it becomes clear what the elements are to a viral video. Have some fun, grow your brand, and create some noteworthy content.