02 Apr How To Use TikTok For Business In 2021 – Influencer Marketing Tips
Summary
TikTok has been creating a buzz in the last few years and continues to grow every single day. Let’s recap, TikTok was launched in 2016 as a video platform where people could share and edit videos. Since then it has garnered an impressive following and is currently used in more than 150 countries. TikTok for Business can drastically help your brand or company acquire new customers and clients.
The TikTok trend is predominantly leaning towards the younger generations. To get an insight as to why most content creators and influencers are moving to TikTok, it’s important to understand that the consumer chart indicates most of the customers are from the younger generation (Gen Z & Millennials).
Source: Sensor Tower
As the platform TikTok continues to surge in popularity, many brands are considering the ways that this platform is shaping culture and relevant conversations, and want to get in on the opportunity to increase their brand awareness. Many new updates are on the horizon for TikTok every week nowadays. TikTok is one of the fastest-growing platforms and currently has 800 million active users worldwide, which even puts TikTok ahead of popular platforms such as LinkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest, and Twitter. By comparison, it took Instagram six years before it had the number of active users that TikTok does. TikTok has been downloaded over 2 billion times on the App Store and on Google Play. The app reached 1 billion downloads by February 2019 and reached half a billion more downloads in just under eight months. With such a rapid growth rate occurring, there are truly endless opportunities for brands to activate influencer marketing campaigns on TikTok for Business.
Here are some tips on how to include TikTok in your influencer marketing strategy.
1. Understand how TikTok works
Generally, there are two main areas, the “For You Page”, and the “Following” page. Once you launch the app, you are taken directly to the For You Page (FYP).
For You Page
On the “For You Page” you can see some of the trending videos and the top video creators. As you explore the app and start following other people you can see more content. Nonetheless, one of the unique aspects of the app that makes it an attractive tool for influencer marketing is that you don’t need to follow anyone in order to have a great user experience.
Following Page
The following tab, instead, will show you the latest video created by TikTokers you follow. If you are interested in checking out the latest trends and the most amazing hashtag challenges, you can do it on the Discover page.
2. Paid Advertisements on TikTok for Business
If you are interested in investing in digital marketing and paid media on TikTok, there are five primary forms of ad formats you can use to implement:
In-Feed native content
With in-feed videos, you can tell your brand story like a TikTok creator by integrating video content into users’ “For You” feed. Video ads last <15 seconds on the homepage (For You feed) and with Automatically sound-on in full-screen, much like how Instagram stories are displayed and are skippable. Users can click through to the URL landing page, TikTok page, or app download. The impact the video has is measured by the number of clicks, impressions, CTR, video views, play duration, and video interactions (like share and comments)
- Goal: Traffic to landing pages, TikTok account, App Store or eCommerce
- Users can engage from like, comment, share. They can also follow your own TikTok business account and make videos using your soundtrack
- Get extra paid impressions upon organic views
- Supports external and internal landing pages, as well as app downloads and deep-linking
- Purchasing method: Reservation on TikTok ads
Top View
A video first format that presents your brand on the best and unmissable placement of TikTok, capturing full user attention with sight, sound and narrative.
Good for a stronger brand recall & engagement with the feel of native in-feed. Videos are :15s total length with Brand Takeover + In-Feed with sound on and users can click out internally to a Hashtag Challenge or external URL.
- Goal: Reach & Engagement
- Display when users open TikTok (no audio)
- Support user engagement from like, comment, share, follow, etc
- Support external and internal landing page conversion
- Purchasing method: Reservation on TikTok ads
Brand Takeovers
A TikTok brand takeover immediately hooks user attention with a full-screen static or dynamic display, delivering a strong visual impact for your brand. You can use a static image, GIF, or video of 3-5 seconds. The embedded links can be connected to websites landing pages or challenges and hashtags within the platform. It delivers beyond guaranteed impressions.
- Goal: Brand Awareness
- Display when users open TikTok
- Support external and internal landing page conversion
- Purchasing method: Reservation on TikTok ads
Hashtag Challenge
A one-of-a-kind engagement format that taps into user passion for creation and expression. Delivering strong brand awareness with a level of engagement that goes far beyond a simple click. Invite all users to participate and create content around your campaign theme, with all UGC aggregating in the hashtag challenge page align with organic trends and TikTok users’ natural tendency to create, share, and go viral.
3 to 6-day package options with supporting media placements, creative guidance and seamless setup.
- Goal: Brand Awareness, Increase of Reach & Follower Growth
- Average engagement rate of 8.5% through likes, comments, and shares.
- You can invite all users and viewers to participate and make videos around your theme, with all Uger-generated content aggregating in the hashtag challenge page
- Purchasing method: Reservation on TikTok ads
Branded Effects
With the promising outcome this app has had in the last few years since its debut, TikTok is undertaking initiatives to make it more engaging. One of the prospective projects picked up by the company is the branded lenses. Much like the Snapchat 2D and 3D lenses for photos and faces, TikTok plans to make their platform could possibly infuse the feature to their application.
- Goal: Brand Awareness & Engagement
3. Promoting User Interaction
The most important aspect of using TikTok as a successful influencer marketing campaign is user participation and interaction with your content. One classic example of user interaction can be challenge other users to join a hashtag challenge (a dance, for example). Or, in the hospitality and food industry, a great example is when a restaurant allows its customers to send in their off the menu dishes. As the users desire to get their off-menu dishes featured by the restaurant, they also promoted the brand name and shared the experience with other users.
Success on TikTok is based on unique, authentic and relatable content more than staged and “perfect” videos.
4. TikTok for your brand: Go for fun, unique and creative content
5. Using Hashtag Challenges for Influence marketing
Hashtag challenges are an essential part of the platform and the TikTok community. At any given moment, whether you are seasoned or testing the waters, you will realize there are many challenges to participate in at any given moment. The challenges are all about recreation and iterating the video with some new ideas. With the right branded hashtag challenge and the TikTok app, the rest is left to the TikTok community. People interested in the challenge can participate in a few easy steps.
TikTok has proven to be an essential tool in influencer marketing for most brands. With the tips above, you don’t have to miss out on this amazing opportunity.
Interested in TikTok for Influencer Marketing?