TikTok: How to market on this social network
You have probably heard of TikTok, a fast-growing social network, being especially popular in Asian countries such as Japan, China, Korea, among others. Launched in 2016, its focus is acting as an app for iOS and Android. TikTok was once called Musical.ly, and even in China the network is known as Douyin.
Taking advantage of the rise of this new platform, many businesses are already after how to market on this social network. To help you, we've brought you the top tips you need to know to get started right away and leverage it to leverage sales. Come on.
Meet the TikTok Audience
First, it is important to recognize that TikTok's focus is short videos, similar to Vines. Most of them have a more comical nature, but several influencers are already working on the social network to promote various products, such as makeup kits, etc.
According to demographic data collected in 2019 on the platform, TikTok is already available in 154 countries and has over 500 million active users. By comparison this is already half of Instagram's user base, which has 1 billion unique monthly hits.
Also, it is important to recognize that TikTok audiences tend to be younger. On the platform, about 66% of users are under 30 years old, most of them teenagers or college students. Even so, hashtags like #MomLife, #WorkingMom, or #MomOfThree have their impact on the social network, indicating that the audience is not exclusively young.
Understand Available Feeds
TikTok has two types of feeds, the first being Following, which displays new posts from users you follow on the social network. While the second is the feed For you, which can be translated “for you.” This feed features social network recommendations based on your interactions and user profile characteristics.
So marketing to TikTok requires working with content targeted to your audience, gaining followers, and making your videos appear in feed referrals. For you in an organic way.
User preferences are built based on the people they follow, interaction with each type of content, and also take into account which hashtags are used and information contained in the video caption. Therefore, making good use of hashtags in publications is important to increase your chances of success on social networking.
Available video format and live stream
TikTok marketers will probably like to adhere to the most popular video format on the social network: vertical videos, typically 15 seconds or less, but no longer than 60 seconds. So it's a short time to get your message across, which means that people looking to do marketing have to be very creative.
Also, all videos on TikTok work automatically in Loop, and this is a feature that can be used to give you a sense of “infinite playback” depending on your strategy.
What's more, it's worth mentioning that from 1000 followers, you also gain access to live streaming – a feature already available on Facebook and Instagram, for example. When you start a live On the social network, all of your followers are notified via the feed and with an alert displayed at the top of the screen. These users can also share your live for their own followers to discover.
Here's an important note: When your live ends, the video is deleted forever – not available for users to watch later. Additionally, people can buy virtual gifts during streaming, which serves as a form of monetization similar to live streaming on YouTube.
These gifts are available in a wide range of values, from $ 0.50 to over $ 50 and can be converted to real money, where TikTok separates its own rate.
How to have a verified TikTok account
To have your TikTok account verified, as with other social networks like Twitter, Instagram's blue badge, Facebook, you'll need to do a good job. First of all it is important to mention that this process happens from the verification by the platform itself, ie there is not necessarily a way to request such verification.
There are essentially three criteria for this:
- The user is extremely popular on TikTok, produces various impact videos on the social network;
- The user is already famous, as is the case of actors, musicians and other public figures, quickly identified by the platform;
- The user has been chosen by the TikTok team for being someone who needs verification (to avoid plagiarism or fake profiles), or for being immensely dedicated to producing content and publishing it on the platform.
So essentially you have to do a great job on the platform and wait until it is recognized and earns your verified profile mark.
Ways to do marketing on TikTok
There are essentially two main ways of marketing on TikTok, the first being through the production of own content and the second through influencers. As we mentioned, there are already a lot of influencers available on the social network, so you can pay them to promote your products to an already built following.
To do this, you will need to find influencers who have a compatible audience, which can vary greatly according to your niche market. Also, doing this is also a good way to bring followers to your own profile.
In the other option, you can build your own profile to gain followers and start creating videos for your base. But beware, considering TikTok's demographics, purposely made content that is targeted for sale may not be the best choice, so try to add value and showcase your products or services in practice rather than simply advertising them through videos.
TikTok Ads Tool
At the time of writing this content, TikTok is still only in the experimental phase with its ads tool. That is why we do not mention this alternative between the methods of marketing on the social network, as it is already possible on Facebook and to make money on Instagram.
However, knowing that social networking is already exploring these approaches, it is expected that it will not be long before an ad platform becomes available on TikTok. But that doesn't mean you can't make money on the social network. Check out our complete guide on how to make money on TikTok and you'll see plenty of opportunities to grow your business.
To follow all about the development of the TikTok ads platform, visit the official page through this link.
And then ready to market on TikTok?
Take advantage of this information, create your social network account by visiting the page and start investing today. Use the rise of TikTok to leverage a popular profile, create content or invest in influencers and good luck promoting your products!
