The days when TikTok was considered to be popular only among young audiences are long gone.

As of 2023, TikTok boasted 1.9 billion users worldwide, and it’s projected to reach 2.35 billion by 2029. This means your target audience is potentially on this platform, and it’s a smart idea to establish and maintain a TikTok presence. 

Big brands like Nike (6.3M), Dunkin’ (3M), and Fenty Beauty (2.9M) have proven that TikTok’s viral nature has great potential for popular businesses, but with the right strategies, smaller brands can also get in on the action. 

The Potential of TikTok Marketing for Brands

As specified in the Social Media Marketing Industry Report, TikTok is growing in popularity among businesses, as 80% of marketers use video in their strategies. Today, TikTok is considered to be the top social media platform for gaining exposure, and 46% of marketers want to learn more about this network.

Here are three reasons why TikTok marketing has great potential for brands:

  • TikTok’s community is large and engaged. When TikTok appeared, people believed that only young audiences were interested in using this network. But TikTok’s community has quickly gained in numbers and diversity. Today, the 30 to 49 age bracket is more likely to be on TikTok than Twitter/X. What’s more, people spend much time in-app, being engaged in conversations with other users.
  • People use TikTok as a search engine. For many people, it’s easier to watch short videos than to read text in order to learn about something, so more and more users are turning to TikTok to search for their needs. For brands, this means an opportunity to surface in front of their potential customers.
  • The TikTok Shop makes it easy to sell products in-app. From discovering new products to completing a purchase, TikTok is another channel for brands to increase ecommerce sales. With the introduction of a TikTok shop, where you can market your products along with descriptions and prices, it’s getting easier to sell on TikTok.

To succeed, you just need to have a solid TikTok marketing strategy.

While diving into any unfamiliar space may initially seem overwhelming, marketing on TikTok gets easier once you get the hang of it. To calm your nerves, we’re sharing our top six TikTok marketing strategies for brands and marketers.

1. Optimize Your TikTok Account for Search

With almost 2 billion people using TikTok, it’s not easy to stand out from your competitors and target your audience. You must focus on TikTok SEO. 

Take a cue from FrankBody, an Australian brand that helps people fight against skin problems like acne:

What makes this account noteworthy? First, it’s best to choose a handle that’s identical to your brand name for better recognition among loyal customers. When people know your brand, they are more likely to use its name in the search bar. In case your desired name isn’t available, choose a name that is closest to it and is easy to read. 

Second, your profile picture should be clear, high-quality, and embody your brand’s identity. Whether it’s your logo, a product image, or a mascot, ensure it’s eye-catching and memorable to help boost your visibility and attract followers.

Next, invest time and effort into a well-written bio. It should not only inform but also entice viewers to interact with your content and learn more about your brand. So, make sure you add key details about your company in the bio – or at least include something eye-catching like discount codes. Include keywords in the description that people use when searching for similar products.

Lastly, include essential links that drive traffic to your other platforms and increase engagement. You can use Linktree to connect followers to your website, offers, and other social media channels like YouTube. 

It’s easier to optimize your account for SEO when you build a strong social media team that works towards optimizing your online presence to bring the best returns.

2. Create Valuable Yet Scroll-Stopping TikTok Videos

TikTok has always been about creative and engaging short-form clips. Given the trend of  shortening attention spans, it’s no wonder that the ideal length of TikTok videos is considered to be between 21 and 34 seconds. This means videos swipe quickly through the feed and marketers have mere seconds to hook viewers and keep them engaged, so your content needs to be attention-grabbing yet informative right off the bat. 

To achieve this, use captivating visuals, intriguing questions, or bold statements to grab attention in the first few seconds. If you want to position yourself as a helpful and value-adding brand, focus more on tips, hacks, tutorials, or guides. You can switch it up with occasional humorous content or behind-the-scenes footage.

For example, if you are marketing for a beauty brand, try to incorporate tutorials for varied looks or skincare routines in your content plan. This will automatically position you as an authority figure in your niche and build trust with the audience, since you’re providing solutions to them.

Take a cue from Kylie Cosmetics:

They regularly feature their buyers on their page trying different looks to inspire their audience and show how simple it is to use their products on the go.

You can ensure your content remains current and fresh by participating in challenges or simply using trending audio. Remember, these trends should align with your brand message or they could throw off your audience. On the other hand, just because a given audio trend doesn’t necessarily match your niche, doesn’t mean you can’t get in on it. 

Regardless of your trend-hopping prowess, however, it’s important to remember that TikTok is focused on short, fun, visually compelling videos, so creative and engaging content is the way to go.

To create scroll-stopping, high-quality videos, you need the right tools. Apps like Lightricks Videoleap can elevate your content with advanced editing features, special effects, and seamless transitions. Whether you’re a beginner or a pro-level creator, Videoleap is a powerful and easy video editor that can make your videos go from meh to wow.

For example, TikTok user Brian O’Donnell (@explore_create_capture) is a filmmaker who uses Videoleap to make easy tutorials for his audience to follow along.

Using Videoleap, he creates cool transitions, time-lapse effects, and more. It’s very simple to use and with AI-generated content features.

3. Team Up with Relevant TikTok Creators and Influencers

Collaborating with TikTok creators and influencers can significantly amplify your brand’s reach and credibility. These people have dedicated followings and can seamlessly introduce your brand to a wider audience. Here’s how to make the most of these partnerships.

Go for influencers who align with your brand’s values and target audience. 

For example, if you’re marketing a fitness brand, partnering with fitness influencers like Chloe Ting can help you reach fitness enthusiasts who trust her recommendations. Her audience already engages with content that will be similar to yours, making the transition smooth and natural. 

Plus, her personable and humorous approach has attracted over 700k followers, with millions of views for each video.

Next, authenticity is key when collaborating with an influencer. If the content appears too sales-y, it might become off-putting and you could lose potential clients. So, understand buyer behavior and try to create genuine content that integrates your product naturally into the influencer’s usual posts.

For example, Kash Beauty collaborated with TikTok influencer Shaneese McLoughlin to promote their “radiant canvas primer and lip treatment.” Even though this is a paid partnership, her audience engaged with her video, since they trust her recommendations and because she naturally integrates products in her videos without being pushy.

Allow influencers the creative freedom to present your brand in a way that resonates with their followers. Their unique style and voice can make your brand more relatable.

Finally, track the performance of these collaborations through metrics such as views, likes, shares, and new followers gained. This helps you to understand the effectiveness of your creator partnerships, allowing you to optimize the way you approach creator collaborations in the future.

4. Provide Customer Service on TikTok

While your website and email might be your main customer service channels, it’s important to keep in mind that more and more people use social media for resolving consumer issues. Since most buyers are active in these apps, it becomes easier for them to voice their concerns and for brands to be responsive. 

TikTok users expect quick responses. So you must monitor your comments and direct messages regularly to address customer inquiries promptly. For example, if a user comments on a video asking about product availability, respond within a few hours to show that you value their query.

You can also offer a personalized touch by sharing video responses with TikTok’s unique feature of video replies to comments. If a customer asks how to use a product, respond with a step-by-step video tutorial. This not only helps the individual but also provides valuable information to your entire audience.

On the other hand, in situations where people’s queries are more complicated, it’s generally best to reply by directing them to private messaging or other customer service channels. 

5. Invest in Running TikTok Ad Campaigns

Wondering how to find clients on social media? A quick way is to run ad campaigns. 

First, use TikTok’s diverse ad formats. The platform allows in-feed ads for seamless integration. You can even run hashtag challenges to draw in a bigger audience. 

Create engaging and high-quality ads to capture people’s attention. Remember to include these components in your ads:

  • Dynamic and clear visuals
  • Trending music
  • Compelling storytelling

Such content generally resonates with viewers and inspires action. For instance, Stella McCartney posted a simple seven-second TikTok ad to promote her summer collection, and the campaign yielded over 3 million impressions, 20,000 clicks, and 8,000 new followers.

Monitor and optimize your campaigns using analytics tools. Track metrics such as views, engagement, and conversions to understand what’s working and refine your ad strategy accordingly. 

Testing different creatives, ad copies, and targeting options frequently can help you achieve the best results and even get more traffic for affiliate marketing.

6. Rely on Advanced TikTok Analytics

As any other social media platform, TikTok offers an analytics tool that provides insights on follower growth, audience reach, video views, and much more. But if you want to understand your audience and its preferences better, it’s a good idea to make the most out of advanced TikTok analytics.

A tool with a TikTok analytics dashboard that provides real-time data is ideal for tracking your performance online. For example, Coupler.io, a reporting platform, offers a TikTok analytics dashboard that helps content creators, marketers, and brands 

  • Track audience engagement
  • Measure follower growth
  • Identify top-performing content, and
  • Optimize their posting schedule

Apart from these key features, you can monitor other metrics like total time watched, profile views, shares, and monitor your TikTok funnel. What’s more, this dashboard template is free to use. 

In Short

Over the last few years, TikTok has become a marketing goldmine for brand marketers who want to stand out from the crowd and engage their potential customers in communication with the help of short videos. While more and more brands jump on the bandwagon to create a TikTok presence, having a TikTok account is not enough anymore to stand out. Thus, it’s important to pay attention to effective TikTok marketing strategies that can give your business a competitive advantage.

Author

Val Razo is a freelance SMM consultant with over 10 years of digital marketing experience who believes in the power of Instagram for businesses of all sizes and niches. To get in touch with like-minded people, Val also contributes to different marketing blogs. And in her free time, she loves traveling and exploring the arts.