TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social platforms that, despite its massive popularity, can be a challenge to marketers. Today, no other social media site gives users and user-generated content (UGC) as much power as TikTok does. At the same time, brands that promote authenticity and are open with their audiences reap all the generous rewards of this unique platform. Below are some proven TikTok marketing strategies to maximize brand success — explained from the very basics.
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Basics: Business Vs Creator Account on TikTok
With most other social sites, this choice would be obvious, but TikTok is different right from the start. Sole proprietors can consider opening a creator account that offers access to a larger music library and more advanced editing tools. Business accounts downsize on some video and audio editing features but offer better analytics tools and additional ad promotion features.
So, most brands should opt for a business account, after all — especially considering that they will still have access to TikTok video editing capability, even if not at its fullest. More benefits of a business account include:
- A chance to link your website after reaching 1000 followers
- Possibility to pin videos promoting new products
- Showing playlists on top of the business page
- Promoting unique brand hashtags right in the description
Here is how RedBull, one of the top brands with the most followers on TikTok, does it:
The company did not pin any videos at the moment of writing, but it features a company logo, three new playlists, and, most importantly, includes its unique, perfectly recognizable hashtag — #givesyouwiiings — straight in the profile description.
Now that we’ve covered the basics let’s take a look at the major things to know about TikTok marketing — with some practical strategies and examples from brands that successfully cracked this code.
GenZ is Not the Only Consumer Group to Target
TikTok users are not all GenZ and late millennials — even though they are the most active category on this site. Still, TikTok offers a way to reach audiences in their thirties and forties, as well as some people over fifty. So, marketers have room for maneuver in choosing their target audience and types of featured content — a third of total TikTok users are 40+ already.
On the other hand, TikTok is one of those sites that make sales forecasting incredibly challenging. Even brands that successfully capitalize on the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt trend do not usually sell directly on TikTok. According to TikTok’s internal analytics, almost half of Zoomers find TikTok ads convenient to purchase through, but less than 40% of GenZ end up purchasing a product after they see an ad.
Sadly, TikTok does not provide any advertising analytics on the purchase decisions of older consumers, which implies their buying behavior is harder to track. But while TikTok campaigns may not result in direct sales, they still affect consumers’ decisions — for all demographics layers.
Entertainment-related Hashtags are Real Goldmine
This should come as no surprise — TikTok skewers heavily towards entertainment, but this is not the only content category with billions of views. As the above graph from the analytics company 99Firms and Statista shows, Fitness, DIY, Cooking, Pets, and Life hack videos also gain a lot of exposure. And there is plenty of room for entertainment in any of these content categories. In fact, even major news platforms like The Washington Post, BBC, The Daily Mail, and The Telegraph are actively embracing the infotainment power of TikTok.
But BBC, like many other brands, goes further than that and uses gamified challenge-style campaigns to attract attention to more serious matters. In late 2023, TikTok and BBC teamed up on the Children in Need initiative to collect charity funds for disadvantaged children. By November 2023, BBC’s Children in Need Pudsey helped collect £400,000 through the campaign.
Influencer Marketing is Huge on TikTok
Most influencers may prefer to post on Instagram, and this established site certainly has the numbers — but that does not make TikTok influencer marketing any less effective. In fact, this robust, highly democratic platform is perfect for reaching out to micro-influencers and content creators. Convincing young TikTok influencers to collaborate on your brand content is not unlike recruiting GenZ workforce to your team — the negotiation can be a challenge, but the effort should be well worth it. On the whole, if your brand appeals to their values, most content creators will gladly collaborate.
One of the best ways to make sure influencers will jump on board with your brand is to send them your product. If the products are good, top TikTok ‘celebs’ will have no problem mentioning it on their channels — especially considering that they regularly need new content ideas, too. This strategy can result in:
- Unpack videos;
- Highlights of the main product features;
- Several videos reviewing an entire product line;
- Funny promotional video about the brand or product;
- And much more, depending on the business specifics.
In 2023, several brands won TikTok ad awards — but Nikon and Barilla did a truly outstanding job with their influencer marketing efforts.
NikonMystery Box Challenge
NikonMystery Box Challenge Video
In 2023, Nikon made use of TikTok’s two most effective strategies — creating challenges and interacting with influencers. The brand sent several TikTok creators a series of mystery boxes containing the company’s optics and asked each recipient to shoot a TikTok video with the products they received. As a result, Nikon’s effort generated over 25 million views, almost 200,000 likes, along with thousands and shares and comments.
Nikon’s Mystery Box Challenge is also a great example of how effective TikTok’s tools can be for marketers. The major brand used TikTok trends to come up with the idea, searched Creator Marketplace to find influencers who share the passion for photography, and made full use of TikTok’s audio and video libraries to create viral content — with the help of TikTok young photographers and videographers.
Barilla: SecondLifePasta
High-tech brands are not the only ones that can go viral on TikTok. Barilla, an Italian pasta manufacturer, won the European ad award for starting a movement around its #SecondLifePasta campaign. Barilla partnered up with recipe creators, which resulted in over 110 million views, multiple shares, and comments. This is an astonishing result that proves brands do not need massive budgets or truly unique products to generate buzz and increase brand awareness of TikTok.
Barilla campaign, according to TikTok, saved half a million pasta leftovers and turned them into viral recipes. At the same time, recipes and cooking rank relatively low compared with other popular TikTok content types. But it certainly worked for Barilla!
TikTok Trends Can Make Brand Content Go Viral
While there is no recipe for creating viral content on social media, making use of the TikTok trends section can help you get there. Trending topics can result in thousands of user-generated videos about your brand — especially if you can get a few TikTok influencers onboard. In a nutshell, that is what TikTok marketing is about — keeping up with the trends and engaging influencers to urge a wave of brand-related UGC.
In fact, it is often difficult to differentiate between influencers and UGC on TikTok because TikTok GenZ users are the site’s natural influencers — even if they do not position themselves as such. Below are some past inspirational campaigns to prove this point.
- Netflix’s #WhatsYourPower: this campaign encouraged audiences to use trending TikTok filters and create videos about their ‘superpowers.’ This a perfect example of how a simple idea can promote the brand’s products and generate buzz — the video filter has been used by over 110,000 different users.
- Amazon Fashion’s #PajamaJam: around the holiday season, Amazon Fashion launched a challenge to celebrate our coziest home outfit — the pajamas. This smart trick generated over a billion views in the first 24 hours after a campaign launch and helped the brand nurture a closer, more personal relationship with its audience.
- Chewy’s #ChewyChattyPets: US pet food retailer played along to our greatest weakness — our pets. The main idea of the #ChewyChattyPets campaign was to ‘humanize’ the users’ pets and the little ones in their funniest, quirkiest moments. Obviously, with an idea like that, viral spread is almost a guarantee.
Takeaway on TikTok Marketing Strategies
These are some proven marketing strategies for brand success on TikTok that can help you reach new audiences and boost your sales. In the long run, effective TikTok marketing is about constantly monitoring the trends and staying in touch with your audience — through influencers, timely responses to comments, and a touch of humor. It’s true that TikTok can be a bit challenging at first, but embracing this platform’s robust pace and overall positivity can bring amazing rewards.
The last tip is to prioritize content authenticity above anything else because, on TikTok, this is the surest way to create meaningful relationships with your followers and ensure they keep spreading your message. Modern automation technology, AI in particular, can help with many routine tasks, but it cannot replace the human touch.
If you want to maximize your overall social media strategy and make full use of modern tech trends, we encourage you to read our post on balancing AI content automation and human authenticity — the approaches described in that article apply to TikTok just as much as they apply to any other social site.
