TikTok: a must-have platform for brands

Addictive, trend-setting and highly engaging, TikTok has established itself as a social platform over the past few years. Following its dazzling success, many brands have started to show interest in it. However, many of them are still hesitant to include it in their marketing plan. Why not? How can you maximize your chances of success? We reveal everything in this article.

What do you need to know before jumping into the TikTok universe?

First, it is important to understand that this application is unique. Indeed, TikTok has its own algorithm that allows it to present users with content they are likely to like according to their tastes, interests and socio-demographic profile. All this, without them being subscribed to the account of the creator or the company that published the content. This is the principle of the FYP (For You Page), therefore videos “for you”. Thus, the videos presented are different from one person to another and the user is inclined to interact with the video.
Moreover, sounds and trends take a big part in the popularity of the contents. This makes it difficult to reuse material from other social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram, since some trends and content are platform-specific.

So how do you ensure success?

You have to opt for a strategic approach specifically developed for TikTok. To do this, the first thing to do, if you haven’t already, is to download the app and create an account. What’s next? Scroll through the videos, watch different content and take note of the ones that seem popular with your target audience. It’s by using TikTok and consuming its content that you’ll become more comfortable with its quirks. You can also check out what other brands are doing, whether it is in your field or not. Keep in mind that almost any content and trend can be adapted to your niche. With over a billion monthly active users and record engagement rates, you are almost guaranteed to find your niche on this app.

It’s also important to keep in mind that this platform is mostly about increasing awareness, as it introduces content to people whether they are subscribers or not. To analyze the success of a publication, you should first look at the number of views, as this better represents the reach, and therefore, the notoriety that the content has brought you. Likes, shares, registrations or subscriptions should take a back seat. An interesting practice is to redirect users to your other social platforms and invite them to subscribe, where a subscription is more favorable for your brand.

Best practices in TikTok content creation:

• Diversify content genres (trending, educational, relatable)
• Diversify content types (lip sync, spoken word, stop motion)
• Add value (give people a reason to interact and subscribe)
• Don’t be too commercial (opt for a friendly tone, stay natural)
• Show humans, if possible have one or two main ambassadors appear in the videos
• Use popular sounds in the moment
• Post frequently and on a regular basis (e.g. 2x per week)
• Interact with other accounts in your niche
• Keep videos short (encourages replay)
• Schedule content creation days (to create several videos in advance)
• Create and use a publishing calendar (e.g. Trello) to schedule upcoming publications

Following these tips, we launched our own TikTok account a little over three months ago. Our goals were to share our expertise, to spread the word about agency life and Minimal at the same time. To date, we have accumulated over 250k views and over 350 new subscribers.

So we can say it’s mission accomplished and we can confirm that we have a lot of fun doing it. We invite you to subscribe to our account (@agenceminimal) if you haven’t already done so!