When you think of TikTok, what comes to mind first? Dance challenges? Cute animal videos?
With 1 billion monthly users and being the 4th most-used social media platform in the world, it is not to be underestimated. If you have brushed a TikTok marketing strategy off as not for you or too much effort, you could be missing out. Look, we get it, as a B2B business it’s not your first priority, LinkedIn clearly comes first when it comes to your B2B inbound marketing. BUT if you have enough capacity to implement it, TikTok can be great for you, for employer branding, for awareness and more.
So we’re here to share our top tips and thoughts when it comes to starting out with TikTok and how you can best utilize it for your marketing strategy.
1. Ask Yourself, ‘Is A TikTok B2B Inbound Marketing Strategy For Me?’
First and foremost, don’t put the horse before the cart. Just because a TikTok marketing strategy is working for many businesses successfully, doesn’t necessarily mean that it’ll work for you.
Are your target market on TikTok? According to Forbes’ Nick Brucker, TikTok was used primarily in the 16 - 24 age bracket. Now however, TikTok caters to a wide range of ages with 45% in the 25 - 44 age bracket. Make sure when you’re planning on going down this route that your TikTok marketing strategy is in line with your core startup values, this helps with your authenticity, trust us!
2. Where Do I Start?
Your first port of call is of course creating an account. This is simple and easy to do, simply download the app and create an account.
The trick here is to not verify your account as a business account…but we’ll explain why later on.
Interact with your audience even before you start posting. This gives your account a little bit more authority and will enable the TikTok algorithm to understand what users should engage with your content.
3. Establish Your Target Audience - Say Hello To Your Hashtag Strategy
Finding your audience on TikTok is simple, when done correctly. You need to do a deep dive into what your target audience enjoy online. Is it just purely entertainment they look for or are they looking for more educational content?
Hashtags are arguably the best way to target them. Having a list of interchangeable hashtags means you can test and try a few combinations until you hit the sweet spot.
What else do you need to know about inbound marketing?
4. Trending Sounds Are Key
Trending sounds are a fantastic way to quickly get in front of your audience, whether it’s for educational or entertainment purposes. Many businesses even take part in TikTok challenges that can massively boost your reach and get your videos in front of even more people. You never know, a 15 second TikTok challenge in your office could make you go viral! Take this viral video from Canva. They used this trending sound to showcase a feature of their software and received over 650,000 views!
Important note: This is also where not being verified comes into play. Unfortunately, some verified accounts are unable to use music or trending sounds due to copyright infringement. The easy way to get around this is to stay unverified!
Psst, you can even tag your video with a specific trending sound but put it on mute. This way it doesn’t interrupt your messaging BUT will still get you in front of the right people.
5. How To Ensure Your Videos Catch Attention
Before jumping into TikTok, you need to make sure you have a strong posting strategy to back it up. TikTok is not the same as other social channels where you can post a few times a week and you’re done. TikTok thrives on regular posting. Their algorithm learns your posting schedule and uses this when showing content to users on their ‘For You Page’. If you post sporadically, you are not giving the algorithm the chance to learn and therefore, your views will suffer.
The great thing about TikTok videos is that they are relatively quick and easy to create. With regards to length, the platform thrives on short form videos. Even though you can create TikToks that are 3 minutes long, from a marketing perspective, they should be around 15 seconds long, depending on the content. You need to grab your audience’s attention in those first few seconds and get them to stay to the end. Quick and funny trending videos should be shorter whereas a ‘How To’ video should be longer; but try to avoid ‘Part 2’s!
One top tip here is don't forget the subtitles. Not only does it make your videos more accessible, it also means that your audience can watch your videos wherever they are, on mute, and not miss anything.
6. Be Authentic
Creating original content that is specific to you and your brand is key. TikTok is much like Reddit insofar as its users crave authenticity and can smell lack of authenticity a mile away. Lean on your USPs, what makes you different? The TikTok community love to raise up start ups and real people, so share your story! Did you start your company because you noticed a gap in the market? Perhaps you realized in your day to day job that a certain product or service was needed to make life easier? Be real and engage with your audience. They’ll thank you for it!
Are you a startup? We can help with your marketing strategy!
Our Favorite B2B TikTok Channels
Shopify
Shopify uses a great mix of influencer marketing on TikTok as well as customer stories and also advice from entrepreneurs using their services. Mix this in with trending sounds and fun videos, they’re onto a winner with their TikTok marketing strategy.
Microsoft and Windows
Microsoft do a great job of influencer marketing on TikTok to create interesting and engaging content across their social channels. They also do a great job of jumping onto trending content to be relative to their audience.
Last year, a TikToker by the name of Emily Zugay shot up in popularity by ‘improving’ the logo designs of companies from around the globe. Microsoft utilized this by interacting with the creator, changing their logo to the new logo and even rebranding one of their stores with the new ‘logo’. Users on the app LOVED this as it showed the brand’s more fun side and the PR they received from this was priceless.
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Sitting at a tidy 3 million likes on TikTok, it is easy to see that Adobe have found their niche when it comes to content. From how-to videos on their software to supporting the artistic community that they cater to, they speak directly to their audience. It’s authentic and the users love it.
Grammarly
They do a fantastic job of connecting with their audience through humorous videos about grammar mistakes, last minute essays and generally relatable content as well as influencer marketing on TikTok. They have investigated and found the influencers that speak to their audience and use them to create fantastic content that just works!
Key Takeaways
TikTok Is Only For Selling…Wrong!
If you have a tangible product, this can be a great way to market to a wide audience for relatively little cost. However, the main aim of your account (at least when you start) is to nurture brand awareness and brand loyalty. Just check out the likes of Morning Brew or Square. Both of these accounts massively utilize influencers, trending sounds and duets to connect with their audience in a very real way.
This method of marketing is also fantastic for employer branding. Being able to get in front of potential new superstar employees is a definite benefit. Especially when you think of start ups and cybersecurity companies. There’s no better way to showcase what a fantastic company you are to work for than by showing actual behind the scenes of day to day life and the people that make up your company.
Influencer Marketing On TikTok
Marketing on TikTok has evolved exponentially in the wake of the pandemic. You will now very rarely see #ad or #spon from creators. Utilizing comedians and innovative creators is fast becoming the go to. You can then use these videos on your own channel. When done correctly, the video will look like it is coming directly from the creator and you can share in the goodwill and popularity that creator may have. It can do wonders for your engagement rates!
Be Patient
A good TikTok marketing strategy is not for the faint hearted. You may have one video receive thousands of views and the next video have very few. A strong and consistent strategy is what will give you an edge over your competitors and lead you to TikTok success.
If you have the time and resources, TikTok marketing could be right up your alley. It has the ability to bridge a gap and show the more human side of your organization. Though not suitable for every business out there, it’s definitely an avenue you should investigate. An important note to remember is that as great as TikTok could be for your business, it needs to be a part of a wider content strategy. Just like planning for content pieces such as blogs, webinars, whitepapers etc focusing on specific topics or keywords, your TikTok marketing strategy should be in addition, not instead of, a strong content planning strategy.
However, that's not the only innovative way you can reach your target audience. Have you checked out Reddit Marketing yet?
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