TikTok for Business | Why you MUST leverage this free platform to attract more customers...
"My teenage daughter uses it... what would I do with my business on TikTok?"
"It's so trendy and all about dancing... Not for me."
"Um... excuse me? I am a professional!"
We've heard all of the excuses as to why you would not catch "so and so" dead on TikTok... well... That's a trend now, too!
(Insert thirst trap on a farm vehicle discussing how he'd never get a TikTok and now... "You'd hardly recognize me ...." playing through his latest viral video.)
It's trending, that's for sure. What started as an app with karaoke & gifs for joke clips turned into a million-dollar money maker for every small business & entrepreneur on the planet, or so it seems.
But WHY?
Why would ANYONE with a professional mindset choose an app geared at teenagers, jokes & dancing?
Fun Fact: Only 30% of users are under 30... which means that a LARGE percentage of the millions of users daily are over 30 and probably are in your target audience.
People watch and scroll because it's interesting. Businesses use it because it attracts people. And to be honest... it's not all jokes & dancing. The greatest thing about TikTok in comparison to other social media platforms is that ... wait for it...
...it's REAL.
Kind of.
The amount of REAL on this app is exponentially higher than any other platform. Yes, there are jokes and trending gimmicks to see if people can make you fall for something fake, but in reality, TikToker's on the whole are discussing deep topics, at length, and reaching
MILLIONS of people.
What does the average individual profile consist of?
Funny videos with explainer text...
Funny trends with YOU as the actor...
Answer this question and see what others have to say...
What does the average business profile consist of?
Funny videos with on-point copy to explain to your target audience what you do.
Funny trends with REAL businesses making themselves relatable by following trends or jumping on with hilarious skits...
Answering FAQ's and making your product seem very popular by saying, "Questions I get asked all the time...." Even if you only have 3 followers and have been in business for 20 minutes... you can do this trend and show up on 1,000 random people's For You Page... EXPOSURE.
How does it work?
The algorithm is about WATCH TIME. So real, true, heartfelt, catchy content wins! Long gone are the days of regenerating a quote 65 times with your logo in a different spot--- now you can hop in front of the camera and talk for 3 minutes and reach the masses. If you catch people within the first 10 seconds... and they stay... it tells the algorithm to show your video to 100 more people. If they catch within the first 10 seconds... it will show your video to another 1,000 people... And so on...
For You Page? Yes... that is where the 1,000's of people come from. If your content is "scanned and categorized" as the content they would like, your video shows up on their "For You Page." The FYP is basically a 2nd facebook wall-- you have the "Following" where people you follow come up with their videos. The FYP is the Facebook wall if facebook allowed strangers to see your posts and instantly connect with you. Which--- they sort of do, but not as easily. TikTok tends to do this through AI reading your words, hearing your messages, and categorizing them where other people who like similar content hang out.
It's 50% the creepiest thing since Google Ads began listening to your dinner conversation... and 50% the coolest thing since Pandora began curating playlists for you based on your preferences and its scientific understanding of that song.
So what does that mean for me and putting my business on TikTok?
This means that you need good, relatable, watch-worthy content in order to "beat the algorithms" of TikTok and grow your following with real potential business interactions.
What is GOOD content for TikTok? What makes it different from my Instagram Reels or Stories?
Well-- for starters, length. Reels are under 1 minute and stories are 15 seconds... On TikTok, you get 3 minutes uninterrupted to tell a story start to finish. When you add in a few captions and simple effects to make you seem like a videographer, VOILA, you have relatable content! Do this about 80% of the time and jump on the trend wagon about 20% of the time... then... when you amass a huge following, you can do the trends and funny stuff about 50% of the time and offer your relatable content 50% of the time. This will allow you to continue to maintain a growth strategy of reaching new accounts with trends, but also speaking to your target audience with content that they crave from you.
What is BAD content for TikTok?
Well... that depends on your goals. Generally speaking, "bad" content is something copied from another platform that still shows the IG logo or the tag of another platform. TikTok doesn't play nicely together and doesn't seem to let videos take off when they promote leaving the site or following someone on another platform. So keep those words to a minimum ... vocally and in text. Keep your content to "attraction marketing" and "explainer" only and allow your profile to showcase where a follower can get in touch off the platform. This can be done with an emoji saying to message you on Instagram, or if you're able to include a link to your website or email address.
Do I still have to use hashtags?
Yes, somewhat. There are limited characters in the captions and using too large of a caption can block off some of your videos, so be strategic. Hashtags are great but try to stay niched down into #'s with less than 100k views. Tag other creators in your video to spread awareness and gather more attention for everyone involved. Using their hashtags and yours helps to cross-pollinate the networks. "But Jenn... I swear... My age people don't use hashtags!"
Okay... should I show you the one of "#over70" or "DatingAfter50" ... there are millions of YOUR people on this platform. It's up to you if you want to use it or not.
Follow along in our blog for Part 2 coming next week... This is where we will dig deeper into trends, effects, and look at some examples to see WHY they're important.
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