Marketing your product or service on Instagram and Facebook is a non-negotiable
however, using apps like TikTok for marketing is going to set you apart from your
competitors in the marketing space.
The ever-rising popularity of TikTok means it is so easy to market anything to a large
demographic, a demographic you wouldn't reach on other social media platforms.
Not only this, but marketing a product on the app will mean you stand out from the
rest of the content creators as the vast majority are young people who don't have
businesses, apps, or products to market.
Additionally, there are many opportunities to monetise your content on TikTok making
it is well worth your time making videos, from brand deals to influencers to promoting
your product, the opportunities are many in the space.
How does TikTok work?
TikTok, unlike other social media apps uses a unique discovery algorithm, giving
every video uploaded to the app an equal chance to go 'viral' regardless of the overall
popularity of the creator.
This unique algorithm, generally referred to as the 'For You page', allows for the rapid
growth of a creator's social media presence.
The 'For You page' is fundamentally a series of videos made for the viewer based on
their interests (selected by the user upon opening the app for the first time) and their
past viewed, liked, saved, and shared videos.
The fast growth of a creator is a common outcome due to this algorithm and presents virtually unlimited marketing experimentation for those looking to promote or sell products or themselves as a brand.
TikTok also works in a way that there are different genres of content within the app –
some examples are cooking videos (branded "CookTok") or vlogs.
PROTIP: It is important that once you start making videos you stick to your genre of
content and stay consistent to grow your page.
Trends and Viewer engagement
The next step is to start creating content for your business and engaging TikTok users
in your videos. But how do you do this?
First, and most importantly, you need to know how to get your marketing/ branded
videos on the 'For Your page' and how to grow your presence on the app and it's
easy!
The one thing to keep a constant eye on is trending videos and 'sounds', this will help
grow your viewing audience as well as brand awareness across a range of
demographics.
'Sounds' are the different songs or funny sounds on TikTok and to engage
viewers, you must create content to the sounds that are trending or
popular at any given time.
By using these trending sounds, it makes it possible for you as a content creator to
"go viral" and reach a larger audience as well as a range of demographics.
Reaching a range of demographics is made possible on TikTok due to the unique
algorithm which is why it is so easy to grow a large audience quickly.
However, consistency is key, the only way you'll be able to grow as a brand/ persona
on the internet and especially TikTok is by being consistent.
It is the same as any other marketing, by being consistent with your posting
schedule, you will be able to consistently grow your views and keep your audience
interested in your brand, whether that be personal or product.
Monetisation on TikTok
Now, how do you make money on TikTok?
Monetisation on TikTok is easier than you may think, once you reach 10,000 followers
and have received at least 100,000 views over the last 30 days you can apply to the
TikTok Creator Fund within the app.
This allows you to receive a commission, in a sense, from each video you post to the
app which depends on the number of views and engagements you get per post.
However, this is not the only way you can earn money on the app, there are other
ways to monetise your content.
You can still monetise your content by doing brand deals, collaborating with other
content creators to promote your brand, or using TikTok ads to advertise your
product or service.
Brand deals
A brand deal on TikTok occurs when a brand reaches out to you as a creator and invites
you to promote their brand/ product in your videos.
The brand, generally aligning with the genre that you fall into on TikTok, will reach out
to you and offer you a sum of money to promote them in your videos.
By promoting the miscellaneous brands, you will get paid, by those brands, to show
your followers about the brand and tell them about it.
Depending on your viewer base and the quality of your promotion, the brand will
generally get more clients because of your advertisement.
You can also use brand deals yourself as a promotional tool.
By reaching out to other content creators on the app you can pay them a sum of
money to advertise your product or service and depending on their following base you
will get more users/ customers because of that promotion.
Collaborating with other content creators
Another way to monetise your content of TikTok is by collaborating with other content
creators to promote your service or product.
This can involve creating videos with other content creators or even just paying them
(generally those creators with a larger viewer/ following base than you) to promote
your brand, giving you more exposure and brand awareness.
The promotion of your brand/ product by someone with more viewer engagement
generally brings in more customers wanting to purchase/ use your service because
they've seen someone famous use it.
Celebrity promotion and endorsements work because they get noticed in the market –
consumers want to feel connected to their idols – so they want to drink what they
drink and eat what they eat and use the same products they use.
Although this way of monetisation on TikTok requires you to pay another creator to
promote your products it also brings more brand awareness, and more viewers to your
videos and more clients purchasing your service or product.
Creator collaboration is used more as a promotional service to obtain more users for
your service/ product than a way just to make money on content creation.
TikTok ads
TikTok Ads, otherwise known as TikTok Promote, is a paid feature within the app that
lets a marketer choose a goal (views, website visits or new followers) and allows you
to promote your service, product, or brand based on that.
There are many places where you can embed a TikTok ad to maximize views and
engagements, these include on the 'For You page', in news feed app placement (ads
within TikTok's other apps—BuzzVideo, TopBuzz, NewsRepublic, and Babe) and within
other creators' videos.
These TikTok ads can cost anywhere from $20-50 USD but expose you to a much
larger audience than one of your normal videos would reach.
This is because these ads can be embedded in a generic TikTok 'For You page',
meaning it will appear across all user's 'For You' page exposing you to a much larger
demographic rather than just your normal viewers.
Then it's just a matter of who watches and engages with it.
How using TikTok benefits your business
Aside from the ease of marketing that it allows, TikTok is currently one of the most
popular social media apps with a value of almost $5 billion USD and were downloaded
Not only that but due to the sheer volume of users, the range of people (all in
different walks of life) that are available for a business to market to is unlike any other
app in circulation.
The unique algorithm allows for an extensive reach and helps businesses reach a
wider audience than they would on any other platforms.
This is so important for growing not only businesses but also well-established brands
because it helps grow a following base external to your existing customers which is
significantly helpful as it generates customer referrals and overall brand growth.
Social media is so important for growing brand awareness which eventually brings a
growth in monetary acquisition for the business.
So, not only does TikTok expose your business to a larger target audience but it also
brings you awareness as a brand, increases your reach, and provides you with an
opportunity to earn more money.
This is why you need TikTok.
FAQs
How much does it cost to start a TikTok account?
Nothing! It's completely free to get create an account and get started creating
content for your business! Just input your details and make sure you have selected
"public account" so anyone from anywhere in the world can follow you and start
making videos!
How long does it take to go viral on TikTok?
Going "viral" on TikTok doesn't happen in a set amount of time. It can take as
little days to as long as months or even years depending on what content you are
posting. While being easy to use, it can still be difficult to go "viral", you have to make
sure you know what trends are popular and then create your version of them on
your page!
What kinds of videos go viral on TikTok?
If you're looking to go viral on TikTok you have to look out for the trends! Trends are
a specific type of video or 'sound' that is popular at any one time on TikTok and
that many creators use for videos. Trends come and go within one week
and you have to make sure you are creating and posting a video as part of the trend
as soon as you can to get the views and engagements on your posts.
How do I know what the trends are?
Well, it's easy! All you have to do is go onto your own 'For You page' and start
scrolling! Popular videos will show up on your feed and you'll be able to get
a gauge of what videos are doing well and find patterns between them. If the same
sound keeps coming up on your feed with similar videos – you guessed, it – you've
found a trend!
How do I reach out to other creators on TikTok to collaborate?
A lot of TikTok content creators have their Instagram pages attached to their
accounts. Once you get onto their Instagram pages, if they are open to business
inquiries, they will generally have a "contact me" section in their Instagram bio which
you can click on and enquire. Alternatively, you can send them a direct message on
Instagram and enquire that way.
Is it worth marketing my business on TikTok?
Absolutely! Not only does marketing on TikTok bring more awareness to your brand/
service you can also end up earning money for the content you post. A larger audience
size means that you will get more customers depending on who views your videos and
engages with your business from there.
What kind of marketing works best on TikTok?
Unboxings, testing products, and showing examples of services that your business
provides are all good ways to market your brand. Marketing the faces behind the
business by posting funny content also works well to spread brand awareness
as well as encourages people to choose your brand because they have seen the
the personality behind the idea.
PROTIP: You can link your business Instagram account to your TikTok account - by interlinking your accounts you can gain more exposure and increase brand awareness across
multiple platforms.
If you want to talk to a team of expert marketers to help you get started marketing
your business on TikTok and other social media platforms, get in touch with our team. The marketing team at Appifany can help you reach a larger audience and grow your app downloads.