TikTok – New Wave Marketing
TikTok, you’ve probably heard of it.
Whether it’s your nieces and nephews recreating the latest dance trend or your partner scrolling through memes at night, TikTok has been named as the fastest growing social media platform of all time with more than 1 billion users per month.
TikTok first became popular at the beginning of 2020, with the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic setting the record for the most downloads of an app in a single quarter, at 315 million installs.
Although TikTok may just seem like silly dances and short comedy sketches, there’s a lot more that lies beneath the surface and within marketing, the popular app can help you gain a following for your brand and build an engaged community – it can be said that the use of TikTok brings your audiences closer as “55% of users feel closer to the brands they see on TikTok” (TikTok Marketing Science US, Understanding TikTok’s Impact on Culture Custom Research 2021, conducted by Flamingo).
Many marketers are drawn to TikTok as it allows for creative skills and online expression. Through TikTok videos, connections made between business and community are deeper, more interactive, and usually generate higher engagement due to delivery, and the way people engage with the content. The platform is all about sound and video, and to create successful content for TikTok it needs to include interesting audio and eye-catching visuals. As a slightly less formal platform, you can have full creative freedom with your content and shouldn’t feel afraid to step out of comfort zones. After all, coming across too salesy or professional might not resonate as well with your viewers – ideally you want to keep them entertained and avoid their urge to scroll past. The marketing possibilities are endless with TikTok, you can post anything from advertising your products and services to day-in-the-life videos and general chit chat, being varied with your content is bound to keep your audience engaged. In general, the more views a video receives, the more likely it is to reach larger audiences.
On average, TikTok users spend roughly 52 minutes a day on the app, meaning your content is highly likely to be reached by those falling into the “I’ll just watch a couple” trap. A viewer’s TikTok feed works with an algorithm, where users scroll through an FYP (for you page) that generates content based on a number of factors including video likes, comments, shares, completions and re-watches. Algorithm is also very subject matter based, it categorises content based on a user’s interests and which videos they react with the most and takes note of device settings such as location and language and will typically share local and relevant content.
Being new to something can always feel daunting, having to build an audience from scratch and gain a following, but with TikTok algorithm, the number of followers you have isn’t the be all and end all in terms of getting your content out there. Here’s how to successfully hack into the TikTok algorithm.
- Keep your videos short and sweet to reduce the likeliness of your content being skipped, engaging your viewers in the first few seconds is a vital tactic for keeping them hooked and wanting more.
- Focus on a niche subject and stick to it (with the odd exception), If you keep your content consistent, with time the app will recognise a recurring theme within your videos and therefore serve it to the correct audience. Using hashtags and keywords used in the video informs the algorithm what your content is about.
- Most of the content on TikTok is driven by trends, particularly in terms of audio. When looking for inspiration for your next video, have a scroll through your FYP and make note of the trending sounds circulating the app. Occasionally sticking to these will mean your videos are more likely to appear on people’s feeds.
In a hope to reach wider audiences, Hayward Miller have recently joined TikTok, our content will be regularly maintained and will range from factual videos of our markets to everyday banter in the office with our team. We look forward to seeing you there.
By Becky Frost.