Tik Tok is more powerful than many people realize. A lot of the biggest brand moments on TikTok are accidental. The power of TikTok cannot be underestimated. Besides being the procrastination tool of choice for many a teen, the app has had a profound impact on sound and culture in the modern world.

What is TikTok marketing?

It is the process of using Tik Tok to promote a brand, products and or services to consumers. Companies can use this strategy in many ways by creating their own Tik Tok account and making videos, using hashtags, as well as partnering with influencers to promote their products via promotional campaigns.

Why use Tik Tok marketing?

This type of marketing can help businesses do a multitude of things such as:

Increase brand awareness
Build engaged communities
Sell products and services
Get feedback from customers and audiences
Provide customer service

Advertise products and services to target audiences

(Hootsuite, 2022)

3 Main ways Tik Tok marketing is being used:

1. Influencer marketing:

This marketing is a huge part of the app, Tik Tok users are constantly watching the stars of the app and following what they do, what they wear, what they use and so on and so forth. These influencers really do have a big influence in the users and especially their fans that follow them closely considering Tik Tok is designed like any other social media app to filter videos on your page of genres you typically like and users that you watch the most. Conveniently for companies, “you don’t need a high-profile influencer for successful marketing—try to discover rising stars, or influencers in your niche” (Hootsuite, 2022).

2. Creating your own content :

In my opinion, this is the most fun option for businesses to be able to reach their audience. It feels the most real and authentic considering the business has all the creativity in their hands and gets to choose exactly what they want their customers/followers to see which can provide a more personal connection. Depending on where the business is at, whether it be a startup or relatively new, this can be a great option if there is less financial ability to partner with an influencer that may have higher money values they will accept. There really is no limit to this option, you do anything from promoting your product to participating in trends, making day in the life videos and even creating funny unrelated content just to attain a bigger audience.

3. Tik Tok advertising

If your company has the financial room to invest, this could be a great strategy for you, considering Tik Tok ads are slightly more expensive as compared to other platforms. Given Tik Tok’s ability to reach millions of people within one day at a time, by using the right strategy your brand could be the next success story produced by this app. There are a few different types of ads that you can utilize in the app, which include:

In-Feed Ads

These ads are seen between content when users are scrolling through their feed and can allow for a lot of creativity.

Brand Takeovers

Brand takeover ads appear immediately when users open the TikTok app which can be very effective but also very pricey.

TopViews

In-feed ads are guaranteed to be the first in-feed ad that users see after three seconds and can be seen for up to 60 seconds.

Branded Hashtag Challenges

Branded hashtag challenges are useful because they build brand awareness largely through user-generated content which also allow for a lot of creativity.

Branded Effects

TikTok’s branded effects take a page from Snapchat’s playbook and allow brands to create AR overlays that TikTokers can use in their videos and encourage participation from the user.

(Schaffer, 2022)

Tik Tok Marketing strategies