TikTok business has become a game-changer for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and global brands alike, offering a dynamic platform to reach millions with creative, bite-sized content. What was once a source of dance challenges and lip-sync videos has become a business-growth powerhouse on TikTok. Its short-form video format and engaged audience has opened up unparalleled opportunities to brands with its more than 1.5 billion monthly active users.
This article explores the TikTok business, diving into smart strategies that businesses are using to capitalize on this platform’s unique potential, from leveraging trends to building authentic connections.
Why Businesses are Thriving on TikTok
The TikTok business is also fueled by the platform’s low barrier to entry. TikTok is a platform that values creativity and authenticity more than production value, unlike traditional advertising, which demands huge budgetary allocations in order to execute polished campaigns.
A brand can be launched into the limelight with a smartphone, a good idea, and a flair to tell a story. Whether it be local bakeries or tech startups, companies see the potential in TikTok to promote sales, create brand fandom, and establish a community.
In order to get a clearer picture of why companies are leaning towards TikTok, it is beneficial to examine the primary factors that are making TikTok the centerpiece of their marketing efforts.
The Power of TikTok’s Algorithm
What keeps people coming back to TikTok for new content is the ‘For You’ page, or more commonly known as the FYP. This isn’t a feed. It’s a personalized stage designed for your business’s most captivating moments. On TikTok, you are not only seeing updates from the friends you follow or accounts you follow, but you may be shown videos from creators or brands you may have never met.
On their FYP, TikTok lines up videos that it thinks you would love—this means the exposure potential for businesses is wide. This new exposure means that businesses don’t need thousands of followers to get seen. If you receive strong user engagement across shares, watch time, or comments on your video, TikTok will push it out to more users.
Reaching The Right Audience Fast
Every day, a new person can go viral. There is no need to be famous or spend ad dollars. The right video can get to millions of people in a matter of days.
Content first – followers second. It’s fresher, relatable content that gets pushed out far and wide regardless of follower count. This presents a level playing field for small brands.
Experiment and test continuously. Even if your first video fails to impress, your second event, or your third event, may be the one that makes noise. This paper design has made TikTok more about “what you make” than “who you know.” You can create smart and memorable videos, and the TikTok algorithm can take care of the rest.
Brands are leveraging these features to help them get closer to their target market as quick as possible:
- Hashtags: Brands use popular or niche hashtags to find. These trends have the potential to give you visibility because you are putting your video in front of more FYP screens.
- Personalized suggestions: If someone watches videos based on skin care, TikTok will show them more videos in the category. A skin care business has a greater chance of being seen by the right eyes.
When you properly utilize your hashtags and trends, TikTok’s system will place your content in front of exactly the audience you had in mind.
Smart TikTok Strategies That Work Now
The companies need to adjust to the usage of the TikTok business that is highly driven by trends and operates at a very rapid pace. Below strategies that are making businesses successful as discussed below.
Content That Clicks: What People Love to Watch
If you want people to watch, share, and remember your brand, you need to use content types that people already love! There are types of videos that seem to always resonate with TikTok users. Here is a list of what is working right now:
Challenges
They are invitations to people to join in and express their flair and twist. A challenge that went viral on TikTok was #FlipTheSwitch. The participants changed outfits and roles halfway through the video. A brand can have fun with challenges and create quick and easy challenges based on the use of their products. A brand could ask fans to show their best glow-up while showcasing their beauty product.
Quick Tips & How-To
Short, punchy “how-to” and videos always offer great views. For example, you might own a kitchen store; post “30-second knife skills,” or “quick ways to clean cast iron, and you might get many saves and shares.
Behind-the-Scenes
People want to feel connected to the real people and stories behind your business. Show how you make your product, pack your orders, or give a glimpse of your team brainstorming. For example, Lush Cosmetics does this well, giving viewers a chance to see how their bath bombs are made or packaged.
User-Generated Content (UGC)
Get your fans to show you how they use your product/ Encourage your fans to send you videos of themselves using your product or service and post them on your page too. An example would be that a shoe company could start up a hashtag (#MyFreshKicks) and repost all the people’s videos when they lace their kicks.
Relatable Humor & Trends
Use trending audio, filters, or funny reactions to associate your product with pop culture. Companies like Duolingo and Ryanair produce content in trending formats like this and have fun at the expense of their mascots with their branding.
By interspersing these concepts together, you can keep the content varied and your audience guessing what you will produce next. The key to a TikTok feel is to keep the videos tight and feel authentic by recording with a phone.
Working With Creators and Influencers
Collaborating with TikTok creators has quickly become one of the easiest ways to build trust and gain new eyes on your content. Instead of hard-selling your product, you rely on someone else demonstrating your product or service while helping win over their followers on something that is not seen as traditional advertising.
Here are why businesses collaborate with creators:
- Instant Credibility: Once more, followers trust creators. A good endorsement from the right person can turn a browser into a buyer.
- Built-In Audiences: Creators have a ready-made audience of loyal followers who trust their recommendations and try anything they recommend.
- Creative spin: Creators know trend stories and how they can weave a product into their normal story so it doesn’t feel forced.
How to choose the right TikTok partner:
- Analyze the audience: Does the creator have an audience that matches yours? Check the age, affinity, and geo-locations for their followers.
- Check the style: Is the creator’s content and style aligned with your vibe? If you sell eco-friendly products for the home, then a creator sharing sustainable living tips may be a good fit.
- Look at the engagement: It doesn’t matter if the creator has a large amount of followers, if no one is liking or commenting. An engaged creator with loyal followers is worth much more than an account with thousands of followers without engagement.
- Work with micro-influencers: Influencers with between 10K and 100K followers have more influence in a small community, and are usually a more cost-effective way to partner with an influencer.
Provide clarity in your partnership, but be authentic. Allow creators the freedom they need to sell your product, but be clear on the message you want conveyed so the content is real and relatable.
Optimize Every Detail: Timing, Captions, And Thumbnails Matter
It’s easy to create great video content, but it won’t go anywhere without optimizing. One of the best ways to get seen on TikTok is to post when your audience is active – most likely in the evenings or on weekends.
When posting, the captions need to be short, relevant, engaging, and contain key terms related to the content of the post, so you can be seen in the search and trending results.
Don’t forget about thumbnails. An appealing cover image will entice a user to stop scrolling and tap your video, which means more taps, more TikTok video views, and ultimately more engagement for your video.
Don’t forget about the hook—the first two seconds are most important. If you get people engaged right away with your content, they are more likely to keep watching, and TikTok’s platform will ultimately give you more views for your video over time.
Paid vs. Organic: Getting the Most from Ads
You have two options on TikTok: you can either grow organically or pay for ads, which means you can grow using a paid strategy rather than organic. Both will work for you, but the best results will come from a combination of the two.
The benefits/positives of TikTok advertisements:
- Immediate Reach: Your advertisements take place in user feeds to get your product in front of thousands (if not millions) of other users almost overnight.
- Target great audiences: You can choose who sees your advertisement not only based on interests, but also on location and age.
- Formats for any goal: You can run in-feed videos, branded hashtag challenges, or even paid placements on the Discover page.
The negatives/downsides of paid/TikTok advertisements:
- Costs add up: Even a modest test campaign can cost more than boosting posts on Instagram or Facebook.
- Advertisements have to fit in: Hip, polished, and standard advertisements do not perform well on TikTok. Users on TikTok are looking for ads to have the same appearance as regular organic content, so don’t take the fun and authenticity out of the advertisement.
How organic and paid advertisements work together:
- Create an organic challenge or trend, and once you build momentum on your organic audience, you can pump it up with paid ads to reach more users.
- Create a post that is authentic, and then promote the top-performing posts with TikTok Promote to the “For You Page” for maximum reach of your posts.
Use organic videos to test what is authentic to TikTok audiences before investing big money on ad campaigns of targeted ads together, you are able to reach new customers—without wasting you spend. Keep your content authentic and entertaining, and TikTok will handle a lot of the work for you.
Avoiding Common Challenges on TikTok
There are problems in the TikTok business. Businesses find themselves overwhelmed by the rapid nature of the platform, and keeping up with the times involves continuous innovation. These are the usual challenges and how to approach them:
Overdoing Trends and Missing Your Brand Voice
It is enticing when you see a trend that has emerged from TikTok or Instagram, everyone is doing the dance or using the audio, and you want to join in. The viral dances and sounds that draw people often garner engagement quickly; however, this can lead to brands simply being noise in the conversation of trends. Focusing on trying to ride every trend day-to-day will not create loyalty from anyone.
You want TikTok users to remember you, not another version of the same joke (I would forget the punchline). This is how to keep it on brand:
- Be selective with trends, don’t select any trend that you see that fits your vibe or a chance to show off your product, as it would fit as natural as possible.
- Be consistent with tone and message across all videos and styles of videos, even when using trending formats.
Put your spin on trends. If every person is doing a certain challenge, you have to ask yourself how your brand can separate itself. Trends can be thought of like spices—an ingredient you can use to season your dish, but you shouldn’t drown out your recipe. Your voice is your differentiator, and that’s what will build real fans over time.
Ignoring Analytics and Feedback
Numbers are important, and comments from your audience count too. TikTok gives you lots of easy-to-read information about your posts, from video views to watch time, and engagement rates. If you post and walk away without checking your results, you will miss what works and what flops. Follow the numbers:
- Views: what videos brought in the most views?
- Likes, comments, and shares: on what content are people most engaged?
How many followers did I gain from a post? Did specific content bring in new fans?
Don’t get lost in the numbers; also, read your comments and messages. Many viewers will tell you they would like to see more of something, or they may comment on something you did great. If you get the same messaging more than once, that’s something to consider. Small adjustments based on analytical data and audience feedback can positively impact the reach of your next video.
Being Too Salesy or Inauthentic
It’s easy to fall into the pattern of selling your product in every video, but no one wants to see a hard sell in video format. People go to TikTok for entertainment, ideas, and authentic stories, not sales pitches. Your audience will scroll past you if the content feels forced or fake.
What works better:
- To discuss the backstory of your products or business
- To show your team, your workspace, or even a funny mistake
- Highlight real customers and their experiences
Be authentic and humorous, and skip the sales pitch and “call now!” script
Besides being able to tell what is authentic or scripted a mile away, viewers will appreciate you, and ultimately, you will develop followers who will become your supporters, not just your customers. TikTok is a relationship-building site. When you respect that, you will notice better engagement and longer-lasting results.
Conclusion
TikTok business has reinvented the way brands can relate with consumers by providing a platform where creativity and authenticity are the order of the day.
Following trends or collaborating with influencers and engaging with community means that even the biggest businesses have access to the enormous potential of TikTok. Regardless of whether you are a small startup, or the world-recognized brand, the point is never stand still or be afraid to experiment and tell the stories that will matter.
In the future of digital marketing, individuals who have perfected the art of blending entertainment and commerce in TikTok will be the leaders of the new era of this industry.
