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Social Media Marketing: How the TikTok platform can work for your small business

With small businesses looking for unique ways to market themselves and stand out, a platform like TikTok maybe just what you need. TikTok is a hugely popular social media platform that lets users create short videos from 15 seconds to 2 minutes long. 

TikTok has grown rapidly globally and provides a great marketing opportunity especially for businesses trying to target younger adults. In this post, we want to give you an insight into how using TikTok can help grow your small business or brand presence.

Man holding up a pair of pants in front of a camera for a photograph

Why should my business use TikTok?

TikTok for business is an extremely useful marketing platform giving you access to over 837 million monthly active users who are browsing on their smartphones at any given time. In New Zealand, the app has 1.3 million monthly active users who spend an average of 85 minutes a day on the platform. 

This massive audience allows brands and businesses to target consumers based on location, gender, interests, etc., which means they’ll see your posts even when they’re not specifically searching for your product or service.

How to build your brand presence on TikTok?

The first step to building your brand presence on TikTok is to download the app and create a profile. This is fairly easy to do, and all you need to provide are some basic details about your business/brand, as well as a bio that tells users a little bit more about what you offer.

From there, there are some simple steps you can take to maximise your impact on the platform.

 

Understand the demographics

Unlike platforms like Facebook, TikTok is popular with a certain demographic, particularly those in the 18-35 age range but is gradually getting more popular with older audiences. 

TikTok works best when used by small businesses if they are aware of who the app is primarily aimed at and what content the users on the platform typically engage with. For example, some brands have had success marketing through creating fun memes that appeal directly to their target market using popular hashtags relating specifically to that audience group. Product led businesses have also seen success in generating leads for their brand. 

TikTok’s powerful algorithm serves content based on how users ineract with the app, the time they spend on it and the location to serve users with new and relevant content that is just perfect for that user hence exposing them new brands and products.

 

Engage with a community

Any social media marketing works best when you can build and engage with a community and TikTok is no different.

The marketing efforts of brands on TikTok are so effective because they work to build up a community around their brand. They do this by sharing content that is relatable and relevant to the demographic who will become most familiar with their branding; whether it be through following them or even creating fan art.

 

Take inspiration from your competitors

If you’re unsure of what to include in your first TikTok, take a look at what your competitors are doing. There’s no harm in taking inspiration from the competition but putting your own spin on it and being authentic to your brand is key. 

Once you’ve started making TikTok videos, you can use the platform’s analytics to check what is and isn’t having an impact, using the data to help shape your marketing strategy.

 

Make use of the various advertising opportunities

As you become more familiar with the platform and your audience on TikTok, make use of the different advertising opportunities that the app offers. Using the right ad formats along with following simple best practices such as creating short videos, using the right hashtags and following (or even creating) the right trends, you can make your brand stand out. 

Boost your marketing strategy with TikTok

Social media marketing is largely free and can be hugely effective if you take the time to understand the platform as well as the demographics you’re targeting. With the advantages of high reach, daily usage, audience targeting and advertising capabilities, TikTok is a strong contender to consider to boost your marketing strategy. 

Using our short guide, you can quickly make a start on growing your business and engaging your audience on one of the fastest growing social media platforms in the world. 

Resources:

Stuff Business – How to be a confident TikToker for your business

Digital Boost NZ – An online resource made available by business.govt.nz for small businesses to learn about digital marketing.

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