How to make the most of TikTok for your small business

08 April 2022

TikTok has been around since 2018, but has rapidly made it to one of the top social media platforms universally. It has gained traction fast from everyone, from teenagers to celebrities and in the business world in marketing and engagement campaigns. If you’re not already implementing TikTok into your business plan, then this is the blog for you.

This blog will tell you how to make the most of TikTok for your small business, and how to use the app to reach your audience in a new fun and creative way.

Why should you care about TikTok?

Hopefully, if you run a small business with existing social media marketing efforts you will know what TikTok is and the concept of the app, but how can you benefit from it?

TikTok’s algorithm is built using AI to give users recommendations of videos they should watch based on what they’ve already watched in their recent history on the app. This makes it easier for users to find new content they’re likely to enjoy and engage with.

The app is currently the sixth most popular social platform in the world, with over 1.65 billion global downloads, and if this isn’t a reason to care about your TikTok efforts, we don’t know what is!

How to understand the platform?

If you’re a small business and want to get yourself up to terms with the platform, start by creating a small business account, and explore what your competitors and similar businesses are doing on the platform. This will give you inspiration on how to use it and where to start, however, it is essential to make sure your audience is on TikTok before you continue.

Once you’ve done this, you should scroll through your For You page and get a feel for the app, then after this have a go at making your videos. The beauty of TikTok is that you don’t have to have professional videographer skills; all content is made by users themselves. Have around with trends, music, and effects, and enjoy being creative while creating authentic content.

Top tip! : Be sure to use the right hashtags to promote your posts. Look for trending hashtags, but make sure they are applicable to your video. Here are some of the most popular hashtags on TikTok.

Stuck for ideas?

Here are some video options you can use to promote your business:

Introduce yourself and your business, or your team. Why not use a song that captures the culture of your company?
Give a tour of your workplace environment, so they can see where the magic happens.
How did you start your business? Why not make a video sharing your success story to inspire others?
What’s the name of your company and where did it come from? If it’s an interesting story, then maybe you could share this?
Everybody loves ‘How to’ and tutorial videos, could you share a step-by-step process of your products? Maybe in a timelapse format?

The possibilities to promote your business on TikTok are endless, but the key thing to remember is it’s important to keep it fun and short; TikTok users want to be entertained and engaged as well as educated.

Discover TikTok ads

After you’ve grasped the basics, it’s time to discover the platform’s ads. Like other platforms, TikTok has now introduced advertising on the app. There are four ways that businesses can advertise on TikTok:

Brand Takeover: This is when a user opens up the app and the first thing they see will be the brand takeover ad before anything else.
Native ad: This type of ad plays within user content, but these are easy to skip and scroll past.
Sponsored hashtag challenge: This is when your business can sponsor a specific hashtag challenge on the app and use the Discover page to advertise this and your business.
Branded lens: This is the type of ad where your business can design filters or lenses to add to user videos. It’s best to choose something that would resonate with your target audience.

If you’re looking for more advice on TikTok advertising, then get in touch with us at Gather Social. Head to our contact page now.