TikTok Guide for Businesses – [incl. Checklist]

TikTok is a short-video platform with more than 1 billion monthly active users worldwide. As the audience of TikTok is a young group between 13 and 25 years old, businesses can highly benefit from featuring on TikTok.

– Video marketing with TikTok: The new tool for brands and influencers

Brands are using TikTok as an additional channel to reach their target groups. Many famous influencers are already present on this social media app, so why not use it yourself? Create your own account today and discover how is TikTok for Businesses beneficial for you! We created some incredible content to help you get started to provide you with knowledge about everything related to video marketing with TikTok!

#1 What is TikTok

Tik Tok, often referred to as “Tik,” is a short-video social media app for Apple and Android. It was launched in June 2017 as a spin-off of Musical.ly and is currently the most popular video-sharing platform amongst teens worldwide, with more than 1 billion global downloads to date.

TikTok has become increasingly known by brands, marketers and influencers due to its high reach (more than 500 million active users). It is considered one of the fastest-growing social media platforms, especially when compared to Facebook. TikTok allows users to create simple videos that can be edited with text captions or superimposed digital filters (filters & effects are called “Stickers” on TikTok). The simplicity of TikTok makes it ideal for businesses that want to reach their target groups through video marketing. Depending on the user’s interests, they can also view and engage with branded content.

Tik Tok is available in 26 languages, even though several of them are unverified since users can choose their language on TikTok. There are more than 1 million videos posted per day globally. Popularity has been increasing worldwide, especially in Asian countries such as India, Indonesia, Japan or Thailand.

#2 How to use TikTok for Businesses

– Successful Content Strategy: Video marketing with TikTok

Every channel needs a certain kind of content on it. The same applies to Tik Tok as well! A successful video strategy includes different types of content which work best for this specific platform. Here is our checklist showing you the different types of TikTok content and how to create them.

1. Create Sponsored Content

Sponsored content on TikTok is also called UGC or User Generated Content. It’s exactly what the name says: Video impressions that are made by real users, aka your target group! You can use sponsored content to get your brand in front of millions of potential customers worldwide. It has been used successfully by many brands already.

The best way to create sponsored content on TikTok is through influencers or well-known personalities as part of a product placement deal. These persons should be relevant for your business and have a large following with whom you want to get in contact. Since Tik Tok UGC doesn’t always appear on the brand’s channel, it should be shared on the influencer’s personal channel as well.

Contrary to TikTok ads, sponsored content doesn’t come with a filter and therefore needs no pre-made content. But since these videos can still get millions of views, you’ll want to work closely with the person who will create this content for your brand. So plan ahead when creating a strategy!

2 . Create Advertise Content

Tik Tok Ads are perfect for businesses that have already convinced an influencer or celebrity to make sponsored content for them (see point 1.). The next step then is getting the advertiser in contact with Tik Tok and telling them about their offer while also giving them access to high-quality branded assets such as photos and videos.

Since TikTok ads should be like an appealing story for users, creating adverts needs many strategies and thought processes from the advertiser’s side. Depending on their target group, they can create many different kinds of ads to optimize reach and engagement. The best way is to create a well-edited video with captions containing keywords that will make it relevant to the targeted age group. Keywords are also placed within the ad itself and even in the description (no more than 30 characters), making sure viewers have a clear view of what your brand offers!

The proposed video should not be longer than 50 seconds, which makes them shorter than most TVC ads but still very attractive, especially for teens who don’t have a lot of attention span. Also, ads should be created within 15 minutes from start to finish so that the team can post them on time via a web dashboard that TikTok provides.

3. Create Content that will Engage Users

This is where Tik Tok’s in-app features such as different filters and stickers come into play. Every uploaded video can be edited with text captions or superimposed digital filters (filters & effects are called “Stickers” on TikTok), making it ideal for businesses who want to reach their target groups through video marketing. Depending on the user’s interests, they can also view and engage with branded content. These types of videos also work well when combined with sponsored content (UGC). You’ll get the best results if you create different kinds of content (UGC, standard video, and sponsored videos), optimize it for your target groups, and use all possible features to reach them.

We also have a Guide for Tik Tok Sponsored Content if you want to learn more about this topic!

4. Event-related Videos with Filters & Stickers

All kinds of events happen every day: Birthdays, living together, graduation, etc. Therefore, companies can celebrate these events with their target group on TikTok as well! For example, one could post a 30-second video featuring a birthday cake or balloons while wishing the user a happy birthday with motivational words on top. Also, adding stickers into the video is an excellent way to encourage users to react while also celebrating with your brand.

If you want tips on how to use Tik Tok as part of an event marketing strategy, you can read our Guide for using TikTok or watch this video:

5 . Get in Contact with Users via #Hashtags & Comments

Many brands get in contact with their target group through hashtags and comments because they can easily be reached on the go while sitting comfortably at home. To prevent spam, Tik Tok only accepts 30 posts per user-hour which means that many companies wait for hours in order to reach out to large groups of people via comments or hashtags. Furthermore, some businesses leave their information such as website URL or phone number within their hashtag to appear in other people’s hashtags feed. The recommended way is to create a unique hashtag for your brand such that it doesn’t look spammy.

#3 Checklist for your business’s TikTok Account

Here you can find a checklist that will help you optimize your TikTok account:

1) Is My Account complete?

– Full Profile Info with all Details (profile image, bio)

– Profile Picture is Brand Centered / Suitable for Tik Tok / Clear & Cute

– Posts are up to date and the video length isn’t too long or too short

2) Are my caption clear, well-phrased and appealing? Maybe even animated?

3) Is the description effective in a way it persuades users to click because they’re curious about my product/service? For example, does it have keywords and hashtags but without spammy text that doesn’t look relevant to the post’s topic – i.e. my brand?

4) Does my TikTok account look well designed? Have I used different types of content in order to show variety and flexibility? (Check out this Guide for using TikTok video content like a pro !)

5) Do the videos have appealing filters or stickers? Do they follow TikTok style guidelines, are they well-produced & directed, do they use subtitles instead of just captions where needed? Is the text funny/entertaining but also informative enough in order to promote my product/service? Is there more than one ad per user-hour AND at least one from a different brand every hour?

6) Are my following (Engaged Users & Ad Fans) growing each day while being relevant to my brand? If not, why not?

7) Is my business’s account in good standing? Do I follow all rules and guidelines (i.e. no 3rd party accounts, no fake content)?

#4 Success Stories of Businesses on TikTok

To sum up this article, here are three success stories of companies using TikTok as a marketing tool!

1. Chipotle – #ChipotleLidFlip Challenge

Chipotle launched the #ChipotleLidFlip Challenge to entertain its customers, where users could win free Chipotle meals by flipping a lid and taking a creative picture underneath it. In order to participate, you had to follow Tik Tok’s account and tag your friends who were also at Chipotle. Additionally, users could upload any video with the hashtag on TikTok as well.

2. Dunkin’ Donuts – #DunkinDonutsSwag

In order to reach a younger audience, Dunkin’ Donuts decided to create a video ad on TikTok, which showed the sad life of a man who had no donuts but could not stop thinking about them. Consequently, he runs 5 miles in his sleep and dreams about dunking into one. The main message here was that you should get enough rest so that you can enjoy your coffee and donuts the next day!

3. Nike – Share Your Shoe Story

Nike uses Tik Tok as an additional channel alongside other social media networks like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. While talking about products is important for many brands, it’s also essential to show how they make customers feel and their impact on the user’s daily life. For this reason, Nike launched a campaign called #ShareYourShoeStory which encouraged users to upload videos telling their stories about how Nike shoes changed/helped their lives.