Leveraging TikTok for Business

Leveraging TikTok for Business

If you’ve been on social media for very long, you have probably noticed the indelible impact that TikTok has had on the broader digital landscape. Not only has TikTok developed a winning algorithm for its own use, but it has actually become the blueprint for other app designs, deeply impacting the way Instagram feeds content to its users. TikTok isn’t just the latest social media phase; it’s a social media game changer. There are several reasons for this, and understanding these reasons can prove very useful to your business.

Going Viral

In years past, the whole concept of “going viral” related mostly to platforms like YouTube, where creators would spend a significant amount of time generating original content to push to their following, in hopes that those followers would share their content to the point of going viral. In other news, the concept of going viral was mostly based on how well you connected with your own base. If you didn’t do that well, you could kiss the horizons of digital fame goodbye.

Such is not the case with TikTok. TikTok has built an algorithm that gathers information about each user's preferences and then feeds the user content that matches those preferences, based on the sound, hashtags, and substance of the video itself. This means that a TikTok creator can go viral purely on the merit of the video itself, even if their content isn’t 100% original.

That being said, it may sound like going viral is easier now. But that is not necessarily the case.

While the barriers to entry in terms of content creation may be more lenient, the ease of TikTok creation has generated an exponential increase in competition. Everyone wants to be “TikTok” famous. So with this in mind, how can you create content that will make an impact in the midst of this flooded market?

Sounds and Trends

One feature that allows TikTok content to go viral is the “sounds” that are used. In the lower left hand corner of any TikTok, you will see the title of the “sound” that is used. Once a sound goes viral, videos used with that sound are given preference by the algorithm. Generally speaking, it is easier to go viral with an already-established TikTok sound than with an original sound.

This poses a problem for businesses who want to showcase their work or give overviews of job sites. Luckily, there is a workaround! After uploading a video to post, you can select a sound from the suggested TikTok sounds, and then simply mute that sound while keeping your original audio at 100%. This allows businesses to tap into that algorithmic advantage lent by using sounds while also maintaining the authenticity of an original video.

Views vs. Engagement

In order to use your TikTok presence as a moneymaker and not just another social platform, it’s important to understand the difference between views and engagement, and how to generate each. It’s awesome to get thousands of views on a video, but only if those views translate to likes, comments, shares, website visits, etc.

What are some ways to generate engagement on TikTok? This, again, goes back to understanding the algorithm and types of videos that are currently trending at any given time. One of the best ways for businesses to turn views into engagement is to tap into current trends. For instance, one trend that has garnered millions of videos is the “Get Ready With Me (GRWM)” trend. Influencers and other personalities will simply walk through their “getting ready” routine for any given work day or outing. Businesses can tap into this by having their employees walk through what it looks like to get ready for a day on the job. This is just one example of many. Spend a little time scrolling on the app and you’ll quickly come up with many more!

Sponsored Ads

TikTok offers boosting and promotion tools that make it rather easy to generate a ton of views and engagement very quickly. A post with as little as a $30, 6-day budget can garner several thousand views and hundreds of reactions and comments. Having done this myself, I can attest that it is one of the most effective means of advertising from a pure engagement perspective.

As always, I hope this helps your business level up your social game! When used correctly, TikTok can be a great way to generate engagement and establish your business as a community member. If you have any questions about how to establish a TikTok presence, feel free to reach out! I’d love to help jumpstart what your business does with this app.