TikTok has more than 1 billion monthly active users worldwide, with more than 150 million American. Yes, Indonesia is in second place with the most TikTok users in the world, after the first position was occupied by the US. Its fast format and seemingly endless content make it addictive as well. Users spend an average of 95 minutes per day browsing random videos.
Whether you’re on TikTok or not (or just don’t want to admit you’re on it), there’s no denying that you can reach a huge audience.
While the majority of consumer consumers start their product searches on Shopee, 43% of younger generations say they start their searches on TikTok, a higher number than those who start on Google.
Here, BUKcase want to tell you about how important it is to build a brand both inside and outside Shopee. That involves building a branded social media presence. Given TikTok’s vast user base and potential to launch your product to viral popularity, if you’re not using this app in your brand building and social media strategy, you should.
Now, we will discuss how to promote your business and sell your products on TikTok.
What is TikTok?
TikTok is a short-form video-sharing application where users can create and share clips up to 10 minutes long. What’s unique about TikTok, and what makes its content so shareable, is its ever-expanding “Sound Library,” where creators can easily add song clips or dialogue snippets from TV shows, movies, and even other TikTok creators to videos. they.
These sounds enable the app’s viral content remixing culture, just as memes are endlessly reshared on Twitter and Facebook, Individual sounds can go viral on TikTok, as user after user posts their spin on a trending lipsync or dance video. As the TikTok newsroom says.
“One of TikTok’s greatest strengths lies in creating a community that feels close-knit despite its enormous size. A meme, trend, or song created on TikTok can quickly go from a joke to a national phenomenon.”
The resulting content is quite entertaining, and you’ll quickly see why users often stick with the app for hours on end.
While some of the most popular creators are celebrities with global fan bases (including more than a few who became famous through TikTok), it’s quite easy to go viral even if your account doesn’t have many followers. By using popular Sounds and using trending Hashtags, your first video can receive hundreds of thousands to millions of views.
Kids and younger generations make up the majority of TikTok users (68% aged 10-39), but all ages get in on the fun. Even well-known brands like Coca-Cola, KFC, and Levis are taking advantage of the opportunity for viral reach.
Trends move fast on TikTok, so if you hear a sound, see a dance or a particular challenge that generates thousands of views, you might as well jump in and ride the wave!
Should you create a TikTok account for your business?
The short answer is YES! But let’s dig deeper into why. Your social media presence should still include legacy channels like Instagram and Facebook. But don’t discount TikTok because it caters to younger users, if you do, you’ll miss a huge opportunity.
As we mentioned above, TikTok is estimated to have 113 million monthly active users in Indonesia alone and more than 1 billion worldwide. Not only is the audience huge, but the users on TikTok are also very interactive and highly engaged.
On TikTok, it doesn’t matter what type of product you sell, what matters is whether you can incorporate your brand into viral content. If you add your unique touch to trending Sounds, your videos can build brand awareness by capturing the attention of thousands of potential customers.
How to Sell on TikTok
1. Create your account
First, download the TikTok app on your phone and select Create Account. If you already have a personal TikTok account, you may want to create a second account just for your business. You can switch between your accounts within the TikTok app.
After you enter your login information, you will be asked to create a username for your account. Try to keep your usernames or social media handles consistent across platforms so that customers can easily identify your brand.
Once your account is created, add a profile picture, and a short bio, and connect your Instagram and YouTube accounts if you have them.
2. Switch to a Business account
TikTok users have the option to use a “Personal” account or two different types of “Pro” accounts, namely “Creator/Creator” or “Business”.
When you first create an account, it will be Private by default. There are several advantages to changing your account type to Pro, such as analytics features. Plus, it’s free to use. Here’s a summary of each type of TikTok account:
- Private: For everyday users who will mostly use TikTok to view other people’s videos.
- Creators: For users who post daily and are trying to grow a following. The benefits include detailed analytics about your videos, such as audience demographics. You can also join the Creator Fund after gaining 10,000 followers and at least 100,000 video views in the last 30 days, which will monetize your views.
- Business: For those who want analytics. With a business account, you won’t be able to join the Creator Fund, but you can still access detailed analytics. You will be able to add links in your bio (e.g. for your eBay storefront), and business contact information, and have access to unique engagement solutions, performance tracking, and advertising solutions.
If you want to promote your business or brand, a Business account is your best bet.
3. Start creating content
Once your account is ready, start creating content! We recommend browsing “For You” for a moment just to get a feel for it. Soon you’ll see viral dances, challenges, comedy videos, and more.
Here are some tips for creating TikTok content:
- Keep it light. Try to create content that is fun and entertaining without being too salty. The point is to keep viewers engaged so they want to rewatch or even share the video with friends. The more people see and share your content, the more TikTok will suggest it to other users.
- Engage quickly. Try to grab the viewer’s attention very quickly, within the first few seconds of your video. Otherwise, they’ll just scroll to the next one. Search hashtags like #smallbusiness, #smallbusinesscheck, and #entrepreneur to get ideas about how other brands are promoting themselves.
- Be yourself. Don’t copy other people’s content exactly, put your unique style and branding in every video you make. But don’t be a perfectionist either. The nice thing about TikTok is that you can post as much as you want to increase your chances of going viral. We recommend posting at least 1-3 per day.
- Start your challenge. Create unique challenges and hashtags specific to your product that will encourage people to participate. For example, if you sell flower bouquets, you can create the hashtag #flowerbouquetchallenge and challenge your followers and viewers.
Using sound in your TikTok
You’ll notice that most viral videos feature custom user-generated music or sounds. When creating a video, you can choose from the TikTok Sound Library. Using popular sounds increases your chances of going viral on TikTok.
4. Engage your audience and stay consistent
As you start getting views, likes, and comments, it’s important to actively engage with people’s comments.
It’s also important to stay consistent with your videos. If you only post once or twice a week, you probably won’t get the reach you want. If you keep posting at least once a day, one of your videos is bound to go viral at some point.
You will quickly realize that developing a TikTok account is much easier than developing an Instagram or YouTube account. As long as you consistently put out fun, engaging, and entertaining content, your account will grow.
5. Take advantage of influencer marketing
You can promote your brand on TikTok by partnering with “influencers,” or content creators with larger followings. Influencers in your niche can put your products in front of a much larger audience. Another benefit of hiring TikTok influencers is that they can make branded content feel organic, rather than like obvious advertising.
Looking for influencers on TikTok
Search for keywords that fit your topic or product category within TikTok to see if there are any influencers in your space you’d like to work with. For example, search for “children toys” and find users who post content that aligns with your brand.
You can also find top influencer talent on TikTok’s Creator Marketplace. The marketplace is TikTok’s internal hub for connecting influencers and brands and offers data-driven insights into which influencers are right for your brand, plus tools to help you build influencer marketing campaigns.
TikTok now makes it easier for brands and marketing agencies to reach TikTok influencers through the new “TikTok Creator Marketplace API.”
The difference between the new API and the old Creator Marketplace is that it allows partnering marketing companies to access TikTok audience demographic data, real-time campaign reporting, growth trends, and top-performing videos.
This will make it easier for brands and agencies to find top-performing influencers to work with.
6. Encourage user-generated content (UGC)
Many products end up going viral on TikTok because of the involvement of ordinary people like you and consumers. People who feature a particular product in their videos, either by using it or explaining why they like it, can launch the product onto the viral circuit.
The crazy thing is, that many of these popular videos aren’t even paid ads. Instead, they are organic content created by customers to show how much they like the product.
Encourage your customers and audience to post videos of them using your products on TikTok. You can do this by creating a challenge, as we mentioned above.
7. Advertise on TikTok
TikTok offers brands an advertising platform with several ad types and targeting options to choose from to get your products or services in front of the right people.
Depending on the type of ads you want to run, you’ll need to use their self-serve ad platform or talk to one of their ad managers to get started.
Self-serve ad Types include in-feed video ads. This type of ad will appear on a user’s “For You” page as they scroll. They appear as regular TikTok videos within your feed, they blend in, and don’t look like traditional ads.
Ad setup with Ad Manager includes branded hashtag challenges, official brand takeovers, top-view ads, and branded effects.
To start creating ads on TikTok, you must first register for a TikTok For Business account. After signing up, you will have access to TikTok Ads Manager where you can create campaigns. Then you choose a goal based on what your business wants to achieve, such as reach, brand awareness, website traffic, or sales.
Similar to Facebook Ads, you can choose who you want to target with your ad. Filters include age, gender, location, and even interests.
8. Hone your marketing skills with TikTok resources
TikTok offers a “Small Business Resource Center” to help Business account users get the most out of the app. There, users can access templates for creating ad content, join free expert-led webinars, and read success stories from brands using TikTok to increase their customer reach.
It’s also where users can find instructions on how to use TikTok Pixel to track ad performance. A pixel is a bit of code that you can embed in your online storefront or other website to collect data about the customers you’ve reached through your TikTok content.
Start promoting your brand on TikTok!
Whether it’s through your own branded TikTok account or an influencer, you should promote your products on TikTok.
Be creative and produce content that is unique to your brand or product. Growing an audience on TikTok is much easier than you think, you just have to get out of your comfort zone and do it!
Ready for your product to become the next viral TikTok sensation? Start creating content!
Do you have other questions about TikTok? Let us know below!
