With over one billion monthly active users, TikTok is one of the most popular social media platforms in the world. And thanks to its large audience many brands are joining the app. Is your business aware of TikTok marketing basics? Keep reading!

If you are a brand or business interested in reaching your audience through social media you should definitely consider TikTok, as it’s the place where entertainment and commerce intersect.

The Chinese-owned app is transforming the way brands and audiences connect and is bringing new possibilities for engaging with the public, generating revenue, and gaining brand awareness.

We have curated this ultimate TikTok marketing guide so you can make the best out of your Business account.

Let’s get started!

What are the benefits of using TikTok for marketing

Using TikTok is a great choice for brands, especially for those wanting to reach a wider audience and find new ways of generating income. These are some of the TikTok marketing benefits for brands:

●      Build and increase brand awareness

●      Engage with the audience

●      Drive sales

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Build and increase brand awareness

Half of TikTok's audience considers the platform as a place for discovering something new: 58% of its users leverage the platform to research/learn more about new products or brands.

TikTok is one of the greatest social media for building your brand’s presence. If you develop a TikTok marketing strategy and follow it consistently, you will probably end up establishing your brand voice and building an engaged community. So, what are you waiting for to put your brand under the spotlight?

Engage with the audience

TikTok users are motivated by joy and love to connect with brands. The platform offers multiple ways of engaging with users, which include: Duets, branded hashtag challenges, branded effects, comments, and likes.

When building a TikTok marketing strategy for a brand, keep in mind that attention needs to be reciprocal. You want people’s attention, but you also have to take care of them and show them some love through your amazing content.

Instead of building customers, you should focus on creating a community! This way you can turn your account into a place where your audience comes together and share their brand experiences with you!

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Drive sales

As new ways of consuming content and purchasing products are emerging, traditional perspectives on aspects like marketing or conversion funnels are changing.

TikTok found that the retail path to purchase is not linear but an infinite loop around discovery, consideration, participation, review, and purchase. According to a Material study, 48% of TikTok users have discovered something on the platform and immediately bought it at least once in the past year!

Keep it in mind when developing your strategy, as the TikTok marketing process might work differently than expected. The more you know how it works, the more advantage you can take out of it!

TikTok marketing strategy basics

There are a variety of techniques and tools for developing a marketing strategy, but it doesn’t mean you need to know it all from the beginning. That’s why we are bringing you the essential information you should keep in mind when working on your TikTok marketing strategy.

There are three pillars: organic content, paid content, and partnership with influencers. We will have a deeper look at them.

●     TikTok marketing basics: organic content

When creating content for TikTok, you should integrate your posts with the native language of the platform. We are talking about short-form vertical videos, entertaining and funny content, appealing aesthetics, and catchy music.

You also have to analyze your audience and understand their language and interests so you can talk to them naturally. Include hashtags, a call to action, and friendly messages.

Finally, keeping an eye on the latest TikTok trends is a must, as brands can adapt their content to the trending material and use it to their benefit.

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●     TikTok marketing basics: paid content

The platform offers different types of paid campaigns, rather if you want to promote your content or create in-app ads such as hashtag campaigns, in-feed ads, brand takeovers, and top view.

Choosing one depends on your TikTok marketing goals. Is it brand awareness? driving sales? engaging with the audience? The Business Suite and the Business CreativeHub have great info and resources you can get ideas from.

Keep in mind that the TikTok Ads Manager requires a separate account to log in.

Investing in paid media is not mandatory, but it can boost your strategy if done right.If you are just starting, you better invest a small amount first and test how it works.

●     TikTok marketing basics: partnership with influencers

Content creators and influencers are excellent storytellers and know how to engage with the audience. For this reason, they have the potential to become brand advocates and ambassadors.

Influencer marketing, a partnership between brands and creators to market a product or service, is a transversal strategy across all social media platforms. If designing your TikTok marketing strategy, you should consider partnering with aTikTok influencer.

There are multiple ways of contacting an influencer: by doing it yourself from a platform like the TikTok Creator Marketplace or getting help from experts on TikTok marketing. It depends on your goals, budget, and how much you are willing to risk.

Always remember that a combination of these three pillars (organic content, paid content, and partnership with influencers)  will help you get the most out of your Business Account and achieve your TikTok marketing goals.

Now that we have learned about TikTok's marketing basics, let’s get into a specific matter: how can you implement a brand strategy on TikTok. It all starts by creating a TikTok Business Account.

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What is a TikTok Business Account

TikTok allows you to create an account according to your profile. If you are a brand, you should create a Business Account. Choosing it is important because it gives you access to performance metrics, audience insights, and other tools specially designed for brands and their objectives. And you can create a TikTok Business Account for free!

You can set up an account for every kind of business, no matter how big or small your brand is.TikTok even has a Small Business Resource Center so that everyone learns and keeps up on how to manage their TikTok marketing strategy.

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How to set up a Business Account

If you want to get started with a TikTok Business Account, you should follow these steps:

Step 1

Download the TikTok app from the App Store or Google play store and install it on your phone. Then,  tap on ‘Sign up’ and register with your email, mobile phone, or social media account.

Step 2

Once you have registered your account, go to your profile and tap on the menu located in the upper right corner. Then tap ‘Manage Account’ and choose ‘Switch toBusiness Account’. Complete the information according to your business.

Step 3

Complete your profile, add a description, and start creating content!There are a variety of tools you can use, as well as helpful and inspiring content according to your TikTok marketing goals.

Remember that TikTok Business Accounts are free and it just takes a couple of minutes to set them up!

TikTok-for-Business special features

When you create a TikTok Business Account, you get access to in-app special features that will help you tremendously with your TikTok marketing strategy.

First of all, you will have access to performance and audience data. Analyzing it is important because it will show you what works best with your audience and you will be able to tailor your strategies according to those results. Keep in mind that there is a content-promoting option. So if you pay for a promotion, it will show on your data.

With a Business account, you will also have access to the Commercial Music Library (CML), a collection of more than 500thousand songs and sound effects pre-cleared for commercial use. It means you don’t have to obtain music licenses to promote your products or services when using the CML.

Talking about your TikTok marketing strategy, you should focus on two things: quality content and data-driven results. You can get more information on those two aspects on the TikTok Web BusinessSuite.

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This website will let you download your analytic data and get insights from the industry in general. There are a variety of reports and case studies.

There is also the Business Creative Hub, a space where Business users can get inspired and learn about what’s trending in the TikTok environment, including examples of other brands developing TikTok marketing strategies. It features content creation guides and best practices as well.

Final thoughts

If you are a brand or business willing to reach their audience through social media, TikTok is a must. You can create a TikTok Business Account and have access to special tools that will help you achieve your goals. Developing aTikTok marketing strategy is an excellent option for those who want to increase brand awareness, engage with their audience and drive sales.

Whatare you waiting for to join TikTok and work under a solid TikTok marketingstrategy? If you don’t know how to start, or want to get professional guidance,you can contact Stargazer!

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