TikTok is a social media app that is quickly gaining in popularity. It is especially popular with younger users, and even if your business is not targeting Gen Z customers, you can benefit from having a presence on the platform. In this guide, we cover everything you need to know about this exciting app - and how it can help you grow your business.
QUICK NAVIGATION INDEX
The Ultimate Guide to TikTok for Business
TikTok Essentials
Creative Tactics
Achieving your business objectives on TikTok
TikTok Trends in 2022
How your business can leverage TikTok
Why does TikTok appeal to younger people?
Growing your TikTok following
Connecting your Shopify
TikTok Business Dashboard 101
Video and Advertising Post Specifications
Your TikTok for Business Marketing Strategy
What Is TikTok?
TikTok is the most popular and successful social networking platform. TikTok, which has over 2.6 billion downloads and 1 billion monthly active users, is now more popular than Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and other major social media platforms on app stores. The platform features films up to 10 minutes in length.
Who uses TikTok?
The target audience is between the ages of 16 and 24, but if you believe that the app is only a passing fad for Generation Zers, you're wrong. TikTok has grown from a video creation platform that was originally intended for users to show their creativity into an advertising and marketing powerhouse since its launch.
13.4% of all people worldwide, aged 18+, use TikTok right now.
Demographics on the platform are steadily moving from 16-24 year old users into older age groups, and that is only going to increase as more consumers start using TikTok for entertainment and information.
Let's look at the global statistics
Statistics show the app’s popularity is projected to steadily increase in the UK over the next few years, with Statista predicting 15 million TikTok users in the UK in 2025. People in the UK spend 70 minutes per day on the app.
Why is TikTok so popular?
Authenticity. It's the real, authentic experiences on the platform that users can't get enough, and they are a huge driver of the platform's popularity. Whether the videos are produced by celebrities or neighbours, friends, or other community members, the most engaging content is always current, interesting, and relatable.
What is TikTok for Business?
TikTok for Business is a marketing platform that allows businesses to advertise on TikTok. The platform provides marketers with a step-by-step approach for:
producing advertisements
creating budgets
reaching the right audience
analysing campaign data
creating their own TikTok marketing plan.
How Can TikTok Be Used for Business?
The app can be used to create awareness for products and services, to humanise your brand, or to drive traffic to your website.
Some businesses use TikTok to connect with their target audience on a more personal level. This is especially effective for small businesses that want to build a connection with their customers.
Other businesses use TikTok to show off their products and services in a creative and fun way. This is especially effective for businesses that have a visual product, such as fashion or beauty products.
Finally, some businesses use TikTok to drive traffic to their website or blog. This can be done by including a link in the bio section of the TikTok profile, or by including a link in the description of the videos.
Creative tactics to achieve your business goals
There are a number of creative ways that businesses can use TikTok to achieve their goals. For example:
Short videos
One option is to produce short films about the company or its products. These videos can be used to promote the company or to introduce new products.
Engagement
Businesses can also use TikTok to engage with customers. Customers may submit queries or comments on videos, or they can create videos for customer engagement or from customer suggestions.
Data collection
Finally, businesses can use TikTok to collect data about their customers. When you have a business TikTok, use the analytics to review data about your visitors and followers.
About TikTok Analytics
TikTok has four primary analytics sections: overview, content, followers and LIVE. Within each of those categories are sub-categories of analytics. With this detailed data, you can:
Look at video views, trends, dips and fluctuations.
You can also see key demographic factors, like age bands, gender, and the hours and days your followers are most active.
Performance metrics, like average watch time and total play time.
See where views are originating, for example from your followers or the “For You Page”.
TikTok LIVE is enabled once your following reaches 1000.
A balanced approach
Given the platform's flexibility, companies looking to take advantage of TikTok's social commerce possibilities should concentrate on authenticity by finding the right balance between organic and sponsored postings.
It's essential to have a TikTok-ready product catalogue ready to go - it’s the foundation for any successful sales campaign on TikTok.
Assistance with advertising
The aim is to help businesses in unleashing their creative potential by advising them on how to develop genuine advertisements that will attract views, interaction, and brand recognition. There's a learning centre with tutorials, webinars and guide to teach businesses about the Ads Manager platform, and a new programme launched to help you grow your TikTok for Business account.
Top Tips for Getting Started with TikTok for Business
There are a few things businesses should keep in mind when using TikTok for your Business:
What are the benefits of TikTok for Business?
First, it's an effective way to reach a large audience with your message - TikTok offers you the reach of a global audience with the targeting of a precision marketing campaign. TikTok recently celebrated 1 billion active users (September 2021), and they are projected to have 15 million UK TikTok Users in 2025.
Second, TikTok is a great platform for engaging with customers and building relationships. You can interact with customers through comments, messages, and video responses. You can also use TikTok to collect customer feedback and data.
Third, TikTok is a great way to promote your brand and products. You can create videos that showcase your products or services, tutorials, and of course, targeted (and retargeted) ads.
Finally, TikTok is a great platform for staying up to date on trends. You can follow TikTok influencers relevant to your customers and learn about the latest trends in your industry.
What are the 2022 trends for businesses on TikTok?
According to Vidyard’s 2022 Video Benchmarks report, the most common types of business videos are product demos, followed by how-to’s and explainers. Another growing trend is TikTok Live videos, with 53% of organisations reporting that they use some form of live video in the last year, including live streams, virtual events, and live webinars. If the view counts for explainers and how-to's tell you anything, it’s that educational videos are ripe for the platform and it proves that the younger TikTok audience has an appetite to learn new things.
The rise of Live Video on Social Media
How can I use TikTok for my business?
With educational content leading the 2022 trends for business, it makes sense to prepare your TikTok marketing strategy with a pipeline of educational content. Here's our list of content types to plan into your content calendar:
Product Demos
Position your products in the market by filming creative product demonstrations. These can be a mix of in-depth product descriptions, benefits of your product and showing off your product capabilities.
How-To's
With over 60% of TikTok users saying they've used the app to learn something new, there's no doubt how-to videos are a valuable asset for businesses. Plan a series of how-to videos that show your product or service in use, and or how to use your product to get the best from it.
Explainers
Another form of educational content, explainers are a helpful way of breaking down complex topics into more digestible chunks. If you have a new product launch, this is an excellent type of video to have in your content library.
Interviews and Q&A
Get creative with your interview-style videos by interviewing customers, experts in your industry or conducting a question-and-answer session with your team. Interviews and Q&A sessions are an excellent way to demonstrate thought leadership because of its immediacy and natural conversational flow.
Tutorials
Similar to how-to's, tutorials are an excellent way to show off your product or service in use. They can be anything from helpful tips and tricks to style guides and unboxing videos.
TikTok Live
Demonstrate your personality and expertise with a TikTok Live video, perfect for a product demo or an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session where you actively engage with customers and followers about your products and services.
Customer Testimonials and Product Reviews
Demonstrate your social proof by asking your clients and customers to give a video testimonial that you can upload and promote. This is an excellent way of boosting customer confidence and giving your business some extra authority.
Adding a link to your bio
To add a link to your TikTok bio, you need at least 1,000 followers and a business account. Adding a link to your TikTok bio can help promote a website or sell products - so it's important for your business success. Simply click Edit Profile and Add Website.
Why does TikTok target perform well for the younger demographic?
TikTok influences purchasing decisions
TikTok has become an essential tool in the buyer’s journey for many young people. Seventy-one percent of TikTok users say they have been influenced by a product they saw on the app when making a purchasing decision.
Although the app is popular with younger people, more than 50% of TikTok users are aged 30+, and that means there's a big audience on the platform for your business - right now.
TikTok is both addictive and entertaining
Because the material is addictive, it is easy for people to spend hours viewing content. TikTok allows younger people to spend their time creatively, meet new people, display their life, skills, and hobbies, and grow their online presence and popularity.
TikTok is (was) a unique platform
TikTok is the first social media platform to combine these characteristics of video, an endless feed, and uses a recommendation algorithm similar to Netflix. Creating TikTok videos is only possible on mobile devices, which are preferred by younger people due to their greater freedom to own mobile phones rather than laptops.
Breaking News: Influencers strike back against short form video changes on Instagram
With the rising popularity of TikTok, Meta followed with Instagram Reels and quickly, Meta's Facebook added Reels to their platform, and now with YouTube Shorts the rest of social media is hopping on the short-form portrait video format. Influencers have hit back, saying that Instagram has strayed too far from it's photography roots. Stay tuned to see if there will be a sustained backlash that will make photography and square / landscape posts a priority for Instagram again.
How do I grow my TikTok account?
Just like any social media platform, the best way to grow your TikTok account is to create engaging content that speaks to your target audience. In addition, you can use hashtags, collaborate with other users, and run ads. There are three primary ways businesses can use TikTok: advertising, influencer marketing, and creating their own content.
Advertising
Advertising on TikTok has a huge potential for growth. The app offers a range of ad products that businesses can use to reach their target audiences, including In-Feed Ads, TopView Ads, Brand Takeovers, and Hashtag Challenges.
Influencer marketing
TikTok influencer marketing is a great way to reach TikTok's large and engaged user base. Influencers on the platform can help promote your products or services to their followers, increasing brand awareness and driving sales.
Organic content creation
Creating your own content is a great way to connect with TikTok users and build a following for your business. Creating engaging and creative content will help you stand out from the crowd and attract new followers.
TikTok for Business features a popular blog with tips and a webinar series to help businesses build their following.
How to I connect my Shopify account to TikTok?
In 2020, Shopify announced a partnership with TikTok to give merchants with Shopify stores more access to their platform.
To install the TikTok channel on your Shopify store, you can find the TikTok app on the Shopify App Store. When you are on the TikTok app page, click on ‘add app’ to install the TikTok channel on your Shopify store. (This will ultimately allow you to check the performance of your TikTok Ads.)
After finishing the installation, the TikTok channel will appear on the left side bar of the Shopify Admin Dashboard. Connect your TikTok For Business account to your Shopify store from this panel, and install the TikTok Business Dashboard.
TikTok Business Dashboard 101
TikTok provides creative tools like short video templates and transitions that may generate amazing films, making it almost simple for users to post content.
Choose campaign goals
Similar to Meta, when you select your TikTok campaign objective, your ads are automatically optimised. Choose from four campaign goals:
Drive traffic to your website
Increase app installs
Grow online sales
Attract new sales leads
Select your advertising audience
Reach the right consumers by targeting them. Create "Custom Audiences" and "Lookalike Audiences" to reach people like your existing customers.
Set your maximum budget by the day or by campaign
Enter your daily or lifetime budget. Your ad expenditure can be adjusted, paused, or cancelled at any time.
Creating your TikTok advertising content
To prepare your first TikTok content, click on your Ads account and login. Go to Main menu, Assets, then Creative. Select the Create button to open the Video maker panel.
The Video maker panel
This is the video making panel, it shows options to help you create a complete ads video.
Video Template: to create a slideshow video for ads. The video will be based on a template which can be edited and changed.
Smart Video: After you've uploaded all the product images to this Smart Video feature, it will create videos with background music.
Setting your objectives
On the Advertising Objective setting, you will have the same menu as other Ads platforms with Awareness, Consideration and Conversion. The platform also offers A/B testing so you can compare performance between different types of content and targeting.
TikTok video and advertising specifications
File size: Up to 287.6 MB in size for iOS, or 72 MB on Android. For ads, the file size can be up to 500 MB.
Orientation: TikTok is formatted to be viewed on a smartphone, so vertical video works best.
Dimensions: TikTok video dimensions should be 1080 wide by 1920 high. *You can ask your camera phone to automatically film in 16:9 ratio and in 4K video. Check out our Instagram for tips.
Aspect ratio: The aspect ratio should be that of a standard smartphone screen, 9:16. (1:1 is also possible, but it won’t take up the whole screen and you'll be left with gaps at the top and bottom of every post.
File type: TikTok supports .mp4 and .mov files. For ads, it also supports .avi and .gif files.
TikTok for Business Marketing Strategy
How do I market my business on TikTok? Like any programme of digital marketing on social media, you must work from a marketing strategy.
Here's our tips for setting out your TikTok Marketing strategy:
Get comfortable with the app's features and functions
Download the app and explore. Become familiar with the user interface and how to navigate the app. Pay attention to the types of content that are popular on TikTok.
Audit your current digital brand and content library
Do you have a suitable digital brand? Is your content library optimised for portrait video?
Research your target audience is - and develop marketing personas
Assemble a team of TikTok-savvy digital marketers, including a diverse team that represents your target audience. Before you start creating content, it's important that you understand your target audience.
What are their interests?
What type of content do they consume?
Ask yourself who you are targeting and conduct market research to understand the messages that are most likely to resonate with them.
Feed posts, ads, and stories are the top three formats for learning about products on social media. 36% of consumers want to learn about products through short-form videos like TikToks or Reels, and another 27% prefer to go through influencers, which is especially popular among younger generations.
The Top Channels Consumers Use to Learn About Products (Hubspot, 2022)
Define what success looks like for your business on TikTok
What do you hope to achieve with your TikTok marketing campaign? Do you want to increase brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, or generate sales?
Once you've set your goals, you can create content that is designed to achieve those objectives. Make sure your content and calls to action are aligned with these critical success factors.
One of the critical success factors we've identified at Treat is the ability to "go LIVE" on TikTok, and we are building our audience of B2B customers and business owners with that in mind.
Set some key performance indicators (KPIs) that will help you to measure success
TikTok has robust insights for your business account and provides resources to help you make the most of the platform with targeting.
Create a content calendar that outlines what kind of content you will be posting (and when)
This should be aligned with your wider social media strategy. Repurpose Reels and Shorts for TikTok to squeeze your marketing assets and make them go further - just make sure the messaging is going to be relevant to your target demographic. Include highlights, planned topics, how-tos and explainers, hashtags, and challenges for each week or month.
Test, measure and optimise your content
With A/B Split Testing built in, TikTok is ideal for crafting the perfect message for your audience, enabling you to replicate success over and over.
How does the TikTok for business algorithm work?
The TikTok For You page is the heart of the app, where users can scroll through an endless feed of short-form videos. The TikTok algorithm is a recommendation system that determines which videos will appear on your For You page.
No two users will see the same videos on their For You page, and the videos you see might change over time based on your viewing preferences.
In deciding which videos to show users, TikTok considers a range of factors such as likes, user engagement, shares, and comments. The TikTok for Business algorithm also takes into account the type of content that a user has engaged with in the past.
About the TikTok Algorithm
How can I make my TikTok videos go viral?
There's no magic wand to make viral content for TikTok, but there are certain things you can do to increase your chances of success:
Creating high-quality content that is relevant to your target audience is essential.
Use popular hashtags and to collaborate with other TikTok users.
Try using A/B split testing (using Excel or Sheets) to track your video performance and see which version of your video content performs best.
What are the creative advantages of TikTok?
TikTok offers a number of creative advantages for businesses. The platform is ideal for short-form, highly creative content. TikTok also has built-in editing tools that make it easy to create engaging videos. In addition, the app's algorithms can help your videos to reach a wider audience. TikTok presents a huge opportunity to showcase your authentic brand personality, company culture and your products and services.
TikTok allows you to create real messages for real people with emotion-driven content and irresistible calls-to-action that you can't get on other platforms.
You can be the first in your niche
The opportunity is now, and the timing is perfect to get your business on TikTok. Why? Because you can be one of the first in your niche or market. You can get in front of your target audience before anyone else does and start building brand awareness and loyalty from the ground up.
There are a few UK businesses considered early adopters on TikTok right now - and that means you have a major advantage over your competitors.
Interested to get started?
Let the social media experts at Treat help you set up and run your TikTok for Business account. We can help you with a social media audit, a marketing strategy, and key research insights into Gen Z, Millennials and the next generation, Alpha. We collaborate with the best videographers and photographers in Devon to create must-watch content that tells a story and brings every viewer closer to your brand.
We are on TikTok, creating and advertising all the time!
Treat means social media
Treat lives and breathes social media for our clients all day and night! Planning, creating, scheduling, posting, engaging, advertising - Treat is a full-service social media agency. Find us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Reddit. Drop us a DM or send us an email at hello@treattorbay.co.uk to get started on your TikTok journey.