Is TikTok appropriate for Businesses to Business?

TikTok Marketing
TikTok Marketing

TikTok is a wonderful platform. You can see a solo dance performance, age-old funny cat videos, all sorts of humorous skits, and that’s all within 2 minutes of scrolling!

Renowned for its snackable content, TikTok is famous for its short, fast-paced content, which has left many businesses questioning, “could TikTok work for us?” If that’s a question you’ve asked yourself, then keep on reading; here are some quick-fire pointers to get you started.

  • TikTok isn’t just a Gen Z phenomenon, don’t worry!
  • Are you aware of brand awareness?
  • Emotional Interactions are key
  • Get your content right
    Be fun!

TikTok has spread like wildfire and has developed a reputation for being a Gen Z phenomenon making it challenging for businesses to engage with the platform. However, the statistics are changing, and we’re seeing a more diverse demographic of users flocking to the platform. According to a report from backlinko, 52.6% of TikTok’s user base are over the age of 29.

TikTok has amassed well over 3 billion downloads in less than four years. TikTok has scaled its user base to a size that took Facebook and Instagram an entire decade.

Who uses TikTok?

TikTok for brand awareness

In June 2020, around 64% of active users were between 10 and 29. By March 2021, that age group only accounted for 47% of users, a significant drop.

As a direct result of these changes, B2B businesses have a better chance of connecting with their relevant audiences. Regardless of your target demographic, the chances are that they’re probably on TikTok. In the same report from backlinko we found that 1 in 3 social media users have TikTok. Gen Z is still using TikTok, but the generation gap has slowly closed as its user base grows exponentially.

Many businesses shy away from TikTok as they fear the typical demographic on the platform isn’t suited to their product or service. People may have preconceived ideas of a TikTok user, but there isn’t a typical user on TikTok anymore. Its user base can be more accurately described as almost everyone! TikTok has seen a global user growth rate of over 1100% between 2018 and 2020, with ages ranging from 10 to 50+ so this is a great way to raise brand awareness.

Raising brand awareness can be a daunting task, and companies may not know where to start or how to do it effectively. TikTok could very well be your answer. Whether you want to look at influencer marketing or simply posting raw content produced in-house, TikTok’s 1 billion monthly active users present a unique opportunity to get your brand’s name out there.

Brand awareness is crucial because it helps draw potential clients into your marketing funnel. Before you can think about conversions, sales or repeat customers, people need to hear your name! Brand awareness is the first step towards building a recognisable brand that promotes customer loyalty and increases sales.

TikTok is designed to be home to raw content that isn’t professionally produced, glammed up or curated and typically more down to earth. This sort of short-form, authentic content can help brands connect with customers on a different level and can help demonstrate a human element to a brand.

The benefit of this is that B2B marketing strategies that appeal to an audience’s emotions deliver far more value in sales, profits, revenue, and other bottom-line measures. In other words, appealing to emotions is very good for business.

https://www.linkedin.com/business/marketing/blog/content-marketing/why-b2b-marketing-needs-emotion

Research carried out from the LinkedIn B2B Institute showed that marketing strategies that appeal to their audiences’ emotions are much more effective than the alternative.

If you haven’t already, you need to set up a TikTok account for your business. If you already have an account for you, but it’s not registered as a business account, then make sure you change it. A business account will give you access to better insights and analytical data that will shape your strategy

How to use TikTok?

use TikTok to connect with your audience

Some businesses may face problems when utilising TikTok as part of their marketing strategy if they cannot successfully balance being informative and fun. The platform’s users have a low tolerance for the formal style content found elsewhere, such as LinkedIn and Twitter.

Somewhat surprisingly, the general rule of thumb for TikTok is that the more creative and unexpected your content is, the better it performs. For your business to succeed on TikTok, you need to connect with people emotionally rather than hard-sell specific products or services.

Emotional interaction is key to success on TikTok. This process will be more straightforward if your product or service could trigger an emotional response, such as a charity.

For B2B companies, this will be a little trickier but not impossible. To bring that emotion to the table, you should step away from your corporate mindset a little and begin to explore what else your business has to offer.

Focus on intangible aspects such as customer service and brand values to show off the personality behind the company.

Businesses should also remember that TikTok isn’t naturally a B2B environment. As long as your strategy can adapt to suit TikTok, we believe you will see some success.

Whilst you might not immediately generate leads and boost sales, other opportunities could present themselves. These opportunities can range from an increase in leads or web traffic but most importantly, the beginning of developing relationships with businesses and individuals alike.

Building brand awareness, establishing yourself as a player within your sector and consistent engagement are just some of the benefits on offer from TikTok. It all sounds too good to be true, right? It all comes down to your content.

You must get it right to see these benefits. All it takes is a little time and some practice, and you’ll be well on your way to TikTok success. The results won’t come overnight, but if you find that the results aren’t anywhere in sight after consistently posting content, it’s time to switch up your content and try something new.

Luckily for you, TikTok allows for precisely this, and it has never been easier to mix it up and try out so many different features all in the same platform.

Is it difficult to use?

One of many reasons TikTok has grown exponentially popular is its easy to use nature. The variety of built-in video editing tools makes for a very user-friendly experience making it one of the most versatile and easy to use platforms.

Is it unprofessional?

Is TikTok unprofessional

TikTok understandably doesn’t have the same professional aura as platforms such as LinkedIn.

However, to coin the platform as unprofessional would be unfair. TikTok is essentially whatever you make it.

With such a diverse array of content spread throughout the platform, there’s something for everyone.

If you want to stick to professional, corporate and formal content, there will undoubtedly be a selective group of users who enjoy that.

Still, if your goals are for increased engagement and brand awareness, your content should appeal to the majority and aim to be inclusive.

The lack of professionalism and the platform’s preference for raw and creative content also poses the question of could TikTok damage my brand.

The truth – no more than any other social platform. TikTok offers you the chance to show off the person behind the business. B2B can often be an impersonal environment.

It’s time your brand distinguished itself from its competitors. TikTok is the perfect place to start.

Is it a fad that will go away?

Businesses have questioned what the shelf life of TikTok is? It has put people off launching a strategy on the platform through fear of not having enough time with the platform’s current popularity to be fully effective.

For example, the giant Vine platform essentially “died” after four years leading the line of snackable content. Many have wondered whether TikTok will fall to the same fate.

TikTok has taken some of the best features from various platforms and implemented them into one of the leading global social media platforms.

According to a report from Hootsuite, TikTok is ranked the 7th most downloaded social platform. That is ahead of giants like Twitter and Snapchat that have been around much longer than TikTok.

With so many users and ever-increasing popularity, it would be a safe assumption that TikTok is sticking around and isn’t likely to be going anywhere any time soon.

Will it take a lot of my time?

is TikTok time consuming

TikTok is one of the least time consuming creative platforms available. The videos you can make range from 15 seconds to 3 minutes.

The most popular TikTok’s, according to Kapwing, are between 9 and 15 seconds. The recording and editing process is simple, and it’s possible to create content in under 5 minutes.

The most time-consuming element of making videos for TikTok is the thinking phase.

Thinking of ideas, developing those ideas and then you can get to filming.

The great thing about this is that you can create video content and post it onto TikTok and receive thousands of views relatively quickly, all with a quick turnaround without too much time or resources.

If I have Facebook, Twitter & Instagram do I need this too?

TikTok doesn’t have to be a completely new venture that requires dedicated team members or a dedicated budget.

TikTok can work collaboratively as part of your existing strategy with some minor adaptions to help the integration of the new platform run as smoothly as possible.

You will undoubtedly need to set aside time to develop a content plan, research the platform, and familiarise yourself with it.

Besides the initial research and building of a content plan, TikTok is a platform that allows you to get stuck in right away without spending vast amounts of time planning, researching, or strategising.

Can I do it on my desktop PC or Laptop?

TikTok offers the functionality to record and post directly from your PC, laptop and mobile device.

The desktop version is probably best if you want to edit your videos outside of TikTok. If you’re looking to post content at short notice, duet videos on the platform or record things as they happen, then using TikTok on your mobile device will work best.

The desktop version offers a variety of functions, but if you want to use all of TikTok’s built-in features and immerse yourself in the platform entirely, then the mobile app is the choice for you.

We hope this blog has helped you look at TikTok as a viable option for your business. If you’re looking for more helpful content like this, head to our bellyflop news section and take a look!

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