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TikTok is perhaps one of the top conversations in the social space. With millions of users and metrics going higher by the day, the service is currently the most popular social media buzz. 

Like every trend, companies have been looking into the possibility of using TikTok to promote their business. So, it begs the question, “Is TikTok really worth it?” The short answer is a resounding “Yes,” and we’ll look into the details to see why below.

Understanding TikTok

TikTok is quite different from Facebook, Twitter, and other social media that most people are familiar with. It was built as a video-sharing platform.

With TikTok, users can create, edit, and share videos that last no longer than 15 seconds. You can add music, animations, special effects, and several filters to your videos to spruce them up. 

Depending on the style of your video and what you included will determine how it reaches people. While you can share with your followers, there are also themes that your content can be placed under, certain hashtags can help determine how a video will rotate through with Tik Tok’s algorithm. The views are based on the viewer’s theme preferences and what Tik Tok has created for them.

TikTok is available on Android and iOS. The service has grown significantly over the past year, combining internet connectivity and artificial intelligence to change how users consume their information.

How TikTok Works

TikTok operates primarily using artificial intelligence. The service provides customized suggestions for videos and content based on your feed to send you videos directly. It also provides filters based on facial recognition data for you. The end goal is to provide users with precisely what they desire when they want it. 

For now, TikTok is one of the best ways to reach people under 25. However, several members of the older generations are also using it to reach out to their base and build new audiences, and there have been significant success stories so far.

Understand What Performs Well on TikTok

Now that we understand what TikTok is, it’s beneficial to understand what drives this social media platform’s operation. If you run a business, you’re probably wondering how TikTok knowledge can translate to marketing gains. Well, the answer will depend on your target market and brand. 

You will need to study TikTok before launching your business there. Just as it is with other social media platforms, you need to understand how best to develop posts that will rank and perform well on the service. It might take a while, but it’ll be well worth the effort. 

To begin, you need to understand the type of content that performs well on TikTok. You will also need to learn how best to interact with the service’s users to ensure that your business easily fits into the platform and its audience. By knowing who you’re serving and how to reach them, you essentially find the right fit for your content overall. 

As you dive into the best type of content on TikTok, keep the following in mind.

First, TikTok is all about creating visually appealing content. You simply need to check the trending page to find that out.

Also, keep in mind that most of the people on TikTok are between the ages of 16 and 24 but as the platform grows more age groups are getting involved. 

You will need to approach engagement more creatively. If you’re hoping to come here with a serious sales pitch, you will not get far. Be fun and creative with your content. 

Creating Attractive Content

With the two principles above, let’s look into the type of content you should create while on TikTok. To begin with, understand that you don’t need perfect, highly-polished videos. TikTok is more about simplicity than anything else. So, instead of making a large production budget, just get your phone and start filming.

As long as you keep your content funny and wacky, you can reach millions with amateur video quality. It’s all about being light-hearted and informal. If this tone doesn’t fit your business, TikTok might not be your preferred platform.

Capitalizing on TikTok Ads

Understanding its reach, TikTok recently introduced ad features to its platform. This feature is a significant boon for companies looking to sell themselves on TikTok.

With TikTok Ads, you can generally use the following ad formats:

a.   In-feed native content

In-feed native content is basically an ad like the ones you see on popular social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram. They are more like story ads, and they support several features like web clicks and app downloads.

b.   Hashtag challenges

 A hashtag challenge provides the best means of going viral via a promoted hashtag and ad campaign. If you’re looking to get user-generated content to promote your brand, this is the ideal way to go.

c.   Brand takeovers 

A brand takeover essentially allows a company to take over TikTok’s platform for a period. It is usually a day, and on that day, users will be able to create videos and GIFs with embedded links to landing pages, hashtag challenges, etc.

d.   Branded lenses 

Branded lenses are high-definition glasses like those you see on Snapchat. They allow you to meet with new users via branded content.

The Power of Branded Hashtag Challenges

If you’re really looking to get your brand on TikTok, hashtag challenges are a perfect way. With this approach, you can encourage TiKTokkers to develop or redesign content and incorporate your brand’s hashtag into them.

Several brands, including Chipotle and Guess, have used this trend with significant success.

When it comes to marketing your business, there is hardly a better way to go about it on TikTok than with a branded hashtag.

Call Up TikTok Influencers

Like any other social media platform, TikTok also has significant influencers who can help you build your brand. Simply pay them to participate in whatever you’re doing, and they can use their videos and reach to get their followers to do the same thing.

The benefit of these influencers is that they help you to do what you otherwise couldn’t with a regular ad. Millennials and GenZ are more opposed to ads. You can bypass that wall with an influencer and get your material in front of these people without them dreading the pause in their scrolling.

All in all, marketing on TikTok is definitely worth it especially if you have a younger audience. You just need to understand what works and what passes as useful content. From there, it’s easy to get your target audience to pay attention to you.

Do you need help with TikTok advertising? Are you a business owner or an agency, we offer white label advertising, contact us today!

Social media connects our world in a way that no one has ever seen before. Revolutions, social movements, and critical political discussions are constantly happening on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. For small businesses and entrepreneurs, social media has become the great equalizer. It gives access to the same marketing tools that big companies utilize for themselves. 

Having a solid marketing plan enables you to use vital social media channels to help you reach your business goals. There are, however, common social media mistakes that even the most successful of companies tend to make at times. Here are some of them:

Ignoring Customers’ Social Media Habits

Using social media is not just about making customers understand your business. In fact, it’s the other way around. Your primary goal should be to make customers feel seen and understood. It’s not about you. It’s about your customers. 

If you dabble in social media without even an inkling of your customers’ online behavior, your marketing plan is already doomed from the get-go. 

As digital marketers, our first task is to get to know our clients’ target market intimately. The first step is to identify social media usage statistics. What social media platforms do the target audience use? How are they using them? What makes these platforms appealing to our market? What kind of content do they typically consume? When are they most active? 

Once you have the answers to these questions, you’ll find that formulating a strategic plan has become a lot easier. If your users tend to be active from 7 pm onwards, you must post content during that period. If they engage more with videos, it’s logical that your content must be geared more toward video content. If they spend more time on Facebook, you might want to put more effort into your Facebook page and cut back on Instagram or other social media platforms.

Use this information and incorporate it into the decision making process. Having a clear idea of where your target users are and how they behave saves you time and money in regards to marketing experiments. Leverage the knowledge to your business’ advantage.

No Solid Content Strategy

Some businesses might regard social media as an easy platform to leverage, therefore not allotting the much-needed resources for it. These companies often tend to generate lots of mediocre content, post non-stop, and wear everybody out.

Content is king, but great digital marketers know that quality content beats any other type of content. Quality content takes the what, where, and when into account.

Make sure that your posts provide value to your customers. Don’t just post anything for the sake of posting. Each piece of content must serve a purpose, may it be to educate, inform, or entertain. Use Buzzsumo or Social Blade. These tools can help you research what it is that your customers care about. Understand where their interests are. From there, you can brainstorm relevant content that has higher chances of engaging audiences. 

Post only once or twice a day to avoid people seeing your brand too often and getting tired of it. If you update your accounts too much, you run the risk of people getting desensitized and straight up ignoring you. Stories and live updates are great social media activities, but you must limit your status updates to once or twice a day to ensure quality and create anticipation.

Leverage your video content. Facebook, YouTube, and yes, even LinkedIn’s algorithms are friendly when it comes to videos. They want users to stay longer, and videos are an effective way to achieve that. Videos get twice as much engagement and views compared to other mediums. 

Disregarding Your Audience

Think of it this way. You’re a shop owner that sells plants. A customer walks in and browses the store. They notice a rare indoor plant that’s usually hard to take care of. They proceed to compliment you for taking such good care of it. Do you stand there and not answer them? Of course not. You smile, engage them with small talk, and perhaps, you might even score a sale. 

Social media is called social for a reason. It’s a two-way street. Meeting customers halfway is the best practice. We have noticed that some companies with exciting products don’t engage with their audience. Even though they have quality services to offer and superb content, their posts are not gaining much traction. They only receive a comment or two. This is because these clients are missing a vital piece of connection with the people. 

Likes, views, and comments will naturally come in if you put out a friendly persona that anyone feels they can talk to. Even if it’s just a simple “thank you” message, having a nice “You’re welcome. We hope you enjoy our services!” reply could make all the difference. 

People respond to people. If they feel that your brand is someone they can relate to and even respect, it will put you right ahead of the competition.

A general rule of thumb is to treat people on social media as if they’re right in front of you. Having a strong and genuine connection with your community is always good for the business.

Not Understanding the Difference Between Search and Social

We’re giving it to you straight. Social media is a different beast from search engines like Google and Bing. You must understand the mentality of why people go on social media and why they go to search engines. People go to search engines with a need, while people typically go on social media to kill time.

We socialize with our family and friends, watch videos, and consume articles on social media about things that matter to us. People aren’t necessarily going to social media with their credit cards in hand.

Unlike search engines, pushy or hard-sell posts don’t generally do well on social media. People aren’t looking to buy anything there. If you keep pushing the same direct response, infomercial-type posts to your audience, you might be on the wrong platform. If you’re looking to sell a product that is where a national SEO campaign can come handy. Social media is great for brand awareness and engagement.

Seek to engage customers by having content that serves to educate, entertain, and inform them. 

Being Afraid to ask for Help

Let’s look at the statistics. Facebook influences more than half of all online and offline consumer purchases. Pinterest accounts for 25% of all retail website traffic. 80% of millennials check Twitter at least once daily, and Snapchat reaches 41% of all 18-34-year-olds in the United States. Social media is inescapable.

With so many options available, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and put off from crafting a comprehensive social media plan. People usually end up posting content that doesn’t help them get to where they need to be.

Learn to reach out and ask for help. Whether it’s in the form of buying a book, taking online courses, or even hiring a marketing agency, entrepreneurs must actively learn how to utilize social media to help their business grow and become successful. Achieving virality is not just about luck. It’s about understanding the algorithm and learning how to play with it. 

The Bottom Line

Our everyday lives heavily involve social media. When we wake up in the morning, the first thing we do is check our phones. We spend hours scrolling through our news feed, taking in information left and right. Social media marketing is an essential tool that you can implement if you want your business to thrive.

Our agency offers top-notch social media marketing services that can help build your brand’s credibility. We have launched hundreds of successful social media marketing campaigns that helped local businesses boost their brand performance online.

If you’re looking to grow your presence online, contact us today. We’re happy to help out!

Start a Successful Social Media Campaign

Running social media pages is one of the most cost-effective ways to increase brand awareness, enhance customer experience, and boost sales. No matter how big or small your company is, social media marketing can help you achieve your digital marketing goals. 

As digital marketing experts, businesses often ask us for tips on how to improve their social media pages. Read on for six steps to effective social media marketing. 

Step 1: Clearly Define Your Target Market 

This advice is straight out of basic marketing classes, but many business owners forget about this step. We highly recommend clearly defining your target market before attempting to run several social media sites. 

Defining the target market involves knowing your potential customers’ age, location, gender, interests, and digital habits. Here are some interesting facts about how Americans’ age affects their social media preferences:

• Sixty-nine percent of American adults have a Facebook account, and 75% of them visit the site once a day. 
• Seventy-three percent of American adults use YouTube. 
• Thirty-seven percent of American adults have an Instagram account. 
• Smaller percentages of adults use  Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Whatsapp. 
• The top social media site for American teens is YouTube, with an 85% usage rate. 
• Instagram and Snapchat are the top two and three social media sites for teens, with 72% and 69% usage rate. 
• Fifty percent of American teens still use Facebook. 

Choosing social media platforms for your business entails knowing your target market. As you can see in the numbers above, markets have different digital marketing habits. If you are targeting adults, use Facebook, YouTube, or Instagram instead of Snapchat or TikTok. 

Additionally, Facebook Custom Audience settings can help you target your potential clients based on where they are in the sales funnel. You can create distinct ads for top, middle, and bottom-funnel clients. Using this feature is a powerful tool that lets you customize your strategies to fit your customers’ preferences. 

Step 2: Set Goals

The next step in boosting your digital presence is setting social media goals. Set SMART objectives — specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. We suggest using similar social media goals:

• Increase Instagram followers by 1,000 per month for the year. 
• Grow monthly site traffic from social media by 20%.
• Generate 50 new leads per week. 
• Increase sales from Facebook by 10% versus last year. 

Another goal you can have is to optimize your social media pages to strengthen your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. It’s not easy to measure, but surveys reveal that half of the companies failing at their SEO attempts don’t integrate their SEO and social media efforts. 

Once you’ve set goals, you can adjust your budgets and techniques accordingly. 

Step 3: Analyze Your Competition

The third step on our list of social media tips is creating a competitive analysis of your rivals’ social media efforts. 

Employ the best practices you observe, and find their weaknesses. Through your competitive social analysis, you should observe the following:

• Preferred platforms
• Posting frequency
• Effective campaigns
• Consumer feedback

Use your research to make your social media sites stand out. 

Step 4: Practice Content Marketing

The dictionary definition of content marketing is creating and sharing online material such as videos and blogs intended to stimulate interest in products or services. Content marketing suggests using high-quality posts that don’t always explicitly promote your products or services. 

Using quality content can help you attract and retain visitors that you can eventually turn into customers. However, 60% of companies have difficulty consistently creating content, and 65% struggle to produce engaging content. 

Lego uses content marketing well. Its YouTube Channel has over 11.4 million subscribers, and they gain access to Lego creations, campaigns, fan features, and more. Lego shares the YouTube videos in its Facebook and Instagram channels, with a combined 20.7 million followers. These videos often get tens of thousands of social media views and shares. 

Of course, it takes a while to build a digital presence as relevant as Lego’s. The point is, your content should bring value to your page. Instead of always posting about your products or services, you can post about recipes, fun facts, beauty hacks, infographics, and other compelling content. 

Step 5: Create a Social Media Plan

Step number five is creating a social media plan with goals, a content plan, and a calendar. We’ve already discussed goals and ideal content, so let’s talk about your calendar. Your weekly calendar should always be a combination of functional, thematic, and valuable posts. 

Here’s a guide on how often to post on social media sites. To summarize:

• At a minimum, businesses should post on their Facebook pages three times per week. Anything more than once per day is too much for this platform. We recommend posting between 1–4 PM. 
• For Twitter, you can post anywhere between 3–30 times per day. The most popular Twitter accounts tweet around 23 times a day. 
• For Instagram, once a day is ideal. Three times per week is acceptable. Remember to choose the ideal Instagram sizes and use appropriate hashtags. Avoid posting photos or videos on your home page in quick succession.

Step 6: Measure and Analyze Your Results 

The last step in creating an effective social media plan is to measure and analyze your results and compare them to your objectives. Here are some things you can measure:

• Volume: Find out how many people are talking about your brand. You can count brand mentions, hashtags, and tags. 
• Reach: Measure how many people have seen your content. Doing so can help you determine your potential audience size. Reach has three classifications. 
  • Organic reach is the number of people who saw your post in their feed. 
  • Viral reach is the number of people who saw your post from social sharing.
  • Paid reach is the number of people who saw your post through a paid social media ad. 
• Engagement: Measure how many actions your post received. This measure includes comments, likes, and shares on Facebook. On Twitter, this translates to replies and retweets. 

Enhance Your Social Media Presence

Enhancing your social media presence is one of the most cost-effective methods you can use to boost your digital presence. Work on your social media presence to unlock your company’s full earning potential. Contact us at SEO Locale if you’re looking for an agency to help your business grow digitally.