TikTok is one of the newest and most prominent social media platforms. With about one billion active users each month, TikTok is a wonderful place to advertise your business to get more brand exposure. Now since this platform is so new, there are not many companies jumping in on the action while the platform is the least saturated it will ever be. The tricky part is where to begin. Follow our tips to build a successful TikTok marketing strategy.
Be Familiar With the App
Like any other social media channel, you must understand the TikTok platform in order to tell your brand’s story successfully. Spend some time on the TikTok app to explore the various trends, hashtags, songs/sounds, and popular videos. You can begin to brainstorm which trends, sounds, or hashtags you should implement in your TikTok marketing strategy. So yes, we are giving you the homework assignment to spend some time scrolling through TikTok.
It is also helpful to understand the TikTok algorithm. In short, TikTok factors in user interactions and settings to determine which videos are best to show on their “For You” page. Understanding the algorithm can help you, as a business, pop up on the right user’s feed. Meaning your brand exposure and interaction rates have a better chance of going up.
Define Your Target Audience
As you most likely already know, to make a marketing strategy successful, you must know your audience.
Who?, Where?, and Why? are the most important questions to ask yourself.
- Who: Is your buyer mostly male or female or split? How old are most of your customers?
- Where: What countries, states, or cities do you provide products or services to? It is important to consider if those places have a strong enough TikTok presence to make marketing worth your while.
- Why: Why should they buy your product or service? Why might they need it?
Once you establish this, you should be able to cater your content to reflect those answers. For example, imagine you run a budget-friendly makeup business. Your audience falls in the age range of 18-28 and is mostly females. You might only ship your product to the United States, so you would want to target accordingly. These demographics can help you target the right person, so you should factor those characteristics in when creating your ad campaign. Last, you will want to market your products in a way that you stand out from the many competitors. Maybe you sell high-quality foundations with more color ranges than your competitors. Make content that addresses this.
You may also consider creating content that addresses other subgroups within your demographic. Be creative and research the other interests individuals in your target demographic may have. This can help you define your target and get more niche with your profile. Using the beauty account example from above, you might create content that dips into health and fitness, fashion, or hair styling. Creating content that reviews makeup looks for a pilates class or a girl’s night out can help you stand out to subgroups within your demographic.
Learn From Competition
Learning from your competitors takes some of the guesswork out of your TikTok marketing strategy. You should dig deep into your competitor’s profiles. Ask yourself what is working for them and what is not. Create content that aligns with those findings. You may be able to use their trial and error to your advantage. You may be surprised at what you discover. This can set up your company for success. Be thorough and take notes.
Set Goals
Setting short-term and long-term goals help you have a measurable game plan for your marketing strategy. Our suggestion is to use SMART goals. SMART goals can keep you on the right track and help you decide which goals are worth your while and which ones do not make sense.
- Specific: Being specific helps you hone in one or two smaller goals without getting overwhelmed with many other things you may be working towards. Being specific will make your game plan more effective.
- Measurable: Make a goal that is trackable. We’re talking numbers and data.
- Attainable: Having goals that are attainable is so important. Challenge yourself, but work towards something that is possible.
- Relevant: Ensure your goal is relevant to what you are trying to achieve. Know what you are capable of doing and plan accordingly.
- Time-bound: Give yourself a deadline. Often goals without deadlines will not be accomplished. Be reasonable with this deadline.
To understand if you are reaching your goals, view the data provided by TikTok. Follow these instructions to see the data your account has collected. If at this point you still want some guidance and advice on how to create a TikTok marketing strategy, Set Fire Creative is here to help! Sign up for a free consultation to speak to a team member about your marketing needs.
Raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California, Juliana left the golden state to attend Utah Valley University and completed a bachelor’s of science in psychology. After graduating, she began pursuing a career in digital marketing and client relations, which led her to Set Fire Creative. Juliana has a knack for all things creative, in and out of the office. In her free time, you can find her working out, traveling, studying interior design, or hosting dinner parties (of course, with charcuterie.)
