TikTok is no longer an app for scrolling through Gen Z dance challenges. In fact, the gap between the typical Gen Z audience and the millennial audience is closing, giving brands the opportunity to reach wildly different demographics.
Chances are, the people you’re trying to reach are on TikTok. But how can you connect with your target audience, and how can you use the platform to grow and scale your business?
And if you're serious about growing your agency clients' or your own presence, you'll want to snag our free TikTok account management checklist. It's designed to keep your efforts on track and ensure you're crushing it on the platform.
Why is it important to market your business on TikTok
The explosion of TikTok over the past few years has made it an important place for brands to have a presence. Here’s why:
- 1 billion monthly active users: TikTok has surpassed Twitter, Reddit, Pinterest, and Snapchat in terms of monthly users
- There are more than 150 million monthly active users in the U.S.
- 5 million U.S. businesses use TikTok, and the majority of these are small and medium businesses.
- It’s the most engaging social media app: The average user session length is 10.85 mins
- The average user opens TikTok 19 times a day: There are plenty of opportunities for TikTok users to see your content every day
- 50% of top brands aren’t on TikTok: This paves the way for smaller businesses to swoop in and make an impression on users
- 30% of gen Z use TikTok for product research
- Build trust: 56% of users feel closer to brands that publish unfiltered, human content on TikTok
Have these stats convinced you to start promoting your business on TikTok?
Good!
We’ve put together a guide to TikTok marketing strategy in different industries, with high-engagement examples for inspiration.
Simplify your TikTok strategy.
Ditch reminders with scheduled short-form content ready to auto-post at peak audience engagement times.
The different TikTok video formats
Like most social media platforms, TikTok has a range of video formats to choose from. Each one comes with its own set of pros and cons.
Feed videos
Feed videos show up in your feed on TikTok. Much like Instagram, the videos stay on your profile forever (unless, of course, you delete them). These kinds of videos are good for building brand awareness, attracting new prospects, and creating a slick, branded TikTok feed.
Bonus tip: Pin relevant videos to your TikTok profile to convert more profile visitors. Keep in mind that you can pin up to three videos.
Story videos
TikTok Story videos are posted to your profile but only stay up for 24 hours. After that, they disappear. These ephemeral videos are good for going behind the scenes, cementing deeper relationships with your customers, and showing off your brand personality.
Live videos
Live videos are exactly as you’d imagine–videos that are filmed and aired in real time. They are good for shining a light on special events, connecting with your audience, and building trust with your TikTok followers.
Keep in mind that TikTok is all about connecting with your audience and creating a strong community.
3 tips for creating engaging TikTok videos
It can be tempting to dive headfirst into creating TikTok videos–who doesn’t want to experience the heady heights of viral videos - but there are a few things you should bear in mind if you want to succeed.
The last thing you want is to proudly throw out a video that is greeted by the deafening sound of crickets.
- Add graphics: Simple animations and graphic overlays can dramatically increase the number of views your TikTok posts get. In fact, research shows that they can draw in over 11 million views per post.
- Improve your SEO: Type the captions with keywords natively so that the algorithm would recognise them. Then add these keywords to the video description and TikTok hashtags.
- Find the sweet spot: 1 in 4 top-performing videos on TikTok fall somewhere between 21 and 34 seconds in length.
- Don’t forget to repurpose: Creating videos can be time-consuming, so make the most of them! Embed them in articles, repost them as Instagram Reels, and share them on Stories as a way to generate ROI with less effort.
Watch time, user interaction, video information, location, language, and "not interested" feedback are factors that affect the TikTok algorithm.
Inspiring TikTok video examples from 8 industries
No matter the industry you’re in, TikTok can be a great way to reach new audiences and increase the visibility of your brand. Here are some TikTok ideas for eight wildly different industries to spark your imagination:
1. Real estate TikTok examples
The real estate industry is full of beautiful houses and voyeuristic viewers. Use TikTok to run house tours, share industry secrets, and answer common questions that buyers and sellers might have.
Film house tours
Listings By the Portfolio have generated an engaged following of home lovers with their well-put-together house tours.
Source: @listings.bytheportfolio
Industry secrets
Jen Crouse Realtor builds trust with her followers with a series of videos that share industry secrets - like this one that highlights what realtors really mean.
Source: @jencrouserealtor
2. Digital marketing agency TikTok examples
It’s a no-brainer that digital marketing agencies should have some sort of presence on TikTok. Use the platform to share resources, go behind the scenes, and showcase some of your best work.
Create resources lists
Social media marketing agency No Good publishes helpful TikTok videos, like this visual list of editing apps for brands.
Source: @nogood.io
Get employees involved
Spin Brands takes its followers behind the scenes and introduces them to employees through fun, engaging videos, like this one that answers the pressing question of whether each member of the team is a “main dish or side dish”.
Source: @spinbrands
3. Law firm TikTok examples
The legal industry is notoriously quite dry and serious. TikTok can change that, with videos that offer legal advice, tips, and interesting client stories. You can also hop on trends–just look at how many lawyers used the Depp vs Heard trial to offer their two cents.
Offer legal advice
While every case differs, Kennedy Law Firm offers generic legal advice for specific situations. It showcases their expertise and helps them build authority in the industry.
Source: @kennedylawfirm
Share client stories
Everyone likes a crime documentary, and Jayoma Law Firm plays on this with their controversial TikTok videos that showcase client stories.
Source: @jayomalawfirm
4. Fashion brand TikTok examples
Fashion brands are well-represented on TikTok. The platform can be used to show how products are made, share styling tips from TikTok influencers, and showcase your latest product line.
Go behind the scenes
Fashion heavyweight Dior shows their audience how they make some of their most iconic pieces by taking them behind the scenes.
Source: @dior
Share styling inspiration
Asos gives its TikTok followers ideas on how to dress for various occasions. This forms an important part of the brand’s fashion marketing strategy–plus, TikTok is slowly rolling out social commerce features to make it easy for users to purchase products featured in videos without leaving the app.
Source: @asos
5. SaaS TikTok examples
SaaS brands can make it work on TikTok with videos that share fun hacks and tips, tutorials, customer success stories, and important product features.
Share fun hacks
Design tool Canva shares a range of different types of TikTok videos, including this one that shares a useful hack in a quick, fun way.
Source: @canva
Promote product features
Adobe Video uses TikTok to show off product features to its followers through helpful how-tos and quick guides.
Source: @adobevideo
6. Hospitality TikTok examples
The possibilities are endless for hospitality brands on TikTok: you can share recipes, hop on trends, and create new challenges while staying on brand and promoting your services, location, and, most importantly, your delicious menu.
Use humour like Subway
TikTok is predominantly an entertainment platform, which sandwich brand Subway leverages perfectly. This video promotes its products in a fun way.
Source: @subway
Show off your menu
Dunkin’ is a pro at TikTok–browse its profile and you’ll see tons of videos covering trends and challenges. But one of the things the brand is particularly good at is showing off its menu in a mouthwatering way.
Source: @dunkin
7. Beauty TikTok examples
Brands in the beauty industry have tons of options when it comes to TikTok. You can partner with influencers, create makeup tutorials, provide useful tips, and even go behind the scenes to reveal how your bestsellers are made.
Create tutorials with collaborators
Sephora’s a pro at partnering with beauty influencers to shoot tutorial videos. The brand has even created its own branded hashtag challenge (#SephoraSquad) to display all collaborator video content in one place.
Source: @sephora
Reveal how products are made
Up Beauty Cosmetics creates mesmerising videos showing how its bestsellers are made. This highlights the products and takes viewers behind the scenes for added trust and credibility.
Source: @upbeauty.ph
8. Hotel TikTok examples
Travel is a popular category on TikTok, which makes it relatively easy for hotel brands to post engaging content. Use the social platform to partner with big-name influencers and content creators, answer common travel questions, and provide tips to keen travellers.
Partner with influencers
Marriott Bonvoy runs influencer marketing campaigns with big names to share travel secrets, stories, and tips. In this video, the brand teams up with One Republic to answer viewer questions.
Source: @marriottbonvoy
Answer FAQs
The Hilton uses TikTok to clarify myths and answer common questions. Doing this highlights the brand’s expertise in the industry and reduces friction in the buying journey.
Source: @hilton
How to drive traffic with TikTok videos
- Post regularly: The best-performing TikTok brands release a new video 3.1 times per week. Plan out your posting schedule in advance to stay consistent. You want followers to be eagerly anticipating your posts.
- Set up a compelling “link in bio”: At the moment, it’s difficult to link to your site from TikTok anywhere other than your bio. Write up an irresistible call-to-action (CTA) and include it in your profile description. While it's not recommended to urge your viewers to click on a link in bio, it's still good to have one in case they visit your profile.
- Repost content: Reuse the content you post on TikTok on other channels, like Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook. You’ll drive traffic from different platforms with minimal effort.
- Use CTAs: You'll have to be sneaky with this one, because the algorithm wants to keep its users on the platform, and you do not want to get shadow banned. This is why it's better to invite viewers to reach out to you via DM or ask you questions in the comments. Then you'll be able to take it safely from there.
- Connect your other social profiles: Link your TikTok account with your other social media accounts to create consistency and ensure it’s easy for your audience to find your brand on their favourite platform.
- Create a content strategy: Consistency is the key to success on TikTok. No one goes viral overnight. Plan out your content pillars in advance and ensure they align with the interests of your viewers.
- Use the right hashtags: It's no secret that hashtags act as keywords and that they're your best best to reach the right target audience.
Use our guide on how to create short-form videos to get the best results.
Experiment with your TikTok videos
TikTok’s audience is growing and evolving every day. It’s no longer relegated to Gen Zers and is instead attracting tons more millennials.
It’s the ideal platform for reaching new audiences, engaging potential customers, and driving traffic to your site. Experiment with various types of content on TikTok until you find one that works best for you and your audience, whether it’s beauty tutorials with influencers or jumping on current trends in the legal industry.
