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?
Why is it important to market your business account on TikTok
The different TikTok video formats for your TikTok business account
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.
The explosion of TikTok over the past few years has made it an important place for brands to have a presence. Here’s why:
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.
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 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.
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 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.
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.
Watch time, user interaction, video information, location, language, and "not interested" feedback are factors that affect the TikTok algorithm.
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:
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.
Listings By the Portfolio have generated an engaged following of home lovers with their well-put-together house tours.
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.
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.
Social media marketing agency No Good publishes helpful TikTok videos, like this visual list of editing apps for brands.
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”.
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.
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.
Everyone likes a crime documentary, and Jayoma Law Firm plays on this with their controversial TikTok videos that showcase client stories.
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.
Fashion heavyweight Dior shows their audience how they make some of their most iconic pieces by taking them behind the scenes.
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.
SaaS brands can make it work on TikTok with videos that share fun hacks and tips, tutorials, customer success stories, and important product features.
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.
Adobe Video uses TikTok to show off product features to its followers through helpful how-tos and quick guides.
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.
TikTok is predominantly an entertainment platform, which sandwich brand Subway leverages perfectly. This video promotes its products in a fun way.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Use our guide on how to create short-form videos to get the best results.
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.