Should businesses be using TikTok to engage current customers and reach new ones?
With 1.9 billion monthly active users (MAUs) in Q1 2026, the overwhelming answer is Yes.
TikTok for businesses works well because its average engagement rate of 5.3% is higher than most social platforms.
It’s also overtaking Google in many ways as a search engine (social search optimisation), with 49% of consumers (and 65% of Gen Z) using TikTok as a search engine. And this trend is only going to increase across all demographics in 2026.
If you’ve started using TikTok as a business, or you’re running TikTok marketing for clients, this guide covers everything you need to know:
Before we dive in, make sure to snag our free TikTok account management checklist.
Ticking off those boxes will be so satisfying, you'll forget you're actually working!
Plus, everything in our TikTok business checklist will help boost your engagement and make your marketing efforts even more effective.
In America, TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was forced to divest its U.S. division. It kept a 19.9% stake in the TikTok USDS Joint Venture alongside Oracle, Silver Lake, and an Abu Dhabi investment firm, MGX.
The transfer started badly with fears of censorship and server errors. User numbers dropped sharply.
But after a shaky start, TikTok in the U.S. has stabilised. Daily active usage in America is now 95% of what it was the week before the transfer, at the end of January 2026, according to media reports.
TikTok is a video-centric social media platform where you can create short-form videos.
From a marketer's standpoint, some of the biggest concerns are whether the target audience is on this platform and the ROI they can achieve from promoting their business there.
So here are some important stats you need to take into consideration before deciding if you should include TikTok in your social media strategy:
Aside from the great social commerce potential, the user base is ageing up, it has incredible watch time, and TikTok content is easy to share and repurpose.
The TikTok algorithm operates as a sophisticated recommendation system that curates the "For You Page" (FYP) for each individual user.
Everyone’s personalised feed is the primary discovery mechanism on the platform. Making it crucial to understand how the algorithm promotes certain videos, while others get far fewer views.
TikTok’s algorithm analyses every interaction, video element, and user preference to create a unique experience for each person. It prioritises content based on user interactions and preferences rather than followers or popularity.
User interactions form the backbone of TikTok's algorithmically-generated ranking system. The algorithm closely monitors how viewers engage with your content, with certain actions carrying significantly more weight than others in determining your video's reach potential.
While likes and comments are important engagement signals, shares and rewatches have a significantly greater influence on the algorithm's decision-making process. When users share your content, it indicates exceptionally high value and relevance, prompting the algorithm to show your video to exponentially more people.
Shares act as votes of confidence in your content's wider distribution.
Completion rate is one of the most critical metrics for determining algorithm success. Videos with captions generate 23% more likes on average than those without captions, suggesting that providing context and encouraging viewers to watch until the end significantly impact performance.
Our guide on how to get more views on TikTok explains that TikTok now uses "Follower-First Testing."
New videos are shown to followers first; if they don't engage, your videos won’t be pushed to the FYP.
As with any social media platform, it's best to start with a plan for using TikTok as a business.
Once you've created the account, make sure to thoroughly research the existing content. Search for relevant hashtags and influential content creators from your niche. This will not only give you an idea of the type of videos you need to create, but it will also help you curate your feed.
Make sure to engage with relevant videos. Otherwise, TikTok's algorithm will spam you with all sorts of irrelevant content. The sooner you "teach" the algorithm what content is relevant for your brand, the faster you'll develop a content creation strategy.
When creating a TikTok marketing plan, the best thing to do is:
Get to know your target audience's behaviour and needs on this platform, as they might differ from those on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Yes, most of the audience joins this platform to relax and take their mind off everyday stress. Still, they come here to express their opinions, learn more about brands they care about, support causes, and discover new, exciting things.
TikTok is your chance to show a different side of your brand. The one you haven't explored on other social media platforms. And who knows, you might just uncover some hidden potentials that will help you grow your business!
Get started with creating your first video by clicking the "+" option in the centre of your screen:
Choose your video duration and press the red button to start recording. From there, you can add sound, effects, text, and stickers from the options laid out for you at the bottom of the recorded video clip:
You can also change the filters and apply voice effects to your original audio and recordings where you aren't using sounds.
Save your videos with a tick mark on the bottom right and press ' Next' when you're done editing them.
This will give you the option to tag other accounts, write copy, and add hashtags.
As you type your hashtag, you'll see other hashtags and their volume. This way, you can select and combine trending and niche hashtags, increasing your chances of being found by the right people.
Click ' Post' when you're ready to publish your video.
TikTok lets you upload multiple video clips from your phone. Once you've clicked the "+" button, click on the "upload" option to the right of the recording button. Here you can select up to 35 clips.
Once you've uploaded them, you can auto-sync them to the desired sound in the music library, or manually edit each clip's duration to match the beat.
Another significant update is that you can now split each video clip into multiple sequences, match them to the sound, and add transitions.
To share a TikTok video, all you have to do is choose the 'share' button on the bottom right when you play videos. You can:
The easy share option makes one thing crystal clear: you can easily cross-promote the content you create here on other channels.
TikTok also offers an extensive library of filters, effects, and pre-licensed music that's ready to use. And all of these represent excellent opportunities to hop on TikTok trends and grow brand awareness. But we'll talk about this in a minute.
If you've added music to your marketing videos before, you'll know how challenging it can be to find the right tune you're allowed to use.
TikTok offers a commercial music library for businesses to address this issue, so you can access a vast range of music without worrying about permits and licenses.
Another plus point of TikTok for business? You can reap a lot from this social media channel, both organically and by partnering with influential content creators, as this platform has the highest social media engagement rates per post:
Sounds too good to be true?
Well, here's the thing: your TikTok videos need to be super creative to catch your viewers' attention. How so? Let's look at that next.
You need to focus on the three main content types:
Short educational videos perform really well. Especially if you use these videos to answer actual questions from your audience, share actionable tips, take them behind the scenes, and offer them an opportunity to get to know a different side of your brand.
And if you ever start doubting whether the TikTok audience is really interested in such "boring" topics, remember that @sheetgeek, a channel dedicated solely to posting Google Sheets tutorials, has 2.2 million followers and counting:
Duolingo, an American educational technology company, is a great example of a business doing well on TikTok. Their TikTok marketing focuses on making funny videos that feature their mascot, and they produce tonnes of entertaining, viral content:
To sum things up, the content you create for TikTok should be light-hearted and fun. This stands true even if you’re a serious brand. Hard to swallow? Watch this TikTok video from The Washington Post:
Edutainment on TikTok is content that teaches one clear idea in a short, punchy video. It's built for the scroll — fast hooks, clear payoffs, and zero fluff.
If someone learns something useful in under 60 seconds while actually being entertained, it's edutainment. TikTok's algorithm rewards this format because viewers watch till the end, rewatch, and share.
Here are a few examples of what edutainment looks like on TikTok:
According to our most recent research, the best times possible are the following three slots throughout the week:
TikTok originally recommended 1-4 times per day.
Other social media tools recommend: “Post 3-5 times per week. Or, as much as you can.”
We recommend taking the following approach:
How often you post should also be influenced by your followers. If they’re active multiple times a day, every day, then you need to be just as proactive.
You can easily check when your audience is online within TikTok (or using Sendible's TikTok management tool).
Here is how you do this in TikTok:
Creating "un-copyable" content for TikTok as a business means blending human storytelling with AI research, with a little AI content-creation assistance where needed (without leaning too much on AI, otherwise you could end up with a flagged video and zero views).
Here is how you can create “un-copyable” content and beat the scroll to capture the attention your business needs:
Make sure to monitor trends, especially TikTok music and dance trends, to see if any can be used for your videos.
You have two options moving forward: growing your TikTok organically or pairing your organic efforts with ads. Let's look at the organic and ad-based options you have at your disposal:
There are two differences between a Duet and a Stitch feature. One is the layout, and the other is the purpose.
The duet format is a great way to add more faces to your videos who aren't from your brand or agency, and to offer your two cents on a trending topic. You can access this feature by clicking the "share" button.
There are several layouts you can choose from:
There are many ways you can use duets! For example, you can utilise this feature to:
You can access this feature just like duets, by clicking the "share" button and opting for "Stitch".
Stitches are great for capturing attention in trending videos, as they're the first thing viewers see. So make sure to stitch viral content into your TikTok videos.
The way Stitch works is simple:
This is another excellent feature that allows you to educate your audience or get creative by offering an alternative ending to a viral video.
Like many other social media platforms, TikTok lets you go live. The only catch is that you need at least 1000 followers to unlock this feature.
This format is excellent for:
Start by creating content that aligns with TikTok trends.
It could be either a sound-based trend or a challenge-based trend. Either way, making TikTok videos based on trends is a "great way to jump on to something that's already getting a lot of viewership," in TikTok influencer Lauren Pope's words.
Find these trends from the Discover option at the bottom of your screen, or follow accounts that create reports on what's currently trending on TikTok.
A hashtag challenge gives video-making challenges to users - they make their version of the challenge (the more creative, the better) and tag it with the specific hashtag. This way, the video is discoverable.
Here's an example of the user-generated content (UGC) from the #SpeakYourMind challenge hosted by mental health charity, Mind:
As you jump start your TikTok marketing efforts, it’s a good idea to get involved in the hashtag challenges that others create. However, as you grow and your account gains traction, you could think about starting your own hashtag challenge too.
One thing’s for sure, getting involved in hashtag challenges brings engagement. Mercedes-Benz introduced the #MBStarChallenge, asking its audience to re-envision their logo. The challenge got 1.64 million page views in the UK alone, resulting in lots of new user generated content and 30,000 new followers for Mercedes-Benz.
This works pretty much in the same way as influencer marketing on other social channels.
As a rule of thumb, aim to work with influencers who are relevant to your target demographic and who have a consistently engaged presence on TikTok, just like RedBull did with everyone's favourite @kallmekris to help her celebrate 10 million followers milestone:
If you’re looking to accelerate your TikTok marketing, you can explore this with the following advertising types:
These ads run between 9 and 15 seconds and support multiple CTAs. As the name suggests, TikTok shows in-feed videos in between user videos. Users can skip these video ads.
For inspiration, look to French dessert company Danette, which used in-feed ads with other ad types to drive traffic to their hashtag challenge page:
These ads can be in the form of still images, GIFs or videos. They appear in users’ feeds before any UGC appears. The ad links to the business’s landing page or hashtag challenge within the app.
A good example of brand takeover ads is their use by makeup brand Too Faced for driving awareness and direct sales:
Unlike native videos, TopView ads fill the entire screen space. However, like brand takeover ad types, these launch first thing in a user’s feed before any other content displays.
A case in point here is Balenciaga, which used TopView ads in combination with brand takeovers to raise awareness of its brand:
Lastly, you can create your own filter to promote your brand. Colgate ran this ad type by creating an effect with exploding hearts:
Creating a strong community is essential for every brand that uses social media marketing to promote its business.
Here are some things your TikTok marketing strategy should include if you're serious about building a strong community:
Want to dive deep into TikTok community management tips and tricks? Then head to our article Game Changer: How TikTok Reshaped Community Management.
If you're already creating video content for other social channels, this won't be challenging. You only need to add your brand's unique spin to what's trending on TikTok.
Here are some ideas to get your creative gears moving:
Duets and stitches are great ways to share your opinion on a particular topic.
These two features allow you to show off your expertise, educate your audience, support a cause, and position yourself as a thought leader.
You can search niche hashtags to find videos you can duet or stitch, or you can ask your followers to tag you in videos if they want to hear your personal opinion on them.
This kind of content shows your audience how your brand operates or how your team works.
If you own an e-commerce business, you can create a video of how you package orders and give an anonymous shoutout to the buyer by including their order number. This can inspire others to ask you to make a video of their order, leading to even more engagement and brand awareness.
On the other hand, you can show your audience how your products are made.
TikTok allows you to reply to comments with a video. So, once you have an established audience, you can try asking your viewers questions to engage them or encourage them to ask you questions in the comments section.
Finally, you can educate your target audience - step by step.
Food, beauty, fashion, and home decoration-oriented TikTok accounts have been thriving on this tactic!
However you decide to experiment with your TikTok marketing strategy, you need to stay consistent.
This is the universal rule for success on any social network, not just TikTok. Your TikTok videos will pick up steam only if you show up daily.
Finding it hard to dedicate daily time to video shooting?
Then make sure to:
Yes. Despite ownership changes in the U.S., daily active usage has already stabilised at 95% of pre-transfer levels, and global growth continues.
No, but like every social platform, it’s a sign of positive engagement, especially for a business. TikTok's algorithm surfaces content based on engagement signals, not follower count — making it one of the few platforms where new accounts can still go viral.
Aim for at least 3–5 times per week. Consistency and quality matter more than volume, but higher frequency generally improves reach.
Edutainment performs strongly. Short-form video content that teaches something useful in a short, engaging format. Tutorials, behind-the-scenes, and trend-led videos also consistently perform well.
Yes, very easily with tools like Sendible, which allow you to schedule and publish TikTok content in advance, making it easier to stay consistent without posting manually every day.