Best Practices For TikTok Marketing

Are you thinking about finally dipping your toes into the world of TikTok marketing? Well, you’re in luck! We have compiled a list of best practices for doing just that. Whether you are creating organic content for your brand’s account or setting up Ads we have some tips for you. 

But before we start it would be useful to briefly go over the different types of Ads TikTok has on offer.

1. First up are the ‘Top View’ ads. These appear as the first thing you see when you open the app. 
2. Next are the ‘In-feed’ ads which show up amongst organic posts on users ‘for you page’.
3. Then there are ‘Branded Hashtag Challenges’ which serve the purpose of engaging an audience by encouraging them to create brand-related content containing your chosen hashtag.
4. ‘Branded Effects’, which include things like filters, stickers, and special effects which users can use in their own content. 
5. And finally, there are now ‘Collection Ads’ which is an eCommerce function that allows users to browse your products without leaving the app. 

Head over to TikTok For Business to see some examples of these.  

Now onto our list of best practices:

1. Do your research.

TikTok is all about trends so it’s always best to stay on top or even ahead of these. Make use of the Discover Page to have a look through what filters, challenges, sounds, etc are currently trending and consider how these could work with your brand. It’s best to have a look at this fairly often as trends are always changing.

2. Who’s your audience? 

The app is full of communities with specific interests, giving you the opportunity to tap directly into the right crowd. Spend some time working out who your target audience is and what type of communities you want to reach. Once you have an idea of this find them on TikTok and do a little digging into the types of content they create and consume. From here you can start creating content suited for exactly the right people. 

3. Make use of analytics.

These are available on business and creator accounts and can really help to fine-tune your content plan. Look at things like days and times that your audience is most active for an idea of when to post and details on demographics so you know who you are creating for. Another key thing to look out for is which of your videos perform best. You can use this as a guide as to what type of content to focus on making in the future. 

4. ‘Don’t Make Ads, Make TikToks.’ 

This is TikTok’s own advice for marketing on their platform which essentially means creating content that will integrate with users’ content. Aim for more natural and laid back content rather than obvious sale pitches or the typical polished ads that go out on other platforms. Your goal on TikTok should be to entertain and inform. 

5. Keep it snappy. 

Your content should be interesting from the get-go. TikTok is a very fast-paced platform so if you don’t grab viewers’ attention straight away then it’s likely they will just keep on scrolling. So, avoid long and wordy intros and jump straight into the video.

6. Share consistently. 

As mentioned before, TikTok is a fast-moving platform so it is best to share regularly in order to keep your content in front of your audience. TikTok suggests sharing 1-4 times per day in order to test the performance of different types of content. You can also make use of analytics here to make sure you’re posting at the most optimal times.

7. Optimise for TikTok.

TikTok has also shared some of its own more technical tips and statistics which can make a huge difference in the performance of your content.

1. Video content should be 720p quality or higher as this sees a 312% increase in engagement compared to content with lesser quality.
2. A 9:16 aspect ratio (i.e.. content that fills a phone screen) has a 91% rise in engagement.
3. And, videos with durations between 21 and 34 seconds have a 280% rise in engagement.
4. For more of their tips like this head to their creative center insights page.