Coming Soon To a Business Near You: Tik Tok

Is Tik Tok an emerging trend for B2B? What started as a Gen Z infatuation has quickly taken hold of the world. Tik Tok’s age revolution is happening faster than any other social platform in history. With nearly 50 million active users a day, now 1 in 3 Tik Tok users are over the age of 30. Because of this colossal growth in popularity, it makes sense that more professionals in B2B industries are experimenting with how Tik Tok can benefit their business and their brand.

This casual, platform didn’t make sense for most companies a year ago. Now it’s an opportunity to increase brand awareness on the app with the most trending digital traffic. To show the people what they want, you must go where they are. And the reality is, that Tik Tok is becoming a major player in the game of social thrones.

You Can’t Deny Its Marketing Potential

You only get 15 seconds, 60 seconds, or 3 minutes. For a business, that’s just enough time to present one main point and one supporting fact before the viewer moves on to the next video. This never-ending stream of varied content is what holds the viewer’s attention hostage, and gives your business the spotlight to separate your brand from competitors and increase perceived value.

Although the platform can be crowded with content, it’s hard to ignore the inbound potential it offers social media marketers. Tik Tok’s algorithm sets you up for success in two ways:

1. It will place your newest content in front of anybody. Even if you have a single post, it will be seen.
2. When a viewer watches a single video from you, Tik Tok’s algorithm is more likely to show them more videos from you. If they like and subscribe to your channel, your posts will be incorporated into their loop of preferred content.

Tik Tok for Business

Much like Facebook or Instagram for Business, Tik Tok for Business is the marketing hub for business accounts. The account offers a few ad options, including in-feed ads, branded hashtags, branded effects, brand takeovers, and top ad views, which guarantees millions of views in just 24 hours.

Engagement on Tik Tok is exceptionally high, and it’s incredibly easy for brands to generate passive impressions. Ocean Spray is a perfect example of this. One feel-good video posted by consumer Nathan Apodaca went viral, sparking a viral Tik Tok challenge and increasing cranberry juice sales as people rushed to participate. Ocean Spray’s CEO, Tom Hayes, jumped in on the fun, participating in the challenge, and now appears regularly in posted content. Here’s the Tik Tok ‘dreams’ challenge that passively promoted cranberry juice seemingly overnight.

@oceanspray

Rolling into the weekend like… @420doggface208 @mickfleetwood @tiktok #dreamschallenge #cranberrydreams

♬ original sound – Ocean Spray Inc.

Where Does B2B Fit In?

Tik Tok is still an unexplored platform for B2B marketers- understandably so. But that doesn’t mean this type of social media marketing isn’t useful. The first wave of Generation Z, those born between 1995 and 2012, has already begun to enter the workforce. Many global brands have recognized the value Tik Tok offers of capturing the attention of that market now by engaging with younger audiences, partnering with relevant influencers, and encouraging user-generated content.

Deciding whether or not to add Tik Tok to your social collection may depend on what you expect to gain from it. Because Tik Tok is not a serious platform, the B2B businesses that thrive the most have found a way to post niche content from just the right angle- Keeping their videos light-hearted and visually pleasing, while staying true to their brand. Factories and manufacturing companies have gained popularity simply showing the process of how their products are made or tested.

Whether it’s tutorials, testimonials, product videos, company culture, or simply educational, the bottom line is that end-buyers want to be entertained, to be inspired, or to solve problems in their life or work. Funneling your brand’s creative outlet through Tik Tok keeps your image professional in other sectors while showcasing your originality and relevance to the future market.

Here are some global brands already taking Tik Tok by storm:

Nike, Skittles, Fenty Beauty, Pepsi, Calvin Klein, Sony, and FIFA

@hopofficial_

Have Fun Drink Pepsi #Explore #manufacturing #Soda

♬ original sound – HopOfficial_

“Companies willing to be humorous and entertaining, or to make fun of themselves, have the potential to gain quick traction on TikTok. At the moment, it appears to be some brands’ best-kept marketing secret.”

Tik Tok SEO

Does SEO matter when it comes to Tik Tok? The jury is still out on this one. However, the very essence of SEO is visibility and accessibility. Optimizing your content so that it’s found by people when they’re searching for it is critical to staying at the forefront of people’s minds. If they can’t find you, they’ll easily settle for the next best thing. Here are some basic guidelines to follow for Tik Tok SEO to make your social media marketing a bit easier:

• Start by naming files appropriately with keyword-rich titles and hashtags so that your video stays relevant to audiences searching for that category. Search for trending hashtags related to your industry, company, or products to get an idea of what’s reaching wider audiences.
• Pay attention to, and choose visually appealing thumbnails to show what the video is about with one image, or to entice people to click on it.
• Include transcriptions to help the bots that crawl your content understand its relevance to the search query better. Use them to also improve user experiences for hard-to-hear or hard-to-understand audio.
• Search for videos that relate to your product, business, or industry and engage with them! Challenge them, duet with them, react to them, compliment them. Videos created by you and your team that are sincere, show your brand’s personality, and are relatable will be rewarded by Tik Tok’s algorithm.

More Industry-Leading Brands on Tik Tok:

Chipotle, BBC, The Washington Post, NBA, San Diego Zoo, Mercedes Benz, United Nations IFAD, Apex Motion Control

@cookiecuttercom

You’ve seen the mini moose bent by hand, this is the bigger version on the hydraulic. Which do you like best? #cookiecuttercom #manufacturing

♬ original sound – cookiecuttercom

You’re Already Sitting on a Landmine of Quality Content

If you have a website or have been blogging consistently, then you have everything you need to create Tik Tok videos for weeks. Simply find your top 5-10 pages with the highest traffic. Compile a list of all the main points or products from these pages- each point is more than enough content for a short video. TikTok research finds that more than 63% of ads that showcase a product or message in the first three seconds get clicked the most. Now, turn that content into authentic, entertaining, educational posts. Some elements to consider:

• How can you instantly capture the viewer’s attention?
• What text should you superimpose on top of the video? (keywords recommended)
• Would screenshots better illustrate your point?
• Create short URLs so they’re easy to show on screen

Get to know the platform and post often. If a trend or hashtag feels oversaturated or off-brand, it’s okay to skip it. Take it back to the basics to quickly teach and entertain. And don’t forget to follow up on engagement through comments.

Have you already incorporated Tik Tok into your B2B social media marketing strategy? Let us know if there are any tips you would add to this article, or tell us how it’s going! Contact Red Crow Marketing or visit our website for more great social media marketing advice.