Building Brand Awareness on TikTok – Updated for Summer

Everything you need to know about TikTok in 2023

TikTok is a social media platform that allows users to create, share, and discover short-form vertical videos. It was launched in September 2016 by the Chinese company ByteDance and has gained immense popularity worldwide, particularly among younger demographics but not solely with young people. TikTok grew to a billion users in 5 years and according to business of apps it generated an estimated $9.7 billion in revenue in 2022 alone. This is a 100% increase from the previous year.

TikTok’s format revolves around 15 to 60-second videos, often set to music or sound bites, and users can apply various filters, effects, and editing tools to enhance their videos. TikTok is a somewhat unique app that allows users to go viral and reach millions of people worldwide without having to first grow a large following. The TikTok algorithm does not consider an accounts number of followers or previous engagement numbers when it distributes videos on the “for you page” (FYP). A user on TikTok is just as likely to see a post from someone with a large following as from a brand-new account.

TikTok is a very useful social media platform that can help businesses build their brand awareness and increase their sales both online and offline.

Key Features

Video Creation and Editing:

TikTok offers a user-friendly interface for creating and editing videos all within the app without having to use any external or paid software. Users can shoot videos with their smartphone directly within the app or upload pre-recorded content. They can add different effects and filters to these videos with ease.

Soundtracks and Challenges:

One of TikTok’s distinguishing features is its extensive library of music and soundtracks that users can incorporate into their videos. These tracks often become viral trends, with users participating in challenges and creating their unique interpretations of popular trends.

User-Generated Content:

TikTok being a user-focused platform means businesses can efficiently utilise user generate content around their products or services. There are accounts that are dedicated to doing reviews and recommendations, these can range from travel & beauty to construction & software. There isn’t a limit to what content people will create and are passionate about, businesses can leverage this to showcase their products and services.

For You Page (FYP):

TikTok’s algorithm analyses users’ interactions, and videos they like, share, or comment on, to tailor content to their likings. The For You Page (FYP) is the main feed that showcases videos curated based on the user’s interests and engagement patterns. This for you page allows businesses to reach a large audience without the need for a large following first.

Duets and Collaborations:

TikTok enables users to duet or collaborate with other creators. Duets allow users to create split-screen videos with another user’s content, fostering a sense of community and collaboration within the platform.

Live Streaming:

TikTok offers a live streaming feature that allows users to broadcast in real-time, interact with their audience through live comments, and receive virtual gifts from followers.

Trends and Challenges:

TikTok is known for its viral trends and challenges. These can range from dance routines and lip-syncing to comedy sketches and DIY projects. Users can participate in these trends to gain exposure and engage with the larger TikTok community.

Why should my business use TikTok?

As TikTok has been one of the fastest growing social media platforms we have seen, it would be highly recommended that businesses no matter the size utilise TikTok to reach a larger audience of like-minded people.

There is a current idea that TikTok is only for young people or its just for silly dances and trends, but this simply isn’t true. There are several serious businesses that have used TikTok successfully and grown a huge following which in turn has given them more customers and built their brand. It all comes down to messaging and staying on brand with your content.

Growing your brand on TikTok

With the massive user base on TikTok, there is no better time than now for businesses to utilise short-form content on TikTok to grow their brand awareness. Get yourself familiar with the content on TikTok, and look at your competitors both direct and indirect. Developing a clear understanding of what kind of content is being created, the types of messages and the different hashtags used will make content creation for TikTok so much easier.

Make sure to specifically define your target audience before deciding to start actively posting on TikTok. In a perfect world, we would love to have our content seen by everyone who buys our products but this simply is not possible. Businesses should identify 2-3 key demographics to initially target, research their habits and create content specifically with these demographics in mind. Take 3 months of consistent posting, experimenting with new content ideas and measuring metrics such as engagement rate and follower counts to see if your brand awareness campaign was successful. Now you can do it all over again either taking what you learned and funneling it back into the original target audiences or you can target completely new audiences using the lessons learned along the way. 

Having this knowledge of the platform and content in your specific niche will help with generating ideas for your business content. Building this bank of content inspiration will make consistent video creation much easier and allow your business to post content that is more engaging to your potential customers.

Washington Post

A great example of this is the Washington Post, this newspaper started utilising TikTok effectively to reach a new demographic of younger people through TikTok. Instead of just filling their account with short-form versions of their news articles, the account has a great mixture of entertaining, engaging videos that are more like skits of what happens behind the scenes giving a more personal approach from this organisation. The Washington Post strives to strike a balance between creativity and its core mission of delivering timely and accurate news. The WP has adopted a creative approach by incorporating in-feed ads that utilize humorous skits related to the news stories they cover. These ads not only entertain the audience but also provide clear calls-to-action to read more on their website. This effective method allows The Washington Post to maintain a positive image while simultaneously engaging readers and enticing them to click the provided links and delve deeper into the articles. The Washington Post has over 1.6 million followers on TikTok.

An example of the type of content the Washington Post uses.

Legal Queen

Another fantastic example of this is the Tracey Moloney who goes by the Legal Queen on TikTok. She is a UK based family law lawyer who started posting videos on social media answering family law questions she had from followers on social media. She now has over 500k Followers on TikTok and over 341k followers on Facebook. This is an excellent example of how a serious topic like law can be used on social media effectively without taking away from the important messaging. Having this huge following online has without a doubt grown her business and gained many clients from simple videos filmed on a smartphone.

Pros vs Cons of using TikTok

Cons –

Difficult to predict what videos will do well.

Trends can move very quickly, and it can be hard to keep up.

Businesses might not have people comfortable in front of camera, but this can be mitigated.

Summary 

TikTok has revolutionized the social media landscape, providing digital marketing agencies with a powerful platform to enhance brand awareness, increase sales, and build a dedicated following. By leveraging TikTok’s engaging content formats, collaborating with influencers, participating in viral trends, and optimizing e-commerce capabilities, digital marketing agencies can unlock new opportunities for their clients, helping them achieve their marketing objectives and propel their brands to new heights in the ever-evolving digital realm.

If you want more help with growing on TikTok and learning how to effective reach a specific target audience then get in touch with Overlook Digital today.

Updated for Summer 

To gain advantage of the upcoming warm weather lots of different businesses can leverage TikTok to increase their brand awareness and drive more users to their website or to visit them in person. Below are a few summer themed TikTok ideas specifically tailored for small businesses. Give them a try and see how it helps your business.

Create short videos highlighting your businesses summer products or services. Showcase the different features, demonstrate how they are used, and highlight the benefits they offer during the summer season. For example, if you run your own clothing store or have an independent clothing brand, create TikTok videos showcasing different summer outfit ideas using your products. This can be both during the day and at night, that gives you multiple pieces of content from a relatively simple idea.

Give your audience a glimpse behind the scenes of your small business during the summer. Show how you prepare and package orders, how you create your products, or how you set up for summer events or pop-up shops. This can help create a sense of authenticity and build a connection with your audience.

Share helpful tips and hacks related to your industry during the summer months. For instance, if you run a gardening store, create videos on summer gardening tips, how to care for plants during hot weather, or DIY plant arrangements for outdoor spaces.

Encourage your customers to create and share videos featuring your products or services. You can create a branded hashtag and ask your customers to use it when posting their videos. This can help generate user-generated content that showcases your business and engages your customers.