Posted by Tiktok has become a sensation across the entire globe. After being downloaded over 1 billion times, it is quickly becoming the biggest social media platform on the planet.
Now the world’s 7th most followed social media platform in just a short period of time, TikTok certainly isn’t going anywhere. With more sizable followership than platform OG’s, Twitter, and Snapchat, it’s no surprise that smart marketers are turning to TikTok for campaign success.
Therefore, if you haven’t already joined the craze that is transforming the future of social media marketing, it might be time to pull out the old phrase of if you can’t beat them, join them. Read on to find out why TikTok has become one of the largest platforms on the planet and how you can monetize this digital native hub for business success.
Why Has TikTok Become So Big?
The question is, why has TikTok become so big, in such a short space of time? Gaining nearly double its following in just one year, this impressive video-style app is constantly evolving to serve the newest digital trends, smart immersive advertising, and a growing Gen Z audience.
As you can see above 2020 raked in the highest download numbers, peaking at 318 million in the first quarter. Experts suggest that the pandemic gave birth to a TikTok hype, with Gen Z and millennial users using the platform to create funny skits, dance videos, and informational content relating to the pandemic during the lockdown.
As a video-based platform that allows users to create 15–60 second videos, creating content on the app has never been easier. With a short and snappy style appealing to fast-paced digital natives, advertisers were at first skeptical about using the platform for business success, fearing that adverts would simply get lost in the crowd.
However, after learning that 63% of TikTok targetted ads that are using this short and snappy strategy to their advantage are getting a higher CTR than traditional Facebook and Instagram campaigns, smart marketers have quickly switched up their game to accommodate a new type of advertising.
With a 75% increase in Ad spend in just under half a year, it’s time to join the TikTok trend and start monetizing this platform for company success. Read on to find out how to create a TikTok ad that will grab your audience’s attention and boost your online following in 4 easy steps.
1. Embrace The Trends
To become a master of TikTok and its ever-changing algorithm, you firstly need to do your homework. It’s time to start scrolling and find those trending songs, sounds, and filters that are currently receiving the most impressions, TikTok duets, and business-related parodies.
If you want to be successful, it’s time to start getting creative. In fact, new stats revealed that 33% of the highest performing ads break the fourth wall, and over half of high engagement videos evoke emotional reactions from the viewers.
The best way to tackle these trends head-on is to look at your competitors. Could your business be perfect for a day in the life video, mirroring the work of the TikTok Postie who has raked in millions of views for Royal Mail? Or could you create a fun parody of a new viral sound to help promote your product or service?
The list is endless, so it’s time to get your thinking cap on.
2. Start Using Hashtags
If you’re looking to increase your chances of getting discovered, it might be time to up your hashtag game too. Not only does the use of viral hashtags improve your chances of making it to TikTok’s ever famous For You Page, but it is actually a great strategy for gathering content ideas that are currently trending amongst influencers and business competitors.
In fact, 61% of the TikTok audience are more likely to engage with your video if you participate in a trending challenge or use viral hashtags. Better still, finding hashtags within your own niche that are popular with your specific demographic could increase your click-through rate tenfold.
3. Know Your Audience
Studying your audience is quite possibly one of the most important steps to take towards TikTok success. Before engaging in those viral trends and purchasing that all-important ring light for premium video content, it’s time to double-check whether your demographic is actually on TikTok.
As you can see here, TikTok is significantly dominated by a Gen Z audience, contributing to 90% of the app’s initial growth. With a younger audience at the heart of the platform, that is your prime targeting demographic for your advertising campaign.
Why not take an audit of your current audience stats and track your engagement across other social platforms, online webpages, and sales. This will give you a rough demographic prediction, that can help you decide if TikTok marketing is worth your time.
Better still take a look at your niche and see how well it is performing on TikTok. How many views do your business-related hashtags have? Will a Genzenial audience be likely to interact with what your brand is offering?
Tiktok is a great way to widen your demographic and reach a global audience, but often targeting your strongest audience and specific sub-groups will get you further as there are fewer users to compete with.
4. TikTok’s Advertising Platform
So the traffic audit has come back and revealed that your demographic is engaging with TikTok.
The question is what do you do next? If you’re looking into creating a sponsored paid social campaign, it’s time to set up a TikTok ad’s account.
Using a similar system to Facebook and Instagram, you can build targeted campaigns that are allocated to each of your ad groups, ensuring that your ad will reach your desired audience and encourage potential sales leads.
After setting a campaign advertising objective ranging from traffic to conversions, TikTok’s self-service ad maker aids smart marketers to create a number of different ad types. For higher-level campaigns, you may need to work with a TikTok account manager, but the sky is the limit if you want to get creative with your budget.
Here are some of the ad types you could choose from when planning your sponsored campaign:
Brand Takeover
Brand takeovers are not awfully common as they tend to be more intrusive than regular ad types, but they are a great way to raise audience awareness on TikTok’s platform. Appearing when the user opens up the app, they take over the screen and provide a link to the product website, aiding an increase in clicks and potential sales leads.
In-Feed Video
Known as the most common form of paid social content, these are great cost-effective ads that can be great for smaller budgets.
These video ads appear amongst other videos on the for you page, presenting themselves more organically than other ad types. This is a great way to ensure you slot into your demographics feed, and can significantly increase consumer engagement with your advertisement.
Hashtag Challenges
Branded hashtag challenges are the best form of advertising if you’re looking to widen your demographic and go viral. Starting a hashtag challenge that loosely relates to your product encourages viewers to interact with your brand and create their own content surrounding that hashtag.
For example, look at this branded hashtag campaign by Aussie Haircare. Their #JustAddGlitter campaign asked viewers to challenge themselves using their new glitter spray to ‘go glam’ during the pandemic. The sponsored hashtag got over 20 million views and thousands of UGC creations out of one campaign, skyrocketing product sales and raising awareness for Aussie.
Branded Lenses
For the innovative marketing campaign, why not tap into TikTok’s new immersive ad style that allows users to interact with branded lenses, AR/3D content, and sharable stickers. For a target generation that is constantly evolving in line with technological advancement, this spin on a paid campaign could really pay off if you have a younger audience.
Consult The Influencers
Finally, it’s time to consult the experts, the opinion leaders that are ruling the roost on TikTok’s ever-growing platform. It’s time to consult the influencers.
Not only should you be taking notes on viral influencer content to stay ahead of the trends, but if your budget is big enough, it might be beneficial for you to start thinking about partnerships. In the same way, you would on Facebook and Instagram, you can use influencer marketing to help spread brand awareness on TikTok.
If you have run a paid social campaign involving an influencer on another platform, it may be smart to extend that brand deal to TikTok for a more organic-looking brand deal. If not, we suggest that you look for influencers that have a vested interest in your genre/niche. Collaborating with the opinion leaders of your niche is much more likely to provide success, than paying extortionate amounts for a singular video from a global scale influencer.
Ready To Start Advertising?
If you can’t wait to get on TikTok and start watching your engagement climb, start using these four monetizing tips for ultimate business success.
We can’t wait to see your skits, challenges, and partnerships popping up on our for you pages!⚡️