Use TikTok for Business – Key Steps For You to Succeed

While dealing with social networks like Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, a new one has already appeared — TikTok. Some people think that only teenagers who publish ridiculous videos are registered there. Still, you’d better not underestimate this platform because if you want to earn a good reputation, reach a broader market, and popularize your brand name, this is the place for you. Try to use TikTok for business because not everyone has yet registered there! Believe us, while everyone is hesitating, you can boost your business.
If your target audience is a young generation, you have informal communication with them and new ideas for creating content — see below how to use TikTok for business.

Table of Contents

1. How to set up a business TikTok account?
2. Who can use TikTok for business?
3. Ways to promote business on TikTok?
4. How to use TikTok for business marketing?
5. How to promote business on TikTok?
6. General recommendations for working on TikTok.
7. Main conclusions.

How to Set Up a Business TikTok Account?

TikTok is a young platform where users post minute-long videos. It managed to take 7th place in terms of attendance by a social network in the world. According to TikTok statistics, the number of monthly active users is estimated at 800 million. Here entertainment content is gaining millions of views. There is low competition and a loyal audience compared to other social networks. Thus, TikTok allows you to promote your account, monetize it and earn money. To succeed, you only need some free time, a creative approach, and a desire to work.

First, you need to download the application, open and select the registration form. Also, please note that you need to switch to a commercial account:

1. Log into the application.
2. Open the menu.
3. Go to the settings menu.
4. Select “Switch to PRO account”.

With this feature, you will be able to:

• Get detailed statistics on the conversion of your content.
• Have access to data about the behavior of the target audience.
• Track users filming content on a specific topic.

Why Use TikTok for Business?

It’s the freshest network for product promotion and making money. The platform allows you to receive referrals to other social networks’ communities to replenish the base of subscribers and potential customers. Advertising integrations and collaborations with brands are also available.

Who Can Use TikTok for Business?

To not miss a significant part of the audience, you need to form a marketing strategy when using this social network. One of them is advertising — the most common way to generate income on TikTok and other social networks. All you have to do is do what you love. However, it would be best if you spent a lot of effort to attract an audience. A profile with a million ad subscribers can earn less than a business account with a couple of hundred thousand real followers. Therefore, let’s talk about who should use TikTok for business or how to start a TikTok business from scratch:

Clothing Stores

The audience is interested in what is now in trend, fashionable images, and how to combine clothes. The highest level will be to dress famous bloggers and shoot videos with them. See which fashion brands are creating content and promoting their business on TikTok.

Internet Shops

This service is a great way to showcase a store’s assortment in real life or just sell different things to subscribers. Now you can sell anything to anyone. Even better if your store is online. See how to use social media for online store effectively.

Food Business Owners

The cooking process, recipes, cafes, and restaurants with beautiful interiors mean exciting and dynamic content. This item is especially suitable for establishments with the so-called Instagram food — huge burgers, ice cream with many toppings, for example. Fast-paced videos are viral.

Care Products and Cosmetics Providers

This content has also spread on TikTok. Here you can also attract bloggers and famous people. This will bring you not only the maximum number of views but also good sales.

Experts

Promote a personal brand in any service sector, from business consultants to doctors. In general, you can make a profit from any of your skills.

It’s not to say that the possibilities are limited, and not everyone can promote a business on TikTok. If you sell products online and not offline, that’s already very good. Still, it’s essential to define your target audience. You should pay attention that this social network is popular among young people, so try to transform your content for this audience.

TikTok Isn’t For You If

Who exactly is not suitable for promoting a business on TikTok:

• B2B — entrepreneurs rarely pay attention to advertising content related to their professional activities. B2B works better for rational motives because the purchase decision takes a long time. TikTok, on the other hand, is more focused on emotions.
• Selling franchises. It’s the same here as B2B, and decisions are not made suddenly. A person looking for where to buy a franchise will go to specialized sites.
• Trade in premium products. These high-cost, high-quality products are aimed at a qualified audience. These are consumers with high incomes with higher education.

TikTok is a platform where you need to show your talent, personality, not status. Users love unique accounts, especially if they are entertained. People come here to relax and unwind. You, in turn, can use this time to sell something to them.

Ways to Promote Business on TikTok?

TikTok has an exceptional advertising service called TikTok Ads. It offers several official ways to advertise:

• TopView

It provides videos from 5 to 60 seconds that the user sees when entering the application. This ad format is suitable for building the image and recognition of the company to find customers who can go to the brand’s website or TikTok page.

• Brand Takeover

Short videos that the user sees periodically. You can display an image for up to 3 seconds, a video or GIF — from 3 to 5 seconds. Such ads may prompt users to go to a website, a TikTok page or download an app.

• In-Feed Ads 

Native ads that pop up in the feed. Usually accompanied by some call to action, it contains links and hashtags. It looks like the most standard Instagram story ad. These ads are natively embedded in the recommendation feed and are often helpful and not particularly intrusive. Users can like, comment, share ads and follow the brand’s TikTok profile.

• Branded Effects 

Promotion with the help of augmented reality: masks, stickers. Users can use them in their content, and the company will receive more notifications.

• Branded Hashtag Challenge

They were originally seen as entertainment but soon became a very effective advertising format. Usually, in hashtag challenges, you need to use specific music according to given rules and tag them with a hashtag.

The work is based on a neural network. When you post a video, TikTok shows it to those who are likely to be interested in it.

How to Use TikTok for Business Marketing?

TikTok helps its users to promote and provides several various options. To launch a marketing company, please consider the following strategic tips:

1. Define your goals. Everything is the same here as in other social networks: attract TikTok followers to third-party sites, monetize your account and increase your brand awareness.
2. Study your target audience. Consider their tastes and interests, analyze which topics will be especially relevant for them and who they are interested in. Your PRO account will help you compile statistics. There will be 3 tabs: review, content and subscribers.
3. Pick a posting time and create a content plan. Properly selected time and content will allow you to gain maximum attention. There are several types of posts: selling, entertaining and informational. It is better to choose the proportion yourself, based on the profile statistics. Initially, it is worth starting with 30 percent selling, 30 informative, and 40 entertaining.
4. Analyze your competitors. See which content is more successful for them, which videos have received the most views, and which have more comments left.
5. Follow the trends. Try creating related videos from the Trending tab. Conduct polls and thematic broadcasts. Show interesting working moments and share news.
6. Organize contests and sweepstakes. The steeper the prize, the more participants there will be. TikTok will promote your video by itself if you get a lot of likes and comments.
7. Broadcast live. Show interesting working moments, answer questions from your subscribers, share news, conduct thematic broadcasts, and communicate with your audience.
8. Optimize your account. Check out what’s trending and what you should pay attention to when creating content for your business account.
9. Use popular hashtags. Make relevant content for them. Define hashtags for your channel or come up with your own.

How to Promote Business on TikTok?

There are also free methods for promoting a business on TikTok, but they take time and do not provide any guarantees. Therefore, if you want to get results quickly, then you should use paid promotion methods:

Advertising With Bloggers

It’s an excellent way to gain subscribers quickly. The main thing is to correctly compose an advertisement and select a blogger for your target audience. Then the work will be done qualitatively, and a solvent audience will come to you.

How to Choose a Blogger?

To get a good result from advertising, you need to consider a few rules and tips:

• Choose a blogger according to your target audience. To begin with, make an avatar portrait and, based on that, find a blogger who resembles them. The main parameters for an avatar portrait are gender, age, and hobbies.
• Check out your blogger. It would help if you had a “live” audience, not fake subscribers. The easiest way to check: if their videos get many times fewer views than the number of their subscribers, then this blogger is not for you.

Targeted Advertising

TikTok, like other social networks, has direct in-app advertising available. With its help, you can directly reach the target audience. This type of advertising helps increase your reach, increases audience engagement, and brings you new targeted subscribers.
Choose how to promote on TikTok based on the concept of your business. Test, try different options. Analyze what each step gives you, and then you will understand in which direction you should move.
Tip: learn what social media optimization means and get more valuable tips and tricks by reading our blog post.

General Recommendations for Working on TikTok

To say what works best depends on the product and target audience. But there are fundamental principles, let’s deal with them:

• Creativity. See what others are posting by paying attention to likes and comments. Find out what makes you popular. What will make you watch your videos to the end?
• Consumption rate. Content on TikTok is very dynamic — one video can follow another within a few seconds. Hence the logical conclusion — you need to capture a person’s attention quickly and confidently.
• Trends. See what trends you need to follow on social media. When creating ads for your account, use a situational approach. Pay attention to everything happening in the world, and people are discussing. It will allow you to be on the same wave with the TikTok community and create a dialogue.
• Company testing and analysis. Be sure to analyze what worked and did not, and most importantly — why. Find your methods, and understand what the user will like next time.

Main Conclusions

TikTok is becoming more and more popular. In general, people come here to have fun, get away from the routine and have a good time. But business interest in the application is also growing — it’s indeed a new platform for promotion, especially if we are talking about a young audience, which is difficult to reach with the help of conventional tools.
Who should use TikTok for business:

• Small and medium business
• Retail companies
• Personal brand

TikTok may not be suitable for promotion — in cases where it is advertised:

• Goods and services prohibited on the site
• Complex and expensive products
• B2B brands

In conclusion, these are not rules at all, but rather recommendations. Here is a place for creativity, and only your imagination limits the possibilities for marketing. The best ways to advertise haven’t been determined yet, so experiment and test whatever works.
And remember that time also helps. Let advertising always work; it needs time to start bringing you customers. For some creators, one video is enough to become popular, but for most, it takes several attempts before something “shoots”.