Even in the very happening world of social media, TikTok has created a big splash with its rapid adoption by the younger generation. In addition to its 500 million followers in China, according to Forbes, it has already clocked over 800 million users in the rest of the world. Even though these numbers are small relative to the big bosses of social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc., there is a lot of interest in TikTok by both users and marketers. It is because TikTok has emerged as the social media platform of choice for Gen Z with its focus on pure fun and entertainment. With many businesses spotting the opportunity of addressing the young and the restless, getting noticed is already becoming more difficult every passing day. This makes it important for marketers to make themselves familiar with how TikTok works and how to appeal to users with engaging content. Some essential do and don’ts:
Things You Should Be Actively Doing on TikTok
Follow trends: Marketers wishing to make an impression on Gen Y users will have to keep in mind that they should keep themselves abreast with trends on TikTok. It is because content following popular trends can get brands extra visibility, especially when they have the trending hashtags accompanying them. To learn what trends are popular at any given point in time, you just need to go to the “Discover” section to learn what the latest trends are. In addition to short-form videos, music is an important aspect of TikTok content. Marketers should keep a sharp eye out for the songs that are becoming hits all over the world, and even which ones are becoming popular on TikTok. Additionally, brands can buy TikTok fans to boost the level of engagement.
Duets: This a feature specific to TikTok that allows users to create duets with their friends and other users, usually as reaction videos or paired responses to content published by other users. Users can also expand stories by the addition of more videos posted by users or even to give momentum to a challenge to duet.
Creativity: TikTok users place a premium on content that is creatively put together and is original. This makes it vital for marketers to take an innovative approach to present their content. TikTok users also like contents that are fresh and completely original so marketers should think hard about creating content users will find appealing. The good thing is that even if the content has been borrowed from other users, they can give a new spin on it and make it fresh and interesting.
Education: Even though the focus of TikTok is to provide entertainment to its users, many users are also trying to use the platform to educate themselves on things that they are interested in. This trend has given a big opportunity to many marketers to create educational content in the form of short videos.
Conclusion
TikTok is a social media platform that is quite unlike the others that have been ruling the roost so far. With the majority of its users belonging to the young generation, it represents a unique opportunity for marketers to engage them. However, marketing on TikTok is a challenge, and brands need to do it right to get ahead.
