TikTok for business
Social network TikTok is gaining popularity in Ukraine at a frantic pace and businesses can successfully use this network for advertising and with various marketing purposes.
TikTok in numbers
TikTok is a Chinese network for posting of short videos that last from 15 to 60 seconds and are original, simple and funny. It was launched in September 2016 but started gaining popularity in Ukraine only last year. Today TikTok is one of the most dynamic networks in Ukraine in terms of the number of new users. According to the data of Tobasco advertising agency, in 2019, 2.5 mn people used the service, whereas Lobods digital agency points out that 6 mn Ukrainian users downloaded the application as of September of the last year.
Key numbers regarding TikTok: 800 mn – total number of users of the service worldwide 75 languages are available in the application Approximately 52 min. per day users spend in the social network 8 times per day users open the application in average 37% of the audience has middle income 30% of the audience has income above the middle 44% of the audience – men 56% of the audience – women The application ranks 3rd globally based on the number of downloads |
TikTok and business
According to GlobalWebIndex, the main target audience of TikTok іs Z-generation, i.e. people in the age of 16 to 24. This fact should be taken into account by those who intend to enter this platform to communicate their brands.
For which niches of business can this network be used? Andrii Shatyrko, the founder of video marketing agency Shatyrko Agency answers this question as follows: “I recommend using TikTok to promote the businesses in the following areas: products, services, etc. This network will be useful for any business that is ready for light and fun communication with its target audience. First of all, due to the wide outreach to the audience. For example, recently our agency created a channel for the girl that is wakesurfing – she posts videos and has her own specialized shop. During one week her videos gathered 1 mn views and the channel got 7k subscribers. These are great results.”
“In terms of leads and sales, during one month one can for sure get 10k subscribers and 1 mn views. It is quite possible to turn these figures into the required number of leads”, says Andrii Shatyrko. “Moreover, I recommend entrepreneurs not to delay TikTok market entry. First of all, the market entry threshold is pretty low. Today one can gather the audience and involve bloggers, opinion leaders without significant effort. Secondly, TikTok has big audience, which is currently not spammed with ads, so it would be easier to find your consumers there. Thirdly, TikTok is a new formation and your brand should be present there if you want to be closer to your target audience in future”.
Andrii Shatyrko advises to pay attention to several important issues:
- To do business in TikTok, you should film well – with good light and camera, even if you use iPhone. If you film with the sound a lavalier microphone is a must have.
- TikTok is a human network, so people must be present in the video and in no way “talking heads”.
- The content should be generated systematically and regularly.
- TikTok is a network of humor and ease, so you should use the simplest and funniest topics. People won’t like too serious videos.
- Take into account the preferences of TikTok audience and make the content they will like and not the content you like.
Regarding trends
Business promotion will be easy in TikTok if you follow the key tendencies:
- Memes and hashtags. Most of all TikTok users enjoy humorous clips and meme-formats. Thus, look through the videos in the section “Interesting”. Analyze what is popular today and generate content on these topics. The following topics are trendy most of all: dances, humor, animals, life-hacks and thematic videos before certain holidays. You must add hashtags so that people may easily find your video. For example, hashtag #catchmeout under which people posted funny or shocking situations got approximately 11 mn views.
- Challenges. A well-designed challenge has all chances to become viral. The tasks should be as easy as possible so that everyone willing can repeat.
- Competitions. Everyone likes prizes. Thus, different competitions, where someone can win a present, are an effective means of brand promotion.
- Duets and reactions. Make duets with popular videos. Sometimes they may even get more views than the originals. The videos with reactions to the clips posted by famous bloggers have similar potential.
If you are ready to show your business in an easy, funny and a little bit ironic way and the target audience of your brand is the youth, TikTok is a platform that should be used for the promotion of your business.
