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Do you still think TikTok is just a platform for Gen Z to dance to the latest trends? Think again. With over 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok is a great way for your business to reach new audiences. From showcasing your products and services to engaging with your followers, here is how to use TikTok like a pro.
Related: This Is Why Your Brand Should Be Using TikTok Right Now
1. Define your audience and goals
We do this at my company, Strategic Advisor Board, with a few easy steps. Start by researching your niche, analyzing your competitors and finding out what type of content your audience is interested in. Test various types of content until you find what resonates best with your audience — don’t just post content blindly.
2. Create engaging content
TikTok is an excellent platform for businesses to connect with audiences, which requires creating engaging content. To stand out, videos should be short, to the point, visually appealing and authentic. Your videos can also be more memorable by incorporating humor appropriate for your brand.
Ensuring you have access to good-quality lighting and sound in your videos is crucial. Recording your videos in front of a window so you’re using natural light can work perfectly if you don’t have a ring light or other studio lighting. Pro tip: Using the camera on the back of your phone compared to the front camera (or selfie camera) will create higher-quality videos, and using a microphone — even a small lapel one — will improve your sound quality significantly.
As a bonus, music, effects and filters can all enhance your TikTok content. Using music and effects in your TikTok videos are excellent ways to set the tone and mood, stay on brand and evoke your audience’s emotions.
Creating engaging, shareable content is the key to building your business on TikTok. Companies can creatively showcase their brand and grow their presence on the platform by being relatable or polarizing, participating in trends or creating their own.
Related: 3 Ways Your Brand Can Go Viral on TikTok
3. Collaborate with influencers
One way to increase brand awareness and reach new audiences is by finding and using influencers. Use TikTok’s search function to narrow your search for influencers whose content aligns with your brand’s personality and target audience.
You also want to make sure you pay attention to how much engagement and views the influencer’s videos get. It’s best to work with a mix of influencers at various levels because this can help you best utilize your budget. Micro influencers have between 10,000 to 100,000 followers and macro influencers have over 100,000. Mega influencers are accounts with more than 1 million followers.
You can negotiate compensation and collaboration terms based on their previous partnerships and engagement rates. Clearly define your campaign’s expectations and provide the information necessary to create engaging content. Assess the engagement parameters and adjust for future collaborations.
If you can offer something exclusive to that specific influencer’s audience, such as a discount code, that could also help with engagement.
4. Utilize TikTok ads
There are several steps to take when creating a successful TikTok ad. When creating ads, you can target specific audiences based on factors such as age, gender, location, interests and behaviors. Make sure you use these options to zone in on your target audience and have a clear and concise call to action. Do you want the audience to visit your website, follow your account or make a purchase?
You can choose from several types of TikTok ads to grow your business. Using In-Feed Ads is an excellent tool for promoting your services to a large audience. Try out a few different types and see what works best for you.
Try challenges with your audience in order to create engaging ads. For example, Gymshark and e.l.f. Cosmetics earned over 3 billion views with their #Gymshark66 and #EyesLipsFace challenges. Get creative and use challenges to build your community and bring them closer together.
Related: I Built Over 10 Million Followers on TikTok in 1 Year. Here’s How You Can, Too.
5. Engage with your audience
Building your brand presence on TikTok requires engaging with your audience. You can create meaningful connections with your followers by following these tips:
- Responding to your audience’s comments sooner than later shows you value their input and engagement.
- Utilizing tools such as polls and Q&A features can help increase audience engagement and shows you are listening to your audience and learning about their needs.
- Sharing behind-the-scenes content can help make your brand more personable and show differentiation. Consider sharing funny deleted scenes or bloopers to add character to your content.
- Engaging your audience with giveaways and contests is an excellent way to utilize user-generated content.
Showing your audience you appreciate them and the time and feedback they give you will help you create a thriving TikTok community of loyal followers for your business.
6. Promote your TikTok account
Your TikTok account is running, but how do you promote it?
Pull your fans from other platforms by promoting your videos on places like Instagram and Facebook. Add your TikTok handle to your bios on other platforms and mention that you will have exclusive content that can’t be found anywhere else. Utilize trending hashtags and music in your videos to capitalize on the most recent trends. To find what sounds are trending, I recommend searching for creator recommendations through hashtags like #trendingsound, #trendalert and #soundsforcontentcreators.
Get exposure to other TikTok accounts in your niche by cross-promoting with them. Make arrangements with other account creators to promote their content if they promote yours. This is different from a paid sponsorship and can be done for free.
Use other popular videos and create a stitch with them. A stitch is when you use a part of another creator’s video and put your video together with it. You can agree or disagree on the original content and explain why you stand where you do. Get creative, have fun and promote your account now — or regret it later.
This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur
