06/09/2022

How to Create a Viral TikTok Marketing Strategy

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TikTok can be a powerful tool when you’re building your social media strategy. There are more than 173,000,000 first-time installs in the app stores over the last quarter of 2021.

Original content is the best TikTok. Users prefer engaging, raw videos to curated posts on social networks like Facebook or Instagram.

TikTok creators have a unique way to connect with their audience through this stylistic distinction. 

What’s TikTok?

TikTok is very similar to other social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter. It should not be confused with any other social media platform like Instagram or Twitter.

TikTok uses a discovery algorithm to determine what video is displayed in a user’s feed. 

TikTok video ads are easy to create and reach engaged audience members

What’s TikTok marketing?

TikTok Marketing refers to the promotion of products and services via TikTok. The most common TikTok marketing strategies include creating trend-driven organic content with popular hashtags and including TikTok influencers in promotional campaigns.

TikTok can be a great way for you to market your products

TikTok differs from other social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. These two social media platforms homepages mainly feature people and channels you know. TikTok highlights videos from creators you may not have seen before.

TikTok’s user interface is designed to keep users on the app for as long as possible. This is more than any other social media channel like Facebook or Twitter. TikTok lets you add a link to your bio. It’s ripe for marketing and selling.

TikTok is an excellent tool to reach younger users. 62% of users are aged between 10 and 29, which allows you to target Gen Z with your videos and make virality using your algorithm knowledge.

These are just a few of the many benefits TikTok has for your marketing.

Every video can go viral

Facebook (now Meta), has come under a lot of criticism over the past few years. It promised it would place more emphasis on friends and family. 

TikTok reverses this process and prioritizes videos created by people you don’t know. 

People purchase what they see.

There is a high likelihood that someone will buy your product, regardless of whether you post TikTok ads or videos. Adweek research has shown that nearly half of TikTokers use TikTok to find products they like.

TikTok’s social media trends based on products have led to a well-known phrase: TikTok bought that. This channel has been very popular with holiday shoppers, with 49% citing it as increasing in importance.

Marketing TikTok influencers are massive

According to TikTok works with Instagram

TikTok native features allow you to link up with Instagram if your account already has an Instagram presence. This feature is independent of the external option. It allows users to access your Instagram account through TikTok.

This is the second option. When you post your TikTok video, it will automatically be shared with Instagram Stories.

How do I open a TikTok Account?

TikTok business accounts are a great way to keep up with trends and become a TikTok professional. 

Set up a TikTok Account for your business. Download and install the TikTok App. Next register for a TikTok Account.

  1. Log in to your profile page.
  2. Tap the hamburger icon in the upper right corner. Next, choose Privacy and Settings.
  3. tap manage the account.
  4. To switch to Business Account, click.
  5. Choose the best category to describe your account.
  6. Complete your profile.

TikTok Strategy

These steps will assist you in creating your TikTok campaign.

Define your audience

We know TikTok has a lot of popularity among Gen Z consumers. However, this doesn’t mean that it is the only one that uses it. Gen Z is far too broad to be called a “defined audience.” “

You don’t have to list all traits, but you must describe those who are most likely customers. 

Where: Which area are your ideal customers? You will need to identify these areas if you’re a local business. 

Age: Who is your target customer?

Which gender are they? This is a personal choice that can affect the brand.

Interests: What are their interests/hobbies/passions? These are useful for identifying potential content ideas and targeting the right audience (e.g., yoga, hip-hop dancing, cooking).

Sector/career: In what industry do they work? What jobs did they hold? This may not matter depending on the brand.

How much do they earn? Do they value premium products or are they price sensitive?

Relationship status Are they married or single? This may be relevant if you work in the wedding industry.

What are your favorite websites/apps? Do you use Instagram or Pinterest every day? Which apps do they prefer?

They are looking for status symbols or a way to show their support. They might also be looking to get fit despite their hectic schedules.

Concerns regarding purchasing: Why might customers not purchase your product? Are they concerned about the quality? 

Other info: Any additional information that isn’t covered but worth noting, such as education, stage in life (parents with newborn children), and events they attend.

Get to know more about the landscape

TikTok is up against two other competitors. Your business competition (whom may you have already identified) and your content competition are both on TikTok. You don’t have to compete only with other businesses.

Check out your competition to see if they have TikTok accounts. This is not a place to steal.

Browse TikTok content in your area to find out what is being produced. Some posts might have overlapped with other businesses.

Plan your promotion strategy

You can boost your TikTok marketing by engaging influencers or paying to advertise.

Influencer marketing places your brand and products in front of an audience. This is social proof.

To help you build your TikTok marketing plan, you can collaborate with influencers. You can search for influencers in your industry and send messages to them directly asking for feedback. This is great information for marketing and product teams.

You can become a PRO user to get more data

It is easy to get lost in the excitement of creating content ideas for digital marketing. Building brand and revenue is another.

Understanding what metrics you should measure is the first step. ProTikTok accounts offer detailed analytics on content creators, including traffic, engagement, and followers. 

  • Follower count offers seven- and 28-day lookbacks
  • Views, playback times, and comments.
  • Source for traffic
  • Views of profiles
  • Audience demographics like gender, location, age, etc.
  • Other content your audience likes (videos and sounds)
  • Your trending videos

View global data points, such as hashtag views and the Discover tab to find trending topics.

How does this all relate to your bottom line? You can use it to promote your brand to a younger audience. To keep them engaged and at the forefront of your mind, you can continue to create content.

TikTok is a great tool to build relationships with young people. This could lead to genuine customer-brand relationships.

Your followers will also be interested in knowing where you are active online so that they can follow the journey. It’s a great way to build your business or personal brand by having your TikTok followers explore other channels. Send people to TikTok to see what you have to say on other channels.

TikTok marketing tips

Now it’s time for you to implement your strategy. These TikTok marketing tips and best practices are important to remember when you create and post content.

1. Be authentic

It’s crucial to make your content stand out in a sea of noise on TikTok. Don’t post videos that sound like sales pitches. That’s not why TikTok users are there. TikTok users are looking to be entertained and informed, not sold to.

Spend some time using TikTok before you start your marketing campaigns. Once the algorithm learns your preferences, it will feed you inspirational content that can inspire you, which can help you to be more creative in creating your videos.

TikTok was created to feel like a group of people sharing authentic and relevant content. Users may be turned off by fancy edits and TikTok videos that are “corporate” or “cinematic”.

Your page may feel less brand-like than other social media channels because most content is taken, edited, and uploaded to smartphones. Brands like Chipotle and Wendy’s excel at exchanging their corporate messaging to make a connection with their followers.

2. Make sure you have the right gear

After trying out many different methods to create video content, I have concluded that the best way to capture videos is from an iPhone’s TikTok app. There are a lot of beauty filters and lighting options available in the app, which can help you create a beautiful background or compensate for the poor lighting.

Some of the videos I have created were built in Adobe Premiere and then exported to TikTok. Although some videos did well, it was not worth the time and effort required to create them. This may or not be true depending on the cluster.

However, the sound is an important aspect that should not be sacrificed. Your iPhone’s standard microphone may be sufficient, but quality audio will maximize replays and shareability.

My setup includes a Blue Yeti mic plugged into my iPhone’s Lightning jack and a USB to-Lightning adapter. There are also other Lightning microphones available online, which may make them more portable.

3. Go live

TikTok’s Live feature allows creators to connect with their followers via a live stream. This is a great way to establish a human connection with them. TikTok’s live stream feature is one of the best ways for you to stand out.

Your followers will receive a notification from the app that you have started live streaming. They’re For You pages will also include a pin for your stream. This real estate is valuable, as there are millions of creators on the platform. TikTok is a big advocate for the “going-live” feature. It’s quite simple to do.

Live streaming can be overwhelming and even embarrassing. “What if my voice is not clear?” “What if it’s difficult to understand a question?” These fears are all common, but they often disappear once you click the Go Live button.

You can calm your nerves by writing down some talking points for common questions. Keep your list updated after each TikTok Live. You should answer all questions during a LIVE. Also, thank your followers for “gifting” stickers/emojis. It’s a lot more visually pleasing than people donating a nickel for you to create cool content.

Scheduling is important as well. Although live streams can be spontaneous and great, you will need to stick to a schedule to build a community around the stream. There are many great formats, including Q&A sessions and behind-the-scenes videos, informal hangout streams as well as tutorials and interviews with special guests.

Weekly live sessions by some creators are a great way to build a deeper relationship with followers and appease the TikTok algorithm.

PRO TIP: When creating a live stream schedule for your followers, make sure you account for their time zones. Choose a time when most people are not at work or school. This is a great way of increasing viewership as you grow your community.

4. Keep it simple

A tweet can’t contain a novel, nor can a TikTok fit an entire movie. Keep your videos short and simple to make them easy to digest.

Keep your videos to 15 seconds and only share high-level information. You can also include 60-second deep dives to provide additional details. To keep viewers interested and repeatability high, you can break down a topic into multiple 15-second videos if it is extremely important.

Each piece of content should be viewed as a story that you are sharing with your audience. They might not be satisfied with too little content; they may become bored easily.

A 60-second video will feel like a movie to users, as the average video on my For You Page is between 7 and 10 seconds.

It is a great way for users to remember who created the video and to encourage them to visit your profile to find out more.

Video over 30 seconds will have a small white bar at the bottom of the interface that shows viewers how much time is left. You might consider adding a few seconds to your video if it is less than 30 seconds. This will give users an idea of when the video will end and can keep their attention longer.

5. Use the comments to connect

The discovery algorithm at TikTok is great for getting your video in front of potential followers. But that’s only half of the battle. Once someone is interested in the algorithm, it’s up to you to get them hooked.

TikTok comments allow for communication, explanation, and conversation. Hop into the comments as often as possible to communicate with your viewers.

Your responses will include a Creator badge along with your username. This makes audience interaction easy for potential followers. You’d be surprised at how many people are delighted to see a Liked By Creator notification pop up on their screens. You can also like comments that you wish to acknowledge, but don’t require a written reply.

Your posts will gain popularity and you won’t have to reply to every comment. Instead, address them all at once. To break down the comments you are most likely to respond to, create a document. Respond to recurring comments with a longer video, live stream, or video response.

TikTok offers a wide range of filtering capabilities to simplify your life, such as automatically removing comments that contain certain keywords or phrases.

TikTok tracks how many views and comments you have on each video that you upload. Given the complexity of its algorithm, it is safe to assume that it tracks which comments are ignored or interacted with.

Users will not be able to ignore a comment or like if they have a verified profile. A comment you like can lead to a new follower. This can be repeated a few hundred times, and you will have a steady stream of warm leads that turn into followers.

Commenting is an integral part of TikTok. You don’t have to ignore them until you reach a point where it’s impossible. This is something that few brands do, and it will make you stand out.

PROTIP: It is okay, and encouraged, to delete inappropriate comments. This can be done by pressing + and then choosing to delete.

Before you post content, make sure to check out TikTok’s Discover page. See if your content can be matched with the TikTok hashtag challenges or trends of the day. This will allow you to cater to TikTok’s algorithm and increase your followers.

Although we do not recommend using these hashtags for completely off-topic videos, they can help you understand what’s popular on the platform and help you to plan your content strategy.

Trending hashtags are constantly changing and are an example of what keeps TikTok content fresh and entertaining. Although drafts are fine, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the trending hashtags to show relevancy and be more human to your followers.

You might notice a sound on your For You page several times. Get creative and try to use it in your videos. As you brainstorm, you can always add it as a favorite sound to use in the future.

TikTok is different from social networks which rely on users searching hashtags or keywords to find content, as TikTok feeds videos users like directly to the For You Page through the use of “clusters”.

In this context, a cluster is a group that has similar video interests as you. They might have commented on the same videos, enjoyed the same sounds or interacted with the app in the same way.

Although hashtags can be used to send your videos to specific clusters of people, they are not a way to gain views. Some hashtags can have an unbelievable number of views which can make them appear less popular.

TikTok used to feature the Entrepreneur hashtag on its Explore page. Millions of users created videos with #entrepreneur in their bios, hoping to get more video views.

This practice reduces the popularity of the hashtag’s relevant videos. You can create video content that is based on trending hashtags to get more views. However, only if the topic is relevant to your content or your cluster.

7. Accessibility and legibility

TickTockers who are successful bake titles at the beginning of their videos. It’s easy to see a preview of the future by scrolling through their profile. To help viewers find the content they are interested in, you can use colored titles.

TikTok’s user interface overlays on your screen at the right and bottom. Make sure that titles are in the middle. Each phone has a different aspect ratio so it is important to keep important content away from the edges.

Closed captions are a great way to reach all TikTokkers. Closed captions make your videos accessible to everyone, regardless of context. This is made easy by the app’s timed-text feature. It takes only a few extra minutes.

8. Features, features, and features

TikTok is always adding new features. Titles, animated GIF stickers, filters, and titles are just a few of the most popular TikTok features. The algorithm is secret so you can concentrate on these new tools to keep your feed fresh for your audience.

TikTok’s beta program is also worth looking at. It may provide you with brand-new content creation tools, which most users haven’t yet seen. This is a great way for you to keep up with the latest platform developments so that your competitors don’t catch up.

9. Post regularly

We don’t have the algorithm to explain it, but many creators have experienced amazing results by sticking to a posting plan. We recommend posting at least once a day and then going live several times a week. This keeps your content interesting and fresh without overwhelming your followers with videos.

You can check your analytics to find out when your audience is most active. This varies depending on who and where you are located.

Influencer Market Hub analyzed more than 100,000 TikTok postings to find engagement trends. We found the following times are the best to post:

  • Monday, 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.
  • Tuesday, February 2, 2019, 4 a.m. and 9 a.m.
  • Wednesday, 7 a.m.-8 a.m. and 11 p.m.
  • Thursday, 9 a.m. to 12 a.m. and 7 p.m.
  • Friday, 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
  • Saturday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.
  • Sunday, 7 a.m.-8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

To maximize your audience, double up on posts on days when your followers are most active. You can keep adding new videos to the platform by posting new, exciting content.

Although it is nearly impossible to determine a weekly TikTok output, I do know that the algorithm favors consistency. No matter what cadence your team chooses, ensure that it can be maintained for the future.

TikTok is a key channel for brands like Dr. Squatch to reach a younger audience. Dr. Squatch’s Chief Marketing Officer Josh Friedman stated in an interview that TikTok was used to test the brand’s new platform at the end of 2019 and gained rapid traction with videos reaching over 100,000,000 views.

To increase viral success, Dr. Squatch’s marketing team posts between 10-20 videos per week. Friedman said that organically, the brand posts “every day” or “multiple times per day”. The company saw a 400% increase in year-over-year revenue between 2019 and 2020.

To increase viral success, Dr. Squatch’s marketing team posts between 10-20 videos per week. Josh Friedman, CMO, was quoted as saying that organically, the brand posts “every day” or “multiple times per day”.

10. Join Creator Groups

Many Facebook groups offer TikTok support for creatives who want to make their game even more popular. Find the right fit for you and join a group of creators. It’s a great way for you to get inspired, feel accountable, and stay motivated in the weeks and months ahead.

To start, check out TikTok Creators and TikTok Creators. Then, drill down to your area of interest. You can find a TikTok group for marketing and business strategies if you are a business. You can find similar groups online if you are a comedian.

You might be able to find the right product for your demographic.

TikTok is a great place to promote your ecommerce business.

Although TikTok is becoming noisier and the algorithm is constantly changing over time, the fundamentals of marketing and brand building remain the same: authenticity, frequent posting, active management of the community, quality posts, and authenticity.

All this may sound daunting, but the hardest part of starting is getting started. TikTok is an amazing community that encourages you to become a fan.

About the author

Kobe Digital is a unified team of performance marketing, design, and video production experts. Our mastery of these disciplines is what makes us effective. Our ability to integrate them seamlessly is what makes us unique.