2019 was the year of TikTok and 2020 is shaping up to be the same. TikTok has exploded on to the scene and since Gary Vaynerchuck has said get on to TikTok, millions have.

So what the heck is TikTok? And should you consider it a marketing channel for your small business? I’m going to go over these points in this post.

.

What is TikTok?

Okay, so let's get the boring stuff out of the way. TikTok is a social media channel that is all about vertical videos ranging from 15 seconds to a minute in length. 

Tik Tok has gone insane in the last year. It's the one that GaryVee has been talking about all the time. 

It's also the one that a lot of people have said, "Oh, it's just for Millennials." 

That is not the case, let me tell you. I started my TikTok account in early 2020, and I've got to say, there's a lot of Baby Boomers out there, there's even a lot of grandparents, there's a lot of young kids interacting with their grandparents. And now celebrities are hopping on the TikTok bandwagon with serious FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).

So, what is so cool about TikTok? For starters, the reach that you can get with your videos is astounding, it's insane. You can put up a video in the course of 24 hours and get a few thousand views on it or a few hundred views, whereas by comparison, say with Facebook and Instagram, you might struggle to do that if you have a small following. 

That’s because the algorithm of TikTok is also quite different when compared to the Facebook and Instagram algorithm, which I will dive into in a different post on how the TikTok algorithm works. But in a nutshell, the algorithm is like a matchmaker for video content. You like something in particular (like dogs), the algorithm notices and starts to send you videos on dogs. 

When I'm saying the reach is outstanding it's also because the content on TikTok is very much entertainment or is very much informational. It’s also very quick, very snackable, so works with our ever-shrinking attention spans.

Should I use TikTok for my Small Business Marketing?

Yes, absolutely you should. 

But you have to keep in mind that TikTok is still very much for brand awareness when it comes to the content that you should supply on there. 

There is heaps of content on TikTok and heaps of opportunity if you want to get eyes on your business. So it's a social media channel worth considering if you are wanting to expand your social following and social proof and awareness. 

TikTok is not a place to really convert people to a sale. It's not a place for blatant selling your products or your services. 

It's a place to show your story and to get eyes on your business, to start that top-of-funnel type of awareness to get people to start liking your brand. 

What you should consider before going down the TikTok rabbit hole for your small business

Yes, it is a rabbit hole!

But there are some things you should think about before starting an account and going nuts with the video effects you can use on the app.

1. Who is your target audience? 

Think about who your target audience is. If you are of middle age, your target market is that middle age group, then yeah, TikTok might be one of the right things for you, especially if you're targeting towards parents. 

Parents on TikTok are putting up relatable stories about their teenage kids or their toddlers and stuff. They're there, you just have to find them, and it's pretty easy to do when you're searching for the right hashtags. 

2. Survey your customers

Ask your customers if they're on TikTok, if they're interested in TikTok, what kind of stuff do they consume on TikTok? See what they're up to, and if none of them say that they're on TikTok, then maybe it's not the right channel for you, but it's still worth exploring. 

It doesn't hurt to create an account and just start looking around and putting feelers out there. 

3. Think about what content you can post on TikTok

What type of content can you put on there? What quick stories can you post on TikTok? TikTok is again very much about quick, entertaining videos, so going back through your Instagram stories might be an option for you (side note: you can post your TikTok straight onto your Instagram stories. #multitaskingatitsfinest).

Here are some ideas that might help get the creative juices flowing: 

• If you have a bricks-and-mortar shop and you happen to have a pet that hangs out in the shop, do some video on the pet. 

• The story behind a particular product

• What your process is in creating that product or your service. 

• Go through your blogs and create quick videos about the main points (Your girl here is doing just that). 

• What your day is like typically when you're working on your small business. 

4. Are TikTok Influencers a good option?

If you don't think TikTok is right for you or you don't have time to add another social channel into your mix, consider using an influencer. There are heaps of influencers on TikTok and they can create some really quick and engaging content for you to get awareness of your brand.

Handy Tips once you’ve gone down the TikTok Rabbit Hole

Because you will! So here are a few tips I’ve come up with after being on the channel for a few weeks and observing other TikTokers

1. Quick and fast is key

What I mean by that is the most engaging videos seem to be the quick ones, so the ones that are 15 seconds to 30 seconds long. Yes, you can make a video up to one minute, you just have to make sure that it's engaging. 

So if you're going to make a relatively long video, maybe think about doing quick cuts, so one scene is for two to three seconds, the next scene is for two to three or even four seconds, the next scene is after that, it's a few seconds long. That way you're changing the visual engagement and keeping that person's attention on your video. 

2. Hashtags help

Hashtags are a big thing on TikTok. People search hashtags deliberately to find content that has to do with that subject. So really think about your hashtags to nurture your audience. It's the same thing as with Instagram and Twitter and LinkedIn. 

The hashtags you use are going to determine how much you have in common with your audience. So if you use a high-niche hashtag, you're going to get people that like that particular niche. 

I wouldn't recommend using the hashtags that have six billion posts on it, such as #foryoupage. Your post will fall on the For You page anyway (For You Page is the page usually with TikToks of people you don’t follow). Yes, it's a very popular hashtag, but like the Instagram algorithm when it comes to hashtags, once you put your post on that hashtag it only has a few seconds of being viewed if someone's searching for it. So keep that in mind when you're using your hashtags. 

Also, maybe just use maybe five to six hashtags tops, otherwise, your little caption on TikTok starts to look a little spammy, and you also have a limited character count. 

3. Be educational or entertaining

There are some amazing educational TikTok channels on there such as the Institute of Human Anatomy where they show the insides of the body and how different organs and parts of your body work (obviously on cadavers). Or there are chemistry teachers that are showing chemistry reactions in a lab. They’re really quick but incredibly insightful and you end up learning a thing or two.

Alternatively, you do something entertaining. It's all a matter of finding what you think is entertaining and you will find an audience that loves that too. 

4. Be mindful of where you put captions

I have serious gripes about this as it’s a huge problem on TikTok. When you're telling your story on TikTok videos just remember that your captions are at the bottom. So don't put any text at the bottom of your video because no one's going to be able to read it. When you’re editing your text, a small watermark preview of where items site when someone is watching your video (your captions, profile, comments and share button) appears to help you gauge where text boxes will overlap.

So that is TikTok in a nutshell and why you probably should consider it for your small business. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an email!

And if you're curious about TikTok and you want someone to follow, why not follow me? You can follow me at @HoneyBeeSocial.