Late last year during a client pitch, the client popped the question, how are you going to use TikTok to drive traffic to our brand? Before then we knew what TikTok is but did not realize the opportunities it presented to businesses to get their brand in front of their audience.
According to surveys, most millennials spend majority of their time on social media, entertainment sites and apps. As a brand looking to looking to enter and target the youth or millennial market it is important to identify where your target audience spend their time, which is usually online and on social media platforms like TikTok, and create suitable content for these platforms that resonate with your target audience.
iSupreme is possibly the first Ghanaian marketing agency to integrate TikTok in social media marketing campaigns for any Ghanaian brand. Since January 2020 while TikTok was still gaining popularity among Ghanaian millennials, we added TikTok to the social media platforms where we roll out content for our clients, Pizza Inn Ghana and Chicken Inn Ghana. During this period, we have identified some practices brands can use to create compelling content, engage their audience, rich a growing youthful audience and tell their brand’s story on the rapidly growing social media platform.
Why should you use TikTok for your growing your brand?
- It is less expensive: It is cheaper to create content for TikTok as compared to other social media platforms. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram may require professional content creators, social media strategists, copywriters, graphic designers, video editors, photographers and animators to create content whereas TikTok just requires a smartphone with a good camera. No professional skills required. In addition, it is cheaper to reach more people on TikTok without paid ads. Unlike Facebook, Twitter and Instagram that largely rely on sponsored ads or huge followings to reach more people, a good quality interesting and engaging content will easily reach more people.
- Requires no expertise: Anyone with flare for social media and using mobile apps like Snapchat, Photogrid and VivaVideo can use TikTok. You do not need to have an expertise in using TikTok to be able to create content. The app has inbuilt templates and features that makes it easy to create content. You can only get better as you use the app more often.
- Rapidly growing: The number of TikTok users keep rocketing. The Coronavirus and the need for people to stay at home causing them to spend more time online has led to a surge in the number of users on the social media platform. According to Business Insider, TikTok has approximately 2 billion installs presently, adding about 12 million unique U.S. visitors in March. This translates to an increasing number of youthful audience ready to consume your content.
- Shareable Content: Content created on TikTok can be shared across various social media platforms. Sharing content cross platforms is also a way of optimizing your content and reaching a wider audience who exist on a different platform. This makes creating content easy ad saves you the stress of creating different content for different social media platforms.
With TikTok part of your social media strategy, there is there need to know the tactics that will get your brand in front of your audience and get them to fall in love with your brand. How can your brand leverage TikTok in engaging your audience?
1. Jump on trends:
One of the best ways for brands to engage with their followers on social media is to jump onto popular trends. There are many trends going on concurrently on TikTok. The social media platform thrives on trends. Identify trends that your target audience love and are engaging in and jump on them. Finding creative ways to insert your brand into these popular moments will boost your brand, expose you to a new set of audience and get the young audience to fall in love with your brand.
2. Use relevant hashtags:
Using hashtags is an easy way to get your content easily noticed. Use hashtags that are relevant to your product, service, the trend you are jumping on or what you are trying to communicate. Users also search certain popular hashtags, identifying and using these relevant hashtags that you know your audience is already following increases the chances of your content been seen on TikTok.
3. Leverage already existing influencers:
There are users who have since become popular on TikTok due to the very engaging and interesting content they create. These users have garnered huge followings on the platform with some achieving ‘influencer’ status. Collaborating with these influencers to create content for your product or service helps you reach a wider audience by tapping into their audience. In addition, other influencers who are likely peers of your target audience gives your brand credibility making other people want to try your product or service.
4. Tell your brand story:
This is your chance to appeal to the senses of your audience. Injecting storytelling into your TikTok content creates genuine connections between your audience and your brand. You can effectively humanize your brand and communicate who you are, what you do, and how you can help people. This makes your brand appear to be approachable, friendly and fun.
At the end of the day, if people are eventually engaging with your content on TikTok then you know your connecting with them at a place they spend their, speaking in a language they speak through the kind of content they enjoy and making them experience the human and fun side of your brand. This eventually leads to them falling in love with your brand, patronizing your products and services and becoming evangelist of your brand.
Let’s help you integrate TikTok into your social media marketing to increase enagegement and affinity for your brand. Drop us an email at info@isupremegh.com
