Help your small business take off on TikTok

February 21, 2023 3 min read

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Would you rather read a lengthy review of a restaurant or see the ambiance and food unfold in a 30-second clip paired with an energetic tune? We know our answer. Today, short-form video (content under 60 seconds) has become an increasingly popular form of marketing. With over 1 billion active users who are constantly searching for content like 鈥淩estaurants in ___ city鈥 or 鈥淲inter outfit trends,鈥 TikTok is a platform full of possibilities for your business.

Whether you鈥檝e been on TikTok for a while or are just getting started, taking a look at these best practices can help your business account really take off.

Warning: the following content may make you extremely hungry and inspired.

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Creating content

Authenticity

Users of TikTok want to feel your content is authentic. Unlike Instagram, they aren鈥檛 looking for perfection. They are looking for brands and people who are unapologetically themselves. A good starting place is to ask yourself what you find pleasing about your business. From icing a cupcake to showing the before and after of a dirty swimming pool, there are people who will share the satisfaction you feel in your everyday operations.

@thesweetwhisk Red Velvet听馃听#redvelvet #cupcake #cupcakes #cake #fyp #foryou #foodie #love 鈾 ily (i love you baby) - Surf Mesa

Trends

Just scrolling on TikTok, you鈥檒l discover trends where accounts of every kind are creating their own variation. Putting your special spin on the trend and using the same audio (provided by TikTok) and hashtags will boost your visibility.

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@arcaychocolates It鈥檚 CHOCOLATE!! 馃崼鉂わ笍 Should we do a corn-flavored bonbon in honor of this song? 馃 Let us know in the comments! #itscorn #ithasthejuice #chocolate #cornsong 鈾 It's Corn - Tariq & The Gregory Brothers & Recess Therapy

Heroes

Give your brand a TikTok face! Having one or two people from your business serve as the main characters for your videos can help users quickly identify your brand. Seeing Bob Lingle鈥檚 face while he talks bookshops may stop a user from scrolling because they enjoyed last week's video where Bob talked about his latest book recommendation.听

@goodneighborbooks Signed books! #booktok #horror 鈾 original sound - Good Neighbor Bookstore
@goodneighborbooks What have you read so far? #booktok #bookstore @ecwpress 鈾 original sound - Good Neighbor Bookstore
@goodneighborbooks

鈾 Coyotes - Bill Callahan

Perseverance

Play around with different types of content, the likes will start to tell you what鈥檚 landing best with your audience. If you鈥檙e mimicking content a business like yours is creating but not seeing the like, don鈥檛 feel defeated. Would you watch two of the same businesses doing the same exact thing? 听Add your own special touches!

@lauraleighbridal finding the perfect gown could be legit this easy 馃挄 #颈蝉补颈诲测别蝉馃拲 #weddingdress #weddingfashion #weddingtok #phillywedding #engaged #engagement #馃拲 鈾 Made You Look - Meghan Trainor

Posting

Frequency

TikTok recommends posting 1鈥4 times per day. However, a recent HubSpot study found that marketers typically post 4鈥6 times per week. Here鈥檚 the thing, while posting more means more opportunities for your content to land in front of potential customers, 鈥渕ore鈥 isn鈥檛 always better. Just focus on quality 颅鈥 and time-sensitive content. If something is trending, you generally need to join in within 48 hours. Remember, TikToks can be shared on your other social platforms too! This is a great way to expand your reach and fulfill two social media content needs with one amazing video.

@bigbarkerusa Queen Ember modeling her new Big Barker bed 馃憫 #queendog #dogmodel #bigdoglove #bigbarkerbeds #dogbedswithstyle 鈾 Hey It's Me - Official Sound Studio

Keywords and key songs

We cannot stress enough how important it is to use trending audio and hashtags from TikTok. Users click on the hashtags in one video to see more content under that category. The same goes for the song used. Ever hear a song you love? You just want to keep listening! Especially if there are cool visuals moving along. Users are also increasingly using TikTok as a search engine meaning they will look up exactly what they are looking for. Hashtags are the best way to reach new viewers!

Editing

There are a lot of editing tools you can use to elevate your video. A quick YouTube tutorial can help break down how to use features, but don鈥檛 forget TikTok has your back with tutorials too. There are tons of accounts that are making TikToks on how to use TikTok!听

Management

Sprout Social听and听Hootsuite听are social media management platforms where you can schedule a piece of content ahead of time. These platforms can track engagement, prioritize comments and much more. Entering TikTok may be what pushes you over the edge to get a social media manager as these posts take time to shoot and edit.听71% of consumers听who have had a good social media experience with a brand will recommend it to others. So, an experienced manager sounds like a good investment to us.

Unlike any other platform out there, celebrities and big box companies don鈥檛 always hold the most followers or content likes on TikTok. It鈥檚 average people and small businesses that receive some of the highest engagement, which means the potential for your business to take off is there.

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So what do you say, follow for a follow?