An Overview Of Tiktok Marketing Strategies

By Tom Seest

How to Develop a Strategy for Tiktok Marketing

Whether you love it or hate it, there’s no denying the power that TikTok has as a social media platform. If you want to drastically increase your ability to reach your core audience, this is one of the best places to do it.
In 2023, there are expected to be almost 1 billion TikTok users, and it is now one of the largest networks online. The great news is there’s just about every niche you can imagine on there.
The demographics are exploding, too. You’ll find young and old, men and women ‘ and people with all levels of finances having accounts on TikTok. People go there to learn about health topics, nutrition, weight loss, relationships, pet care, survival, and many other issues of importance to them.
This is a community where anyone can be an influencer ‘ not just celebrities or ‘pretty people’ who naturally accumulate a big following. You’ll find that if you make a plan to engage your audience on TikTok this year, you can see explosive growth for your list and profits alike.
Of course, there are many little technical tasks you can use ‘ such as leveraging a tool like Linktree to get more links in front of your followers. But below, you’ll find a lesson in the strategy aspect of using TikTok to help build your brand and business.

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How To Create a Publishing Plan for TikTok Campaigns

Consumers spend a lot of time scrolling through their TikTok For You Page (FYP). But that doesn’t mean you have to spend a lot of time creating content for this platform. In fact, users prefer short-form videos over lengthy ones.
When you are developing your TikTok marketing strategy, there are three areas that you want to plan for. The first is the topic list that you will be diving into for your audience.
It sometimes helps to make an outline or a mind map that will show you the types of topics people may be interested in. However, you can also go on the app itself and look at hashtags to see which specific topics are generating the most interest.
The next thing you want to consider for your marketing strategy is the number of uploads that you will have each day. Many experts agree that you should have at least three uploads per account per day.
At the very least, you should plan on uploading one video per day, but you need to also see what your top competitors are doing so that you are not falling behind in scheduling enough content for followers of that niche.
Consistency is key to a successful TikTok strategy. You can’t disappear for days or weeks at a time. You want to train your followers to expect (and look forward to) a new upload from you on a regular basis.
The next thing you want to do when preparing for your marketing strategy is test the times at which your uploads might perform best. You want to give your content the best chance at going viral as possible.
Many people will upload at a specific time, such as when people are getting off of work – while others will upload during the daytime hours. Do some test runs with your content to see which ones get the most engagement at various times of the day.

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Does TikTok Play Into Audience Emotions?

This is a social media platform where emotions play a big role in the success of your content. You don’t have to have an emotional video in order for it to do well. You can have an informative video that will be just as well received as an emotional one.
However, if you are able to weave emotions into your content, it goes a long way in getting people to relate to what you are saying and, ultimately, take your advice about a niche topic.
For example, if you are in the weight loss niche and you are discussing your coaching plan or product – or even promoting as an affiliate marketer, you want to include more than just the facts and data of what helped you achieve your weight loss goals.
You want to discuss the feelings that this core audience may be experiencing to show that you empathize with what they are going through and that you know which direction they should take from this point on.
The emotions don’t always have to be negative ones, either. Sharing your emotional journey in a motivating or inspiring way is also very attractive to the target audience who needs that in order to deal with their own issues.
Emotions can also be frustration (with problems ranging from not being able to train your dog to deal with poor finances), fear, surprise, and more. It’s not always about being happy or sad.
So if you were in the gardening niche and you were trying to teach people how to grow a garden, you might relate to them about the frustration you feel in growing a garden and finding it eaten up by pests shortly before harvest.
People who are also experiencing the issue will chime in with their own frustrations, offering helpful advice and relating to the experience you’ve gone through. This engagement can help send your video views skyrocketing.

This photo was taken by Alena Darmel and is available on Pexels at https://www.pexels.com/photo/colleagues-having-a-business-meeting-7710178/.

Does Peer-to-Peer Consumerism Drive Many Purchases?

What’s funny about TikTok is that brands have a presence there, but ordinary men and women are capable of making short videos about products and getting more traction than a brand can in some instances.
TikTok users like to watch what other ordinary people are saying about products. And these reviews for short-form video platforms are not like the lengthy blog post reviews you may be used to.
They can be done in a single video or as a series (almost like a case study). TikTok is definitely a platform where word of mouth reigns supreme. In fact, there’s a hashtag or trend called ‘TikTok Made Me Buy It’ which focuses specifically on this phenomenon.
In the modern world, you can compete with anyone ‘ the brand, the influencers ‘ it’s all a level playing field. Consumers themselves want to see what the rest of the community thinks about products and strategies, so pay attention to using word of mouth to help you achieve your goals.
Data has shown that if someone finds out about something on other platforms, they’re less likely to be vocal about it ‘ but on TikTok, it’s part of the journey to not only take other people’s advice but then make a TikTok yourself to be part of the discussion.

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Do TikTok Users Find Solutions to Problems?

You may or may not be aware that YouTube is the second-largest search engine on the Internet. Google comes in first. However, more and more people are turning to TikTok as their search engine of choice.
Therefore, your online marketing strategy should include an effort to optimize your content so that it is easily found on this particular social networking site. The New York Times reported in September of 2022 that for younger generations, TikTok has turned into their search engine of choice.
They appreciate it because the results are informative, 60-second or less (usually) videos that can quickly tell them what they need to know. The results are also highly targeted for relevancy.
Forbes and Google also have both acknowledged TikTok as a serious search engine competitor. As a marketer, you need to understand SEO on this social media platform so that you can use it to your advantage.
While Google gives the top spot to brands and anyone who has mastered SEO, TikTok gives a results list of higher relevant (and fresh) material ‘ so it’s more authentic for the end user.
Make sure you’re researching and using hashtags to get found and narrow the focus of your videos so that they are topic-specific and easier to get presented as a result. Don’t stick trending hashtags in your videos if they’re not relevant to the video topic.

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Do Short-Form Videos Have a Long-Term Effect?

It’s ironic that marketers have often struggled to think of content ideas they could use to create videos of 10 minutes to a full hour. It was difficult, but they wanted to be able to compete with top YouTube experts and webinar marketers.
But now, the attention span of many consumers has dwindled, and TikTok is one place in particular (in addition to Reels and other tools) where the short-form video is positioning itself to be one of the primary, and most in-demand media formats for now.
Short-form videos have an addictive quality to them. You can get several ‘hits’ of information in one scroll for a few minutes rather than only being able to consume one video (or even part of a single video) from one creator.
The content is concise but detailed and specific. It doesn’t have a lot of bloat or fluff material in it. It gets to the point,’ and if it doesn’t, users will give you backlash about it. This is a benefit to both the viewer and yourself because it means you’re no longer tasked with creating long videos that have to be edited to perfection.
If you can create numerous short-form videos, your long-term effect will be noticed because you’ll be seen as a prolific expert and creator for that core niche audience. Those who only put out a single 30-minute video each week will fall by the wayside because you’ll be in front of your audience more often.

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How To Be Proactive in Getting Your Account Live Stream Status

One thing TikTok allows you to do is a live stream on the app. This is a fantastic way to engage with your audience. They will often scroll the Live FYP so that they can catch the live streams of various individuals.
If your profile is one that they follow, your profile image will show up as being life whenever they sign on. And you can notify them about when you’ll be going live ahead of time, too.
Having a large audience might require you to have moderators. These will be fans of your profile who work to clear out troll comments or spam whenever you’re live so that you can read a clean feed of comments.
The more often you go live, the more you’ll grow your audience. People love engaging with accounts they can interact with on the fly. If you’re positioning yourself as a niche expert, it gives them a chance to get the answers that they need immediately, too.
In order to go live, you want to make sure that, for now, you have a minimum of 1,000 followers. Not only does a live stream benefit you with exposure and list building ‘ but there are different ways to profit from it.
It’s common for viewers to send you gifts during your live campaign. Live gifts are turned into real money that you can then withdraw to your bank or to your PayPal account.

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How to Spy on the Previous Success of Competitors

If you’re unsure about how to tap into your niche following on TikTok, all you have to do is look back on who has been succeeding in the past so that you can plan your future success properly.
You want to see what went over well (and what fell short) with the same target audience. Consider the slants and topics they were discussing and what their approach was.
You want to look at the engagement they got ‘ not just numbers, but what people were saying about the content they uploaded. Were they positive or negative? Did they make comments about what else they needed to be covered?
Make a list so that you can step up and serve their needs, too. Make a note of the hashtags they used and how long (or short) their videos were on average. Look at what brands were popular, too.
If you are promoting as an affiliate, you want to be promoting brands and products that are going over well with TikTok users. But that doesn’t mean you can’t introduce them to something new, too ‘ because they love that!

This photo was taken by Tima Miroshnichenko and is available on Pexels at https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-reading-book-on-table-beside-chess-game-10626014/.

How To Leverage Trends to Get Noticed By An Audience

Part of your TikTok strategy should include forming some content around trends and sounds. There are many trends that can fit across all niches, and so can the sounds that are popular.
There are also accounts that show you which trends and sounds are popular at any given moment, but you can see it just by spending time on the app and also looking at TikTok Viral whenever you click the Add Sound option when making a new video.
A trend might be a dance, but it can also be something else. For example, ‘Put a Finger Down If’ is a trend you can use in any niche. You’ll start with, ‘Put a finger down if’ and then go through some things in your niche.
‘Put a finger down if’ is a challenge trend. It can be startling, silly, shocking, funny ‘ or any emotion that people can either relate to or not relate to at all. Both will work. You might have a funny story like, ‘Put a finger down if you accidentally left your new dog out of his crate and you come home and find that they destroyed your furniture, and then when you finally clean it up, you let him outside, and he comes back in and tracks mud all over the clean floor.’

This photo was taken by Tima Miroshnichenko and is available on Pexels at https://www.pexels.com/photo/two-people-playing-chess-10626027/.

Can Paid Ad Enhance Reach and Conversions?

If you’re planning to tap into TikTok with a paid marketing strategy this year, you want to plan ahead for your campaigns. That means you have to consider many different things, such as your creatives.
The creative campaign is what the topic will be, what your video will look like, its length, and more. You also want to consider which product you want to promote in your video. You want to be able to link to it in your bio or use Linktree.
Have it tailored to a specific audience and know what they need and want from you – and how they’ll search for information on this app. If you’re using a paid ad campaign, you want to have this information as well as a budget in mind.
Never say you’re willing to spend more than you have because TikTok (like any social platform) will find a way to spend every penny you allow them to. Have a goal in mind ‘ whether it’s to generate leads for your list or get people to buy something.
TikTok recommends that you refresh your creative material about once a week during your ad campaigns. This gives your audience a chance to see new material from you and increases the performance of the ad.
This app provides you with tools to help you in your paid ad endeavors. They have a video editor that helps you create a well-oiled ad that is perfectly cropped, has music or sound added, subtitles included, and more.
They also have templates that you can use. These make it very easy to create an ad campaign if you have little experience with designing ads yourself. They also have smart video (A.I.) tools that can help bring your basic videos and pictures to life.
Marketing on social media requires you to dig down and immerse yourself in the platform ‘ and in the minds of your target audience. The people you find on TikTok might respond better to different content than they might find on Facebook or Instagram, so you’ll need to test things out and tweak your performance as you go forward.

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