TikTok was originally seen as a social tool for teenagers to post and watch quick videos. However, recently, businesses on TikTok have been able to attract various customers.
If you’re able to operate on TikTok well enough, it can be a cost-effective tool to attract customers. So, what makes TikTok a success, and what makes it a failure?
This article will therefore explain effective strategies for utilizing TikTok in marketing.
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Understanding the Latest TikTok Trends
To operate TikTok for business, it is necessary to understand that TikTok is changing from the traditional trend. By managing your account according to the trends, it is possible to create highly appealing videos that attract the attention of many users.
You will see how TikTok is changing in the following order: “age groups” and “changes in video content.”
Traditionally, TikTok users have been primarily targeted at teens and 20s.
Therefore, companies approached it as a place to promote services and products of interest to teens and 20s.
However, as of 2021, the average age of TikTok users today is 34 years. In addition, the average age of users is increasing year by year.
In terms of age groups, there has been a particularly significant increase in the number of men in their 30s and 40s.
The average age of users has increased, making it a platform that can target a wide range of demographics.
From the birth of the platform to the present, TikTok has diversified videos posted and buzzing videos.
Here is an explanation of how the content has changed from three different points.
In the early days of the platform, videos such as selfies, dancing, and lip-synching became popular.
Responsive videos became more popular among teens, which allows users in their 20s also started to join TikTok.
In addition to the traditional dance videos, “videos with a high comedic element” posted by comedians and popular people can be easily spread. videos posted on TikTok began to spread on other social networking sites such as Twitter.
In addition to funny and entertaining videos, there’s been an increased range of entertainment videos, including “gameplay videos” by game players and “healing videos” of animals and babies. As a result, many users have entered the market.
From around 2020, when entertainment videos have become widespread and well-known within TikTok, how-to videos and videos that send useful information to people in their 20s and above will also appear.
Currently, videos are posted that resonate with a wide range of users, from youth dance to useful information for daily life. With the continued generation of videos that resonate with a wide range of people, TikTok has become popular with more users.
Strengths of TikTok Marketing
Marketing through TikTok has three major strengths. The following is an explanation of what strengths are present.
TikTok ads are not forced viewing. Users can skip videos they do not want to watch. TikTok will post a variety of videos that users are not interested in as well as videos that they are interested in. Many users watch their recommended videos till the end. This creates a “positive perception of unfamiliar videos.”
Therefore, users are less likely to be annoyed by advertisement videos listed in TikTok’s recommendation section.
TikTok users are willing to spend on what’s featured in the video. The average spending via TikTok is about 85,8620,000 yen, which is more than double the average spending of 42,538 yen for the entire SNS. In other words, if users are interested in a product or service, TikTok is a platform that can easily lead to the purchase of a product or service from a video.
TikTok uses an algorithm that evaluates videos by itself rather than account evaluation. This means that videos are randomly distributed to around 500 users, and are rated by the algorithm based on the video alone. So, accounts with a small number of followers have a good chance of being spread if they produce high-quality videos that resonate with their target audience.
Cautions for TikTok Marketing
There are three main cautions for TikTok marketing Here are some tips and ways to deal with TikTok marketing.
Posting on Tiktok, you can add background music, either trending or searching it on their platform. However, some music is copyrighted. As a business, unauthorized use of a song without permission is copyright infringement. So please be careful.
TikTok has a comprehensive partnership with JASRAC. As long as the music is officially provided, you can use the sound source as background music for your video without any problems. The officially provided music can be selected from “Select music” at the top of the video creation screen.
Compared to other SNS, TikTok ads have a weaker advertising feel, so it is difficult for users to notice that they are ads. Therefore, TikTok ads may not directly lead to sales because they do not feel like advertisements. With ads that appeal directly to products or discount coupons, users are strongly aware that they are ads, making it difficult to watch the video to the end.
So, see for indirect promotion of a product or service, such as “introducing a company or product” or “raising awareness of a company brand .”
Since TikTok is a video that is easy to spread, there is also a risk of flame wars. “Flamed” videos can spread from TikTok to Twitter and Facebook, creating a negative impression among many users.
When posting videos, please be careful not to send out videos that make users feel “uncomfortable” by reading their psychology. It is also important to have more than one person operating and checking the videos. Create a system to check videos before they are distributed.
TikTok Marketing Means
There are three main methods of TikTok marketing.
- Operation of business account
- Advertisement
- Hiring influencers to do PR for you
Having a business account allows you to produce a variety of videos and effectively market TikTok.
Operate a Business Account
Business Account Setup
Business accounts can be easily set up from the account you have opened.
To set up a business account, go to “My Page” (upper right corner), “Manage Account”, and then “Switch to Professional Account”. When choosing an account type, choose “business” instead of “creator.”
Video Production for Easy Display of Recommendations
When displayed in TikTok’s “Recommendations“, it makes it easier for many users to watch the video. Compared to other platforms, there is a higher level of trust in recommendations, and people will view your video with a more positive attitude than many videos.
Therefore, videos in recommendations are an important factor. Here, we summarize the key points of videos that are easily recommended.
High view completion rate
Videos with a high viewing completion rate are more likely to be displayed in the recommendation column. It is necessary to create a highly appealing video so that the video can be viewed to the end. The higher the viewing completion rate, the longer the total viewing time, and the more likely it will be displayed in the recommended videos.
Increase empathy
Videos that are sympathetic to many users are more likely to be displayed in the Recommended Section. Likes and comments are good, but also create videos that will be shared.
Set appropriate hashtags
To increase the number of users who share your video, you need to get as many users who are interested in your video to watch it. Set the appropriate hashtag and create a video so that interested users can watch the video to the end.
Spread your videos with Promotes
TikTok offers a tool called “Promote” that allows you to spread your video as an advertisement.
When you run a Promote, your video will be shown to a specified number of users, leading them to follow you or visit your website.
Using the Promote function allows your content to reach a large number of users.
Analyze your videos
It is also important to verify each video you post and find out which videos are getting the best response.
When analyzing a video, analyze the following indicators one by one and make a hypothesis as to why the response is good:
- Total number of views
- Total playback time
- Average viewing time
- Type of traffic source
The most important indicators are average viewing time and total playing time. It is important whether these two indicators are posted on the recommendation display, so if the numbers are low, please review the video composition immediately.
Place Ads
Advertising is a marketing method alongside business account management. TikTok advertising has great advantages because there are few companies entering the market and there is an overwhelmingly little dislike of advertising.
There are three main types of ads on TikTok.
Understand the characteristics of the three types of advertisements and utilize effective advertisements to attract customers.
These ads are displayed when the application is launched. They are limited to one company per day and catch the attention of a large number of users. They are also easy to direct users to external websites.
In-feed ads are displayed in the recommendation section. Since they are displayed on the full screen, users are less likely to perceive them as advertisements and are more likely to watch the video. It is also possible to direct users to other channels.
Users are encouraged to create their videos using their hashtags to increase awareness of the ad. Since the hurdle to participation is low, it is possible to increase awareness among a large number of users.
Ask Influencers for PR
There are influencers on TikTok who can influence users a lot.
By requesting influencers for PR, it is possible to dramatically improve awareness.
When creating user-participatory ads, it is more likely that more users will be able to watch the video by asking influencers for PR.
It is also important to analyze the demographics of your followers when requesting influencers.
By asking influencers who have many followers who are compatible with your product or service, you can raise awareness of your corporate account
Success stories of each marketing method
Here is a successful example of a business account PR Tokyo Calendar’s “#TokyoCalendarGourmet.
Rather than targeting young people as the main target, Tokyo Calendar distributed video content from university students to working adults. They delivered short dramas tailored to their target audience. The original dramas, featuring “Muscle Boys” and “Organic Girls,” who have strong personalities among Tokyo Calendar members, were set in real-life restaurants and attracted a lot of attention.
Before the release of the video, a “Tokare Challenge” to win the right to make reservations at popular restaurants featured in the video was also conducted, making for a successful SNS marketing campaign that successfully crossed the target audience.
TikTok offers “Brand Auction,” a vertical, full-screen, sound-enhanced video advertising campaign that leaves a strong brand impact. “Brand Auction” used by DIESEL is a feature that maximizes ad reach and optimizes video views. DIESEL was able to utilize this function to increase awareness, advertising, favorability, and purchase intent among young people.
By utilizing “Brand Auction,” DIESEL can expect to increase brand awareness among previously untargeted demographics and potentially become a future users of the brand.
Suntory collaborated with Suntory Minami-Alps PEAKER Bitter Energy and Queentet, a unit within the NMB48 group, to create the “#PEAKERDANCE. In addition to viewing the videos, users were asked to select five “favorite TikTokers” from among the videos they had posted. The selected TikTokers were not only judged by Queentet, but were also posted on the official website page. The selected Tik Toker has become a hot topic as the number of users who dance with “#PeakerDance” has increased because Queentet will not only be a judge but also will be posted on the official website page.
To summarize this article,
・ TikTok can also be used for the business purposes
・ The user base has shifted from young adults to mid-30s
・ When using TikTok for marketing, use a business account
・ Consider the best advertising strategy based on the case studies.
TikTok is changing from a platform for young people to a platform for a variety of users to enjoy videos. If you are considering attracting customers through TikTok, be sure to post videos continuously while keeping in mind the operational points introduced in this article.
