If TikTok isn’t one of the first platforms to come to mind when implementing a new growth strategy, you’ve got a problem.
TikTok is one of the hottest social media platforms in the game, and it’s not just for mindless scrolling anymore. Brands have taken their marketing budgets to the app to reach a broader audience of people that are looking for a brand just like them.
With over 1 billion monthly active users and average watch time of almost an hour, consumers’ spending habits lie within the depths of short and long-form content on the platform.
From growing your audience to building deeper connections with them, here are some tips to finesse your TikTok growth strategy if you’re just getting started.
How to Define Your Strategy
TikTok is not just about creating and sharing content. There’s a deeper, strategic process behind it to get the people you want to watch your videos and engage with them. Here are three ways that you can tailor your strategy in a way that works for your brand and your audience.
Identify Your Audience
What does your audience look like? What kind of content pops up on their “For Your Page” (FYP), and what makes them swipe away?
Understanding who your audience is can help tailor the kind of content you’re outputting daily.
Take a look at your TikTok insights and analyze the people watching your content and landing on your page. You’ll be able to find more than just gender and age. Observe the times they’re often active on your platforms, where they’re coming from, and what type of content gets the most engagement versus the least.
Honing in on their characteristics and the online habits that reflect their lifestyle needs can help you mold your strategy in a way that speaks to them.
Tailor Your Brand Voice for TikTok
Here’s something some brands fail to recognize: your brand voice does not match every platform.
While it may work for some, each platform is different for a reason. When comparing LinkedIn to TikTok or Youtube to Instagram, it’s clear that each platform serves its own purpose, has its own tools, and showcases the home feed differently to users.
When you plan out content for TikTok ask yourself, “Is this TikTok speak? Are the people looking for me on other platforms looking for me the same way on TikTok?” Each platform has a different search journey to get from point A to your video.
TikTok is a platform that people like to call an “escape from reality.” It’s mainly used by people who want to find something that’s entertaining, will make them smile or laugh, and learn something unique or interesting. In other words, TikTok’s voice is lighthearted and easily consumable. How you speak on your channel must be something that can be consumed in under 3 seconds and easy to understand.
One brand voice has multiple layers to it. It’s up to you to break down those layers and see which layer works best for which platform.
Choose the Type of Content You Want to Make
Is your content entertaining, educational, or both?
We know by now that promotional videos do not perform well on TikTok because people can smell an ad from a mile away. If you want to make something, it needs to grab the attention of your audience. People love a good laugh, a good aha moment, or an awe moment.
Depending on what niche your brand is, that determines which voice – entertaining or educational – works best for you. For example if you’re a fashion brand, entertaining can be one route where you showcase different look books and travel around the world with uniquely styled pieces. On the other hand, it can be educational where you teach others how to sew, craft, and thrift for pieces to create certain looks. It all comes down to which angle represents your brand mission and core values more.
6 Strategies to Build Your Brand on TikTok
Now that you have your basic strategy, it’s time to understand what works on TikTok for content. It’s more than the quantity – it’s the quality of your content that makes you stand out from your competitors.
Here is a list of tips to consider when developing your growth strategies.
1. Leverage Visual Search
It’s not old news – visual search is taking over Google.
About 85% of consumers today prefer visual over text search as social media continues to condition our minds to think visually.
Instead of the old scrolling through blue links and articles, people prefer visual results for things such as reviews, hauls, recommendations, etc.
Considering the rise of short attention spans, your consumers prefer to see an eye-catching visual or verbal hook rather than scrolling down an article that takes too long to get to the point.
Leverage visual search to make your content stand out from other brands who are doing the same thing as you. Prioritize visual hooks or thumbnails that align with what’s happening in the video/post. Whether it’s a trend or a promotion, think to yourself, “What about the first 3 seconds of your video will make a customer laugh or learn something?”
Copywriting enhances visual search, too, especially for a thumbnail. Something that’s easy to read, quick to digest, and makes sense for your brand.
Key tip: if your caption answers a query or provides a solution, it’s a win.
2. If You Can Sell on TikTok Shop, Sell
Now more than ever, it’s easier to shop in apps than on any brand website. When TikTok dropped the TikTok Shop, it completely changed the way consumers shop.
If there’s a video about a product you’re selling, whether it be by a brand ambassador, influencer, or someone on your team, the consumer can quickly click on the product link to buy it on TikTok Shop. This saves so much time and effort from going to a company website, searching the item, and buying it from there. Without these added barriers to purchase, your customers are more likely to buy – and faster.
It’s easier for your audience to buy your products on a platform they’re already using. The power of social media is strong. For example, the owner of BossUpCosmetics, Aaliyah Arnold, sells thousands of her products thanks to TikTok Shop.
3. Be as Relevant and Fresh as Possible
As much as it’s easy to film, edit, and post, it’s not easy to increase your reach, engagement, and follower count.
Trends are fun to watch, and your brand should definitely hop on them to stay relevant to what your audience is into if it translates into who you are as a brand. Let your audience know that you’re in the know in a fun and different way. It’s not just about copying and pasting – it’s about the remix.
Sure, following a trend can get a lot of likes, but out of those likes, how many people interacted with your content and followed you for it? It’s a cheap way to be noticed, and maintaining a brand aesthetic is about staying on script.
Jump onto trends with a fresh perspective. What about the trend can you speak to in your own way that resonates with your brand? Is it a visual hook that you did differently from other creators? Was it your editing style that made it stand out or the characters you used?
Hooks and substance are important. Remember, keep your audience engaged and on their toes when following a trend.
Think about Patrick Ta and his collaboration with Jools. Her demure trend skyrocketed on TikTok, so what did Patrick Ta do? Instead of copying the demure catchphrase, he made the effort to have Jools in videos and at his launch party event to promote his new “very demure” foundation. This is taking a trend and making it literal – bringing it to real life.
4. Use Authentic People That Make Sense for Your Brand
You can spend all the money you want on TikTok content creators and influencers to spread the word about your brand, but it won’t make sense if they’re not the right face.
Choosing authentic people that make sense for your brand must be approached strategically. While people care about authenticity, it’s becoming prevalent that they can tell who’s a creator who’s being paid to stick to a script or who’s a creator that’s being paid to talk about something they love.
If someone is telling you what their holy grail, must-have item is, you would know if it’s just an ad, right?
People who love a product speak about it in multiple ways rather than selling a story that you paid them to. Seek out creators who are already focused on what your brand niche is because there’s already an invisible string tying them to you.
Emma Chamberlain’s collaboration with Warby Parker was a smart move. Why? As a fashion icon who started her career on Youtube, Emma has overcome all odds to become a celebrity. Her unique fashion sense and the rising popularity of glasses as a fashion accessory ties well into her choice to create a line of glasses with Warby Parker. Not only does this elevate her status in the fashion world but also the brand itself for choosing the right spokesperson for their products.
5. Practice Social Listening
Nothing makes your audience love you more than listening to them.
We get it, not everything’s meant for everyone. But when it’s meant for the right people, those people care enough to let you know what’s working and not working. Having a community manager who actively listens and responds to comments and questions is super important.
You might think it’s a self explanatory job – your audience thinks otherwise. Take the athleticwear brand Popflex, for example. The founder Cassey Ho actively makes her video content around producing athletic pieces based on what her audience wants to see from her. A better yoga bag, a hoodie that hoodies, and flare leggings that flare at the right spot – she cares about the nits and grits because that’s what her audience wants to see.
We can’t forget Converse coming through with their greatest nostalgic comeback yet – knee-high Converse sneakers. The crowd asked and Converse delivered, roasting themselves a bit by showing the comments they’d received about people wanting the sneakers back.
Sometimes, brands have to acknowledge that not everything they do is perfect, and it can still gain popularity and acceptance. As long as you continue to try and deliver a message that wants to be heard, then needs will be met.
6. Be Loud and Represent Core Values Clearly
Your brand has a voice as much as it has values.
Think through what your brand stands and advocates for. Stick to those values and abide by them when the time calls for it. Even if you think you might lose a part of your audience, you’ll be gaining more of the right people to be standing by your brand.
There are multiple brands existing in the world for a reason – there is always something for someone but not everything for everyone.
When considering Gen Z as your audience, they are a generation that cares about where they spend their money. If it’s a brand that stands by their core values and beliefs, they’re more likely to be consistently loyal customers than those that do not.
In today’s world, social impact is a powerful differentiator that can drive loyalty among modern consumers.
Take Lili Reinhart’s skincare line Personal Day, for example. What makes her stand out from other celebrity skincare lines like Rhode, Fenty Skin, and The Outset is how authentic she is with her message. She acknowledges the impacts acne has on mental health and uses her brand as a skincare support system.
She doesn’t use her celebrity status to woo her audience, and it shows. Lili stands behind what her brand advocates for in every way possible, and that’s what makes her a true differentiator in the skincare industry.
Kickstart Your TikTok Growth Strategy
Creating a growth strategy for TikTok is a MUST in today’s brand space. There is so much potential for your brand to reach new audiences and find the people who’ve been looking for a brand like you this whole time! This gives your brand a chance to engage better and enhance your outcomes.
By staying consistent, resonating with your audience, and aligning your strategy with your brand’s core values, your brand will reach unprecedented heights like never before.
