We don’t know anything about Tik Tok at Sox, but we know it’s only getting more popular. So we’ve asked Rob from RMK Marketing to share his top 6 tips for getting started on this hugely growing platform, if you’re thinking of exploring Tik Tok this is the post for you!
For many years, the social media space has been dominated by Facebook (now Meta). There really wasn’t a channel that could compete with it, (the only one that might have, Instagram, was bought by Facebook in 2012). That has all changed now with the rise of Tik Tok.
The pandemic supercharged Tik Tok’s rise and, as we now approach the end of 2022, it’s a platform that a lot of brands are looking to jump on. But jumping on it isn’t easy. We’ve put together 6 tips to help those brands successfully start out on Tik Tok.
Navigate the video first world
Unlike most of the major social channels, Tik Tok is a video only platform. While other channels like Instagram are moving towards being more video focused, you can still post images there. Not on Tik Tok.
Moreover, there’s a specific style to Tik Tok creative that you’ll have to follow in order to be successful on the platform. Highly polished TV ads, for example, won’t work on the platform. Successful videos on Tik Tok have a user generated feel to them, usually shot on a phone. You’ll only have to scroll through Tik Tok for a few minutes to get the look and feel of successful videos posted on there.
You’ll likely get the look and feel of Tik Tok through the ‘For You’ feed, Tik Tok’s central feature. The For You feed is curated to your specific interests, you’ll be served with videos based on what you’ve viewed and interacted with. For brands, you want to try and get your content in a user’s For You feed as much as possible.
Sounds are important
Unlike some other social media channels, sound is very important on Tik Tok. In fact, it’s crucial that the videos you create include some form of audio, largely because it grabs the attention of Tik Tok users.
It’s really easy to use copyrighted music in Tik Tok, because the platform has arrangements with most of the major music libraries (Tik Tok actually grew out of a platform called Musical.ly in the West), so there’s no excuse for not adding a well-known track. When picking a track, try and pick a song that’s currently popular. Back in the summer, many brands used ‘Running Up That Hill’ by Kate Bush in their Tik Toks, due to it being one of the main theme songs in the latest series of Stranger Things. This led to increases in reach and engagement for Tik Toks that used that song, because the videos became more discoverable.
Keep up with the trends
Speaking of trends, you’re going to want to tap into them as much as possible. Whether it’s a viral piece of music like ‘Running Up That Hill’, a challenge, a meme or a hashtag, trends are a currency on Tik Tok, by tapping into them you’ll ensure your content gets more visibility.
Popular trends get thousands of spin off videos, the algorithm will then push the most popular to more users, leading to more reach, engagement etc.
If you want to find out what’s trending, just start engaging with the platform itself. If you start searching for relevant hashtags, The For You Page will start showing you relevant trending videos in that niche, giving you an idea on what’s trending.
Videos should be short & snappy
Attention spans are getting shorter, on all the social media channels, so that means you don’t have a lot of time to make an impression with your content. That is especially relevant on Tik Tok, with their main audience being made up of Gen Z, who will only give you 8 seconds to get their attention. So that means you need to keep your content on Tik Tok short and snappy. The first few seconds of your video have to be strong as well, if they aren’t users will just scroll past your video.
Your key metrics on Tik Tok are watch time and completion rate, that’s what the algorithm is looking for. By keeping your videos short and snappy, you’re more likely to boost these metrics, which makes it more likely the algorithm will give your videos an increase in reach.
Post as frequently as possible
For all the other social media channels, we almost always advise focusing on quality over quantity. On Tik Tok it’s slightly different, you want to post as much as you can, ideally once per day. You still want to make your videos the best they possibly can be, of course. But on Tik Tok the quantity of posts is more important than the overall quality.
Tik Tok expects creators to post often. You need to make enough content in order to be noticed. If you aren’t posting often, you aren’t likely to appear in people’s For You feeds, meaning your account won’t grow as quickly as it should.
Use your Tik Toks in Instagram Reels
Now that you’re on Tik Tok, you can use the content you’re creating on there on your other channels, most notably Instagram. Reels on Instagram are very similar to Tik Toks, so your Tik Tok videos will fit right into your Instagram content strategy. The only thing you’ll want to think about is that if you download a video from Tik Tok, it’ll include the watermark that includes your Tik Tok handle. Having this could impact performance on Instagram, so consider making your Tik Toks and Reels in an external tool, like Inshot, and then upload the video to both Tik Tok & Instagram.
Instagram Reels are getting big boosts in terms of reach at the moment, so it makes sense to use your Tik Tok creative to take advantage of this. If you’ve seen a drop in engagement on Instagram, we have a blog on ways to increase reach & engagement.
Too much info?
If setting up and managing a Tik Tok account sounds like too much work and you’d rather a specialist do it, RMK Marketing can help. Just contact robkearsey@rmkmarketing.co.uk for all your social media marketing needs.
About RMK Marketing
We are a social media marketing agency based in Redhill, Surrey. We’re social media specialists, who live and breathe the social media world. We offer both paid & organic social media services, across all the major social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest & YouTube.
The agency was founded by Rob Kearsey in 2020 and works with brands both big and small to solve their social media problems.