I’ve talked about TikTok on my blog before. But let’s face it, who isn’t talking about TikTok?
TikTok has become a business phenomenon - disrupting shopping patterns, reframing advertising, and exploding small business sales like never before.
Let’s talk about how TikTok has transformed thousands of businesses across the globe, and the 5 strategies you need to do it yourself!
Kickstarting Your Business on TikTok
TikTok is the perfect platform to launch a new product and promote your brand. Why? Because the algorithm is specifically curated to give users content that they want to interact with.
The “For You Page” makes it possible for you to reach your target audience without even trying! This means, if you use TikTok correctly, you can reach the customers who will want to connect with you too.
TikTok’s unique algorithm makes it easy for your content to be seen by thousands of new customers who don’t even follow you yet!
Your TikToks can be 60-second commercials that your audience actually WANTS to see.
Plus, you don’t need to spend thousands on camera and production equipment - all you need is a phone! (And if you want to step it up, maybe a ring light and tripod)
Going viral on TikTok isn’t just for established companies with huge marketing budgets. Oftentimes, it’s small businesses who are seeing the most success on TikTok, since the platform doesn’t require a huge following to go viral.
Your videos could be averaging only 100 or 200 views, but in an instant, the right video could blow up and change your business overnight.
This was the case for Alyssa Collazo, a recent college graduate who started her business last July. With her brand Fabulyss, Brianna began selling self-defense keychains and jewelry, but expected to keep it as just a side hustle until after graduation.
One month after founding Fabulyss, she began making TikToks for fun. And you guessed it, one of them went viral! Brianna said she’s been selling out consistently ever since due to her product going viral on TikTok.
5 Strategies to Go Viral on TikTok
1. Hashtags
TikToks’s platform is easily searchable under hashtags, and going viral under a hashtag can have a huge impact.
Your business should be using popular hashtags to keep up to date with trending content, and so that you can appear under these trending hashtags and challenges and be found more easily.
So how do you find the right hashtags? First, you can check the discover page for trending hashtags and challenge hashtags.
Next, use your search bar and investigate a few different hashtags related to your video. When you hit search, TikTok shows you how many videos are under each hashtag!
Unlike Instagram, it’s best to use hashtags in your captions, as putting them in the comments isn’t as effective.
Bonus tip: Use a mix of more competitive and less competitive hashtags on TikTok! Popular hashtags have the advantage of the volume of people searching for them, but you don’t want to only use popular hashtags. Mix in some smaller, more niche hashtags so that your video doesn’t get lost in competition.
2. Music / Audio trends
Beyond hashtags, TikTok’s platform is also built to categorize content by audio. Trending soundbites can have a lifetime as short as 1-2 days on the app, so it’s important to stay on top of them!
Simply search “trending sounds” in your TikTok search bar, click “sounds,” and TikTok will produce a ranked list of the top trending sounds at that moment. You can also use your discover page to see how people are using these trending sounds!
Music is a powerful way to connect with people who think and feel like you do, so choosing the right music for your TikTok videos is important too.
Here’s an example:
A viral TikTok from a candle making small business @dreamcandled used a cover of “La Vie en Rose” as their audio. For a calming product like a candle, this soothing song connected them straight to their audience - gaining them over 14 million views and 3 million likes!
3. Post Every Day
Users already spend an average of 52 minutes per day on TikTok.
If your target audience is on TikTok every single day, don’t miss out on your chance to reach them! The more you post on TikTok, the greater your chances are of reaching your target audience, gaining momentum and going viral.
In fact, TikTok actually recommends posting 1-4 times per day to take full advantage of their algorithm.
But before you get overwhelmed with the idea of coming up with content to post every day, here’s some tips...
Content Pillars. Content pillars are a set of themes or topics that you’ll base all your content around. Your content pillars should be things you know and care about. For example, one of your content pillars may be fashion.
After you pick 3-5 content pillars, list out all the subtopics you can think of underneath them. After you brainstorm out all of your subtopics under each pillar, guess what? You have a list of ideas for all your TikTok content!
Another tip is to batch your content.
Instead of trying to film a new TikTok every day, try spending one day a week recording all your TikToks! You can even save your videos as drafts for easy uploading in the future.
4. Affiliate Marketing
According to Statista, affiliate marketing spending is projected to reach $8.2 billion by 2022!
Affiliate links is when an influencer posts a video recommending or using your product/business and gets a cut of the sales that comes from their recommendations.
Not only will the video reach the influencer’s audience, it will also reach plenty of other accounts in the For You Page!
Affiliate marketing on TikTok has other pros too:
•Short-form product recommendations may be more impactful
•Influencers have already built up trust with their audience
•Links are easily clickable
•Products can be shown organically
5. E-Commerce
According to ESET, 70% of Americans are shopping more online since the pandemic.
And with TikTok’s base of Gen-Z and Millennials, who already shop online, now is the perfect time to go viral with your online business! Just a few months ago, TikTok unveiled their new in-app shopping feature, which is part of a partnership with Shopify.
With this new feature, you’re able to add a shopping tab to your profile with a product catalog linking to your online store. You can also tag products in specific videos, allowing viewers to shop straight from a video!
(P.S… to use these features for your business, you have to be a Shopify merchant with a TikTok for Business account)
TikTok also launched a LIVE shopping feature this fall! With this new feature, you can connect LIVE to your customers and share links to products and services while streaming!
The Bottom Line
The TikTok phenomenon is that one viral video can boost your brand’s sales more than years of marketing!
Remember to keep trying, even if you don’t immediately go viral. Even if you’re only getting 10 or 20 views at first, that’s 10 or 20 potential customers, especially if you’re using the right strategies in your videos.
Don’t wait any longer to get on board - make sure you’re taking advantage of all the opportunities TikTok holds for your business today.
