TIKTOK FOR BUSINESS ... REALLY?

TIKTOK

for business... Really?

DUE TO THE ENHANCED CREATIVITY AND EXPOSURE IT OFFERS, MANY COMPANIES HAVE FOUND SUCCESS ON TIKTOK SIMPLY BY OFFERING ACCESS TO AN AUDIENCE OTHER PLATFORMS DON’T HAVE, WRITES CRAIG BRIGG

Any business owner that focuses on the latest business marketing initiatives knows that TikTok has over onebillion monthly active users and almost as many users as Instagram. It is also one of the most addictive platforms, only launched six years ago, and gaining momentum as a primary avenue for social media marketing for business users.

TikTok is not your “normal” social media platform, and it’s still young enough for your business to get in early and take advantage of countless marketing opportunities. It’s also a large enough platform for your business to benefit from a consumer audience almost immediately, and is already available in 150 countries worldwide.

Businesses are recognising that with the massive and growing popularity of the app, TikTok has the power to reshape the way brands and businesses communicate with their customers regarding products and services, convey and share information, and connect to communities and cultures worldwide. TikTok has constantly changed over the past six years and has evolved into a bonafide advertising and business marketing haven.

TikTok is unique in that it’s all about sharing relatable, engaging and natural short videos where users can create captions and distinctive overlays often set to popular music. It also has the ability to integrate automatically with the other social media networks, making content easily shareable across multiple audience channels. This in itself opens up a whole new level of connection with the audience your business wishes to target.

The perception in the market is that the app is used mostly by GenZ, but the stats are indicating that the demographics are changing constantly. The largest group of active users is between the ages of 16 and 24, but more and more people aged 4080+ are creating content and frequenting the app.

With these numbers in mind, and considering that social media influences 71% of consumer buying decisions, businesses need to start paying attention. One cannot ignore that the app has led to more than $350-billion worth of sales in the US alone, and the number of adults using TikTok grew by six times in the last 18 months.

So you may be thinking; “but I don’t need another social media platform”. While this may be valid, depending on your business, your audience and your niche, keep in mind that it may be an investment worth making for your brand long term.

Due to the enhanced creativity and exposure it offers, many companies have found success on TikTok simply by offering access to an audience other platforms don’t have.

In the same way Facebook has a business platform, TikTok for business has a centralised platform especially for advertisers and marketers. They have an e-learning centre (ads manager platform) where businesses can go to learn how to create specific ads to cater directly to your target audience, set reasonable budgets, as well as provide pertinent insights for your campaign.

TikTok is great for listening to the feedback it receives from users. When certain features or trends are “liked”, the app can create new editing features and effects allowing users to create similar content more

8 Reasons to use TikTok

If you decide to use TikTok as a strategy for your business in 2023, there are a number of benefits to consider. Here’s how TikTok that can work for your brand and improve your overall social media footprint:

1. Grow your brand/ business awareness 2. Educate your target audience 3. Increase your website clicks 4. Increase leads and prospects 5. Target future clients or customers 6. Grow conversions 7. Increase your audience reach 8. Engage with potential employees and clients

easily. The inverse is also true; when a new feature releases only negative feedback, the platform swiftly adjusts to its users’ liking.

TikTok for business is definitely a vital and growing force to consider for your business to connect, engage and interact with particular members of your audience and make them more aware of your business. *

FOR MORE INFO craig@upperhighwayinfo.co.za