Happy Monday all! The sun is shining, summer is almost here, and it’s a beautiful day to explore new ways to market your business! This week we’re talking about one of the most underappreciated platforms out there, TikTok.
What is TikTok?
TikTok is the brainchild of former app Musical.ly and Chinese app Douyin. Musical.ly allowed users, primarily teens, to create 15-second lip-syncing videos. By 2016, Musical.ly had reached 70 million downloads. Douyin was created as a competitor to Musical.ly in China by the company ByteDance. In 2017, ByteDance launched TikTok, a global version of Douyin. Later that year TikTok merged with Musical.ly, and all profiles moved over to TikTok. As of February 2021, the TikTok app has been downloaded over 2 billion times and has over 689 million active users worldwide.
How to Make Content for TikTok?
Content produced for TikTok is simply called TikToks. They are 15-60 second videos in which you can do anything. Users will post funny moments or stories, tips and tricks, cute videos, and more. You can post using popular sounds or filters, or make your own.
When it comes to actually editing videos, you can shoot photos or videos on any device from iPhone to DSLR camera. You can edit content right in the TikTok app or using an outside video editor. I use Adobe Rush on my phone or computer. Then videos are uploaded directly into TikTok, add sounds and captions, adding captions and tags, then published.
What Wins on TikTok?
It can be difficult to nail down what content is successful on TikTok. It can feel random at times, but there are strategies that will help set you up for success.
- Get to know the platform: You can’t produce content for something you don’t understand. Take some time to see what accounts are popular, what kinds of content is trending, and how people caption, tag, and process their content.
- Use trending effects and sounds: You don’t need to make something entirely new! Trends are changing all the time on TikTok and using them can help increase your exposure.
- Engage, Engage, Engage! Every platform rewards accounts that engage on the platform. Respond to your comments and engage with other people in your industry/niche.
- Post Consistently: TikTok is often a numbers game, the idea is that the more you post, the more likely you are to go viral. Posting quality content on a consistent basis is going to get you on that track.
How Can You Use TikTok?
- Create content that can be recycled on IG
- Find Trends that work for you – don’t break your back to fit the trend
- Lean into one element of your biz and own that on TikTok
- Don’t be afraid to try new things! TikTok gives you the room to experiment and have fun with content and trends
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