The Pod guide to TikTok for B2B marketing
With 1 billion active users last year spending an average of 89 minutes a day on the app, TikTok is a clear choice for B2C marketers to reach their target audiences. It may not be quite as clear a choice for B2B, but the popular video-sharing tool could have an important role to play in building brand awareness and adding a welcome dash of personality. In this blog, we’ll take you through how TikTok can support your wider marketing strategy.
What is TikTok?
TikTok is a short-form, video sharing application that enables users to create and share short videos on any topic. Its algorithm serves up videos to users based on their set preferences and previous activity – and compared to other social platforms doesn’t rely on subscriber numbers, giving your videos a better chance of being seen by more people.
But TikTok isn’t just another social platform to add to your marketing social plan, and if your social marketing resources don’t stretch further than a quick adaptation of content to suit audiences on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (if you’re still using Twitter), it might not be for you.
TikTok arguably demands more imagination and originality from B2B marketers, and it might also require them to step outside of their comfort zones - but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The extra layer of personality and authenticity makes it the perfect place to share your company’s story, values and ideals with the world. It’s a great place to introduce followers to team members and new recruits, or build an employer brand reputation, and also gives you the opportunity to be more creative with industry news or stats.
Using TikTok to support your wider B2B marketing strategy can help your business to:
increase brand awareness
build engaged communities
advertise our services to target audiences
get feedback from customers and audiences
provide customer service
Just be sure you’re doing so in a way that suits your objectives, matches your brand personality and resonates with your target audience.
TikTok best practices
Competition for attention on TikTok is fierce and you’ll get just 3 seconds to catch a viewer's attention. There’s no magic formula, but there are some general TikTok marketing best practice tips that will serve your campaign well:
Videos on TikTok should be authentic. Instead of a polished approach packed with industry jargon, the platform gives your brand an opportunity to show its human side. You should be looking to create videos that are unique, funny, and shareable. TikTok’s generally younger users are more interested in company values than ever before and increasingly factor those into purchasing decisions.
Keep your content simple and don’t waste a second. This means really focusing on the length of the video and making sure it’s short and snappy. A 15-second video can share high-level information or outlines – and a less-regular 60-second deep dive is a good way to mix the content up. The average video on TikTok’s For You user homepage is about seven–10 seconds long, so every second counts. We recommend, for example, skipping an intro or boiler at the start and using the time for a strong CTA at the end.
A common problem we have when making client videos for any platform is being asked to fit too much information in. Remember, this is a taster. The idea is to whet the appetite of your audience enough to inspire them to find out more about your topic, product or brand. Don’t try to say it all.
Be sure to keep an eye on TikTok trends too. These are incredibly popular with users and change or evolve on almost a daily basis. It’s worth checking the platform’s Discover page every day to see if there are any trends or hashtags that your business could jump on. (It goes without saying that you shouldn’t just take part in one for the sake of it – stick to the trends that are relevant to your business and your target audience).
Remember your call to action
A part of marketing on TikTok that doesn’t change from your other social content is to always consider what action you would like viewers to take after watching your video. In the case of TikTok, however, it’s more important than ever to have a strong CTA. This is because the short viewing time of videos and the UI to constantly feed the user new content, means viewers will likely be into the habit of swiping up as videos finish to move on to the next one – so you need to catch them before they do. .
CTAs that encourage people to do something quick and simple like, follow or share your content also work well on TikTok. They might not lead directly to a sale but will help increase the number of eyes on your brand. For example at the end of a tip-sharing video, “If this was helpful, follow us for more”, or “Tag someone who needs to see this”. You can break up longer videos into two parts and invite viewers to “Like for part 2.”. If your video is about a solution or service that solves a specific problem, you could ask your audience to share their own experiences in the comments.
If you’re trying to drive traffic to an off-platform landing page where longer-form thought leadership content is hosted, for example, you could summarise key take-aways in five quick points, provide a link and invite the viewer to “learn more”, or “sign up now”.
Putting budget behind your TikTok campaign
TikTok enables marketers to push content to a wider audience via paid methods. Brands can also use TikTok influencers to promote products or services to target audiences, branded hashtag challenges to boost your video visibility and paid ads to place at the top of your target audiences’ timelines. These include a feature called Spark Ads, which allows you to make ads out of your business’s and others’ organic posts.
And, although the platform is still in its infancy for B2B, potential return on marketing spend is promising. A global research study published last year by TikTok and Material showed that compared to other platforms:
TikTok is 1.7x more likely to be used for product discovery
TikTok users are 1.4% more likely to research brands found through the app
TikTok viewers are 1.4x more likely to buy a product or brand they find on TikTok.
As well as increased return on ad spend, businesses have also been able to achieve lower costs per acquisition (CPA) through TikTok.
TikTok is an interesting prospect for B2B marketing. The marketing potential isn’t as immediately obvious for B2B as it is for B2C, but scratch beneath the surface and there’s a great opportunity to diversify your content and reach wider audiences. It will take commitment and some patience, but getting your B2B brand onto TikTok while the platform is not yet saturated with similar content could really pay off.
If you would like our help in making sure your business gets its TikTok B2B marketing right, get in touch - we’ll be happy to help.
SOURCE:
1: https://www.tiktok.com/business/en-US/blog/infinite-loop-tiktok-retail-path-to-purchase
