If you’re a small business owner and you’re not currently incorporating TikTok into your social media strategy, then you are absolutely missing out. The app, which began life back in 2016 as Chinese platform Douyin (which is still operational in China today), is now one of the most popular social media apps there is, racking up hundreds of millions of monthly active users around the world.
Perhaps TikTok’s most famous demographic is Gen Z, but they’re far from the only people accessing TikTok and uploading content to it. Contrary to popular belief, TikTok actually has a pretty varied user base, with users of all ages and persuasions contributing to its content vaults. For that reason, and for many others, using TikTok as a business is pretty much essential. Here are 5 reasons that small businesses should be using TikTok.
1. It’ll drive engagement up
Studies have shown that TikTok can massively increase brand engagement between customers and brands. When brands use TikTok to advertise their services or products, users feel closer to those brands and feel less like they’re just distant companies uninterested in their actual customer bases. It should be pretty obvious that your business should be taking advantage of this potential boost in engagement.
As a business, engagement is one of the most critical metrics you could possibly measure. It’s far from a vanity metric; it shows you how users are actually accessing your brand, and whether they care about you beyond the occasional ad they see on social media. TikTok can help you to boost engagement organically by giving users a way to communicate with you beyond corporate help desks and pre-packaged messaging.
2. It’s where core demographics are
Most businesses want to appeal to that Holy Grail of demographics known as Gen Z. After all, unless your business caters specifically to older folks, you want to access the purchasing power of the younger generation, and the best way you can do that is to meet them on their level. Well, TikTok just happens to be Gen Z’s level, so if you want to advertise yourself to them, you need to be on TikTok.
Of course, it’s not that simple. TikTok is an art form, and it takes a little effort to get right. If you pitch your content incorrectly, then you’re going to come across as hopelessly outdated and uncool. More than any other platform, TikTok prizes authenticity, which means that’s the characteristic you need to bring across most effectively when you’re creating content on the app.
3. You can demonstrate authenticity
It’s not just Gen Z that prizes authenticity, of course. Everyone likes to know that the brand they’re shopping with is authentic and “real”; nobody likes to think they’re availing themselves of services provided by robots or algorithms, right? Creating TikTok content shows that there are real human beings behind your brand and that you’re not just trying to get people to buy something.
This does rely on creating the right kind of content, of course. You need to be careful not to make your TikTok content overly promotional in tone, because if you do, your audience will find you out quickly and realise that you’re only in it for advertising’s sake. Make sure to study good TikTok content and try to recruit content creators who know what they’re doing on the platform already.
4. TikTok paid ads are effective
Outside of creating organic content strategies for your business, TikTok also offers paid advertising options, and they’re actually pretty effective. They don’t have quite the same reach or impact as those you might find on other platforms like Facebook or Twitter, but the fact remains that paying for TikTok ad campaigns could be a huge boost to your business, so make sure you’re setting up a TikTok business account as well.
In fact, studies have shown that around 66% of TikTok users have a positive opinion of advertising they see on TikTok, so if you want to reach your audience, TikTok ads may well be the best way to do it. You should incorporate TikTok as part of a “balanced diet” of social media apps, though; don’t only use TikTok, but instead, add it to your list of apps on which you maintain a regular presence.
5. It can help with recruitment
One of the most unseen and underrated benefits of using TikTok as a small business is that it can help you to recruit the right people. Talented young individuals might see your TikTok content and realise that you’re a good business to work for, so if you maintain a TikTok presence – especially if it’s a strong one with lots of great content – then you may well start attracting more proficient workers.
This can have a cyclical effect, too, because the more talented individuals you recruit, the better your social media strategy will become. Eventually, you may well even become a brand leader on TikTok, showing other brands how to effectively put together content strategies on the app. All you need to do is make sure that your core content strategy is robust and you’ll start seeing benefits!
These are just five of the benefits that being on TikTok can have for a small business, but of course, there are many more. The fact is that since creating a TikTok account is free, there really is no reason not to sign up for it as a business, so make sure you download it and get creating as soon as you can!
