TikTok is a social network that has grown at record speed. Many brands and business owners already know they need a presence on this platform, but they aren’t sure exactly what to do. TikTok is a relatively new social network, which is why many marketers who choose to manage social media are still unsure about the right way to use the platform or how relevant TikTok is for the businesses they market. After covering launching your first TikTok campaign, audience targeting types, and advanced TikTok advertising tools, it’s important to understand how to promote your brand organically on TikTok.
How does the TikTok platform work?
Videos are the heart of TikTok. TikTok videos can be recorded in the app for up to 10 minutes and uploaded at up to 60 minutes, but most videos on the platform are still short and focused. You can record videos directly within the app or upload them externally. You can also upload music externally to add to videos, and the app itself offers a wide variety of songs and audio clips to include. Additionally, TikTok functions as a full-fledged social network with user engagement features like views, likes, comments, and shares.
Recommended Strategies for Organic Promotion on TikTok
Younger audiences are less responsive to traditional advertising. This audience barely watches TV or listens to the radio anymore, generally consuming all their news and media through social networks. A significant portion of this younger demographic uses ad blockers when browsing the web, and most no longer notice banner ads due to the sheer volume of online advertisements. At the same time, many of them spend several hours a day on TikTok, watching a vast number of videos. When products and services are recommended through TikTok videos, they capture the attention of the platform’s audience. Here are several TikTok promotion strategies to increase exposure for your TikTok account.
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Live Streaming on TikTok
TikTok Live is the platform’s live streaming feature. To start a TikTok Live, you must be over 16 years old. Broadcasting live on TikTok allows you to present content to your audience in real-time and also monetize the stream by receiving “gifts” from viewers. You can cover a large amount of content in live videos because they don’t have time limits like standard videos on the platform.
TikTok gives its creators freedom in Live mode and doesn’t restrict viewing time, allowing you to be more creative with your content compared to 10-15 second videos. Several types of content that can be incorporated into TikTok Live include:
- Product or service review videos
- Product demonstration videos
- One-on-one interviews
- Coverage of special events
- Informational videos
Broadcasting live on TikTok is a great way to connect with your audience and grow it. Additionally, it is an excellent opportunity for marketers and business owners to expose a product or service to more traffic and build the brand by connecting the audience to the product in a light and fun way. To unlock the option to go live on TikTok, you will need over 1,000 followers. Once you reach this follower count, the option will be available to you via the plus button in the Live tab.
Use appropriate hashtags
Just like on other social networks, TikTok users rely on hashtags to categorize their videos and search for videos by specific topics. Key benefits of using hashtags on TikTok include:
- Increasing content reach
- Conducting competitor research
- Gaining more followers
While using relevant hashtags is essential, it’s important to avoid overly generic niche hashtags to prevent getting lost in a sea of content. It’s better for your videos to stand out in slightly less popular hashtags. As with all marketing, the goal is to reach the most relevant audience for you, so using more targeted hashtags is the right move. After clicking the Discover tab on the platform and entering the desired word in the search bar, click on Hashtags to see a list of hashtags related to your search.
Follow hot trends on the platform
Another way to use hashtags as part of your organic TikTok marketing strategy is to follow hashtags that are trending on the platform. Once you identify a trend, you can create content and videos related to those popular hashtags. Keep in mind that trends on TikTok can change quickly, so it’s important to maintain a steady pace of content creation. If you decide to make a video based on a specific trend, don’t copy the top videos identically—find a way to make the video you create unique.
Engage with users and build interactions
Like most social networks, the TikTok platform encourages user engagement. Leaving comments on videos is a great way to gain this engagement and build a conversation with your audience. TikTok ranks comments based on the number of likes they receive, so when responding to users, make sure your replies are meaningful, comprehensive, and accurate. Additionally, take the time to watch popular videos in your niche and leave thoughtful, complete comments there as well.
Post content frequently
TikTok is a platform that encourages users to post frequently and rewards them for it. The more niche-specific videos you publish for a targeted audience, the more your follower count and performance metrics for each video will rise. A high volume of videos helps users discover you and your content, and TikTok will also expose you to more users when you produce content consistently.
Use TikTok effects
To make your videos stand out among the millions of videos on TikTok, the platform offers a wide variety of effects that help you create unique videos for your viewers. You can find these effects under the Effects tab, categorized into sections like Trending, New, Animals, and more. Additionally, TikTok features the “Green Screen Effect,” which allows you to replace the video background with an image of your choice, just like in TV shows and movies.
Create engaging content and invest in video descriptions
Videos on the TikTok platform can be up to one minute long, so there isn’t much time to deliver your marketing message. The goal is to create high-quality visual content that feels professionally produced. Additionally, it is important to make use of the video description and include detailed information about what appears in the video. Make sure to include a call to action to boost user engagement. Writing a good video description is also essential for organic reach on the platform; you want the TikTok system to understand what the video is about when it’s added to its database so it can suggest it to a relevant target audience. Use relevant keywords within the description, but only where they make natural sense as part of the text, rather than adding them just for the sake of it.
Using TikTok's Advertising System - TikTok Ads
TikTok has an official advertising system that allows you to easily advertise to users on the platform. There are 2 types of advertising on TikTok available on TikTok Ads:
- Standard advertising options – Regular in-feed ad campaigns with ads reminiscent of feed ads on Facebook and Instagram. The ads appear while scrolling between videos and can include call-to-action buttons. Users have the option to skip in-feed ads.
- Advanced options for brands – Brands approved by TikTok can use ads in non-traditional ways. Advertising options like Hashtag Challenge Ads and Brand Takeover Ads allow brands to leverage their audience with unconventional campaigns that generate conversions in a more community-driven, less salesy way, contributing to brand building.
You can speak with a TikTok representative to see if your brand qualifies for advanced advertising options.
What is the For You page and how can you reach it?
The For You Page (FYP) is the first page you land on when you open the TikTok app. The page features videos from creators you may not follow, but whom the TikTok algorithm thinks you’ll like based on your interests and past interactions on the platform.
For example: If you have high engagement (likes, shares, and comments) on videos featuring web design and development content, you will likely see a lot of content on these topics on your For You page. The For You page is very similar to Instagram’s Explore page; on both pages, the platform aims to match you with content that interests you.
The For You page on TikTok is where every video creator on the platform wants to end up. The algorithm identifies your content, decides that it is high-quality and engaging, and distributes it to a massive audience – in short, every creator’s dream. There are several key reasons why creators and marketers want to reach the For You page:
- Massive amount of traffic – If you usually get 100 views on a regular video, a video that lands on the For You page can get tens or even hundreds of thousands of views. This is massive exposure that you get for free.
- Followers and monetization – Appearing on the For You page will increase your follower count and help you get closer to monetizing your account through the TikTok Creator Fund (an option available to accounts with over 10,000 followers).
- Becoming an authority in your field – Once the platform pushes your content to a broader audience, you may gain recognition as an expert in the field you create content about, leading to increased business sales (if applicable) or paid sponsorships and promotions for other businesses.
- Growing other assets – After gaining massive exposure on TikTok via the For You page, you can leverage that traffic to grow other platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and more, expanding the community you are building to additional channels.
There is no exact formula that is guaranteed to get you onto the For You page. The algorithm is constantly changing, and if your content is not relevant and the audience is not responsive, your video simply won’t get there. However, there are several things you can do to guide it there:
- Use the right hashtags
- Create short videos
- Write descriptions with a call to action
- Create high-quality videos
- Schedule video uploads for the active hours of your audience
- Use trending sounds in the video
Even after using the techniques above, you cannot guarantee 100% that you will reach the For You page, but it will significantly improve your chances. It is important to remember that these techniques will not help if you do not create high-quality, innovative, and relevant content for your audience.
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Summary - TikTok Promotion
TikTok is a social media platform taking over video content across social networks. It is a new platform, and you need to learn its algorithm to grow organically. The best way is to publish content your audience wants to see and make it as engaging as possible through visual video storytelling. Landing on the For You page is TikTok’s way of telling you that your content is relevant to users and drives engagement; therefore, the primary goal of your organic TikTok content strategy is to reach the For You page and generate massive traffic that fuels account growth.
About the Author
Dvir Naaman, 26 years old, an entrepreneur at heart, passionate about e-commerce websites, and specializing in SEO.
