How to Use TikTok for Your Business in 2021

Did you know that TikTok is the most downloaded app on Apple App Store in 2020, strongly beating Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Whatsapp? 

Also, it has nearly 1.29 billion monthly active users worldwide. Those are some amazing numbers for a platform that came into existence just 5 years ago. 

If you think that TikTok is just for dance and cringy content, then think again because TikTok is expected to earn $500 million from ads alone this year, meaning brands are interested in spending on TikTok. 

It is one of the best platforms if you want to increase your reach because it is relatively easy to blow up on TikTok as compared to other social media like YouTube. 

Especially if your target audience is GenZ, then TikTok is a must because 62% of TikTok users are between the age group 10 to 29 in the US.

So your brand just being present there and creating some engaging content will make it relevant in the eyes of your GenZ audience. 

Today, we’re collaborating with a TikTok growth expert, Joshua Moore, who will teach you how to use TikTok for your business. So let’s begin!

How to Use TikTok for Business 

TikTok is completely different from all the other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat. A lot of people coming from these apps focus mainly on the photo aspect, but on TikTok, the challenge is to bring your products to life with the help of video. 

The first thing you need to do is research what type of content other creators or other kinds of small businesses are creating. 

Get a feel for how video creation on TikTok looks like, what kinds of videos catch the attention of the viewers, what people are liking and talking about on the platform. 

Salesy content typically doesn’t work on TikTok, so that’s not something you’d want to do. Instead, you wanna create content that inspires people, or shows the benefits of your product, or educate them about how your product can help. 

Telling your story as a business is very important because that’s what people like to hear. TikTok is a people’s business, and people don’t like it when you try to sell them, but they do pay attention when there’s a story attached to it. 

If you want a starting point, then just answering some common questions that people might have about your business is usually the best place to start.

Once you get an idea of what kind of content works for other businesses and people, then it’s all about taking action.

Just pick up your camera or smartphone and hit that record button without caring about going viral or getting the views or getting followers because it just comes at the right time. 

On TikTok, quantity leads to quality. So pumping out these videos will eventually find that groove which the algorithm will just pick up, and then you just keep rolling with that type of post. 

How to Create Engaging Content on TikTok

People on TikTok are mostly there for entertainment, and they care more about engaging content than they do about valuable content. 

So as a business, you might feel that it’s more important to create value, information, or educational content. But there’s a fine line between engaging and boring. Adding too much value might push your content towards the boring side of things. 

If you want to present value or information, then you must do it in a way that is still engaging and entertaining. 

The average attention span on TikTok is only eight seconds. People on TikTok just don’t like long-form content. So 10 ways or 10 benefits of your product might not go so viral. 

But if you’re a little creative, you can easily work around that and still communicate the desired message. For example, instead of how to use TikTok for business in 10 steps, you can do “learn TikTok for business in 30 seconds.” 

Even if you don’t necessarily shorten down the content, learning something in 30 seconds sounds much better and much quicker. 

How to Use Hashtags on TikTok

Much like Instagram and Twitter, TikTok also has hashtags related to various interests and niches that people follow. 

Hashtags on TikTok are a very crucial part of any growth strategy because they are the first thing that comes to your mind when talking about increasing reach or targeting the right people. 

The way Joshua uses hashtags is to help gain insights into what content other creators in his niche are creating and what hashtags they are using.

So, for example, if his competitors are using the hashtags #TikTokCoach and #TikTokMentor, then he will use the same hashtags in his next posts to tap into that audience. 

For smaller accounts, hashtags are extremely important because they help increase discoverability and feed the algorithm. For larger accounts with tens of thousands of followers already, they don’t make much impact. 

Now, hashtags are not the holy grail of TikTok and they’ll certainly not make your post go viral. So don’t spam your own account with a thousand different hashtags. 

Virality doesn’t come from whether you use hashtags or not. It comes from if your content is engaging, sharable, entertaining, and valuable. 

All the other strategies like hashtags, captions, keyword stuffing, posting time and frequency only work if your content is good. 

How to Create Longer Content the Right Way

So we know that short-form content or shorter videos actually work better on TikTok. But sometimes, you wanna deliver that value that you can’t pack in a 15-second video. So, how to create longer content and still stay relevant? 

Well, according to Joshua, it comes down to what type of content creator you are and how do you tell a story. 

The fact still remains that the average attention span on TikTok is only eight seconds, so your hook, the first few seconds of your video are very crucial. 

You need to do enough in the first eight seconds of the video that you hook your viewer and make them want to watch more. 

The reason why countdown videos such as top 10 songs of 2021 or top 5 places to visit in California works well is our curiosity to know what’s the number 1 spot. They hook you by showing the 10th place first. 

TikTok, as a platform, also likes long-form content because it keeps the user on the app for a longer time. So you shouldn’t be afraid of creating long videos thinking TikTok will limit your reach or anything.

How Frequently Should You Post on TikTok

This is an important question to take up because there has been a lot of fuss and smoke around what is the ideal posting frequency on TikTok. 

Some people will tell you to post only once a day, while others will tell you to post every single hour. What should you do, especially as a business?

According to Joshua, your posting frequency will depend on the kind of content you’re creating and the goal you have in mind. 

If your goal is to get a hundred thousand followers in a month, then one video per day probably won’t do that. But if your goal is 10,000, then thirty videos in a month should do. 

The more important thing is finding consistency. It’s better to post once a day every day than thrice one day and none the next day. 

However, if you’re looking for an ideal number, then anywhere from once to thrice per day is a good frequency. 

But when you see a trend, jump on it as soon as possible without caring about posting frequency because trends come and go very fast on TikTok.

Should You Go Live on TikTok 

A lot of people will tell you to go live right after posting or at different times, but Joshua will tell you to go live whenever you can, and as much as you can because it’s nurturing. 

As a business or marketer, TikTok live is a great way to extend that value where people can tune into your live and you can talk to them one-on-one for like 30 minutes. 

You can use it to explain your product, talk about your business, answer their questions and interact with them. 

Also, for people scrolling through their feeds, show something that tells them what your live is about. Have a little whiteboard or placard on the side. 

Interacting with customers is the biggest advantage of going live. Make sure you ask people to ask questions and show how you can help them. 

There is no other way except going live that you can use to build deep connections with your audience.