We live in an era where attention spans are short and trends change at the speed of light, businesses are constantly seeking innovative ways to capture the interest of their target audience. TikTok, a wildly popular short-form video platform, has emerged as a powerful tool for businesses to connect with consumers and drive sales, even for those operating on a shoestring budget.
TikTok offers a unique opportunity for businesses to showcase their products or services and engage with potential customers in innovative ways. In this article, we delve into how businesses can effectively leverage TikTok to increase sales without breaking the bank.
Ways on How Businesses Can Use Tiktok To Increase Sales On A Tight Budget
Authenticity Rules: One of TikTok’s defining features is its emphasis on authenticity. Users gravitate towards content that feels genuine and relatable. For businesses, this means shedding the polished facade and embracing a more human approach. Rather than investing in expensive production, focus on creating content that reflects your brand’s personality. Share behind-the-scenes glimpses, showcase real-life product use, and involve employees in your videos to build a stronger connection with your audience.
Fun fact: Did you know that 52% of internet audiences say they want brands to be authentic
Storytelling through Short Videos: TikTok’s short video format doesn’t hinder storytelling; in fact, it encourages it. Craft concise yet compelling narratives that resonate with your target audience. Share anecdotes about your brand’s journey, highlight customer testimonials, or even create mini-tutorials that showcase the value of your products. These stories engage viewers and leave a lasting impact.
Influencer Collaborations: Collaborating with influencers can be an effective way to extend your brand’s reach without a hefty price tag. Identify influencers whose values align with your brand and whose audience matches your target demographic. Many micro-influencers are willing to partner with smaller businesses in exchange for your product or a nominal fee. Their endorsement can introduce your brand to a whole new set of potential customers.
Trend Riding: TikTok thrives on trends that can go viral within hours. Savvy businesses keep a close eye on trending challenges, memes, and songs. By creating content that taps into these trends, you can ride the wave of popularity and capture the attention of a wider audience. Just ensure that your content feels authentic and relevant to your brand.
Call to Action (CTA):While TikTok is a platform for entertainment, don’t forget to incorporate clear CTAs in your videos. Whether it’s directing viewers to your website, offering a discount code, or prompting them to subscribe, a well-placed CTA can turn casual viewers into paying customers.
Time Your Posts Strategically: Understanding the peak usage times of your target audience is crucial for maximizing engagement. TikTok’s algorithm rewards timely content. Analyze your audience’s behavior to identify the best times to post your videos for optimal visibility and engagement.
Optimize for the TikTok Algorithm: Understanding TikTok’s algorithm is key to maximizing your content’s reach. The platform’s algorithm prioritizes content that keeps users engaged. Focus on the first few seconds of your video – they’re crucial for hooking viewers. Use captivating visuals and an attention-grabbing opening to ensure viewers stay engaged until the end. Regularly post consistent content to maintain a presence on users’ feeds.
Promote Limited-Time Offers and Discounts: Create a sense of urgency by promoting limited-time offers or exclusive discounts exclusively for your TikTok audience. Leverage FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) to drive sales. Use creative videos to highlight the benefits of your promotions and emphasize the urgency of the offer.
Run contests and giveaways: An easy way to increase the visibility of your products and services amongst your followers is to run contests and giveaways. These events can be as simple as a fun challenge that targets your followers to create similar content and challenge their friends by tagging them.
The best content is always genuine, and who wouldn’t want to see a small business owner engage directly with their followers?
Monitor Analytics and Iterate:Regularly review TikTok’s analytics to gauge the performance of your content. Pay attention to metrics such as views, likes, shares, and comments. Analyze which types of content resonate the most with your audience and adjust your strategy accordingly. Continuously refine your approach based on the insights you gather to improve results over time.
Final Thought: TikTok offers businesses of all sizes a cost-effective way to increase sales and engage with their target audience, not just that along TikTok presents a unique opportunity for businesses to increase sales even on a tight budget. By understanding your target audience, creating authentic content, leveraging user-generated content, collaborating with influencers, utilizing hashtag challenges, optimizing for the algorithm, and promoting limited-time offers, your business can tap into TikTok’s vast potential. With creativity, strategy, and consistent effort, you can effectively drive sales and grow your brand presence, all while staying within your financial constraints. Remember, success on TikTok isn’t solely determined by financial investment, but by the creativity, authenticity, and strategic thinking that you bring to the platform.
Are Tiktok Ads Worth It? The short answer — yes, you should definitely give it a go. It’s one of the fastest-growing (& most cost-effective) social media platforms in the world and is quickly becoming an advertising haven for businesses! But deciding if it’s the right fit for you requires answers to essential questions like:
Who is your target audience?
(If they’re 25 and under, TikTok is the place to be!)
Can you easily showcase your products/services in a video?
Are you comfortable sharing light-hearted content?
(TikTok isn’t a ‘serious’ platform by any means).
I personally recommend you spend time experimenting with the platform and different types of content so you can find the perfect fit for your business!
That been said, why will you even want to market your product or service in TikTok to start with. I believe you don’t know let me explain to you statistically, just take a look at these statistics from Influencer marketing hub
TikTok Users Spend More than 850 Minutes Per Month on the App
According to Statista, US TikTok users average 858 minutes per month on the app. This statistic gives information on monthly TikTok app user engagement in the United States in March 2020.
If you examine the data from October 2019 to March 2020, you will note a considerable increase in the time that the average TikTok user spent on the app. Usage grew from an average of 442.9 minutes per month in October 2019 to 526.1 minutes in November, 561.2 minutes in December, 680 minutes in January 2020, 731.6 minutes in February, and 858 minutes in March 2020.
2. TikTok now has 1 Billion Monthly Active users (January 2022)
As of January 2022, TikTok had 1 billion Monthly Active users worldwide!
In a December 2019 Statista survey, 23 percent of respondents stated that they had used or seen videos posted on TikTok. Conversely, 44% indicated that they hadn’t, while 33% claimed to have never heard of TikTok. However, more U.S. internet users used TikTok in 2020 during the COVID pandemic, so these percentages now probably understate the actual situation.
3. 3 Billion Installations
TikTok has been installed on devices over 3 billion times worldwide. It passed the one billion-milestone in February 2019 and the two billion-figure in April 2020. It reached three billion in Mid-2021. TikTok became only the fifth non-gaming app to reach the 3-billion level and the first not owned by Facebook (now Meta).
4. 167 Million TikTok Videos Watched in an Internet Minute
In August 2021, Statista collated online media usage for an “internet minute” worldwide. In that time, people consume hundreds of thousands of hours of content and send, scroll, and upload millions of messages, emails and texts. Amongst these statistics, Statista found that TikTok users watch 167 million hours of videos on the app in a sample minute.
5. Entertainment Most Popular Category on TikTok by Hashtag Views
As of July 2020, the most popular content categories on TikTok all had over two billion views, according to Statista. The most viewed content category on the app was entertainment content. Presumably, this category includes all those lip-synching videos. The second most viewed content category was dance.
The most popular categories overall are:
Entertainment – 535 billion hashtag views
Dance – 181 billion
Pranks – 79 billion
Fitness/sports – 57 billion
Home reno/D.I.Y. – 39 billion
Beauty/skincare – 33 billion
Fashion – 27 billion
Recipes/cooking – 18 billion
Life hacks/advice – 13 billion
Pets – 10 billion
Outdoors – 2 billion
6. Highest Social Media Engagement Rates Per Post
Recent Upfluence data shows better engagement rates across different follower levels for Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. TikTok has considerably more engagement than either of the other two networks at all follower levels. For example, Upfluence found micro-influencers had engagement rates of 17.96% on TikTok, 3.86% on Instagram, and 1.63% on YouTube. At the other extreme, mega-influencers had engagement rates of 4.96% on TikTok, 1.21% on Instagram, and 0.37% on YouTube.
If you isolate the fitness sector, Upfluence found that although there weren’t all that many TikTok fitness influencers, they had the highest average engagement rate across platforms – 9.3% compared to Instagram (2.9%), YouTube (0.7%), and Facebook (0.5%).
7. Total Downloads For TikTok Exceed 2.5 Billion
TikTok has grown significantly over the years and House of Marketers expect it to continue to scale worldwide. According to a report by the Business of Apps, 2.6 billion people will download the app by 2020. In 2018 alone, more than 750 million people downloaded the app. And as 2019 came to an end, they reached 1.5 billion, almost doubling the number of downloads in a single year.
8. Most TikTok Users Want Funny and Engaging Content on TikTok
Participants in the global web index survey said that they usually look for entertaining or funny content on the app. Entertaining its visitors is a higher priority for TikTok than anything else. Posting and sharing entertaining content remains the most common way that people interact with the app.
9. Users spend more time on TikTok than YouTube
According to AppAnnie, users are spending much more time watching TikTok than they are on YouTube. People can watch new content in a very short span of time given the style of content that TikTok offers, especially when compared to YouTube. This helps explain why your marketing budget may be better used off YouTube, and on TikTok.
10. Smaller Brands Can Go Viral on TikTok, With Little Effort
Some smaller brands can sometimes become household names and older brands can become relevant again through TikTok. In the case of Ocean Spray, a 90-year-old beverage company became relevant again. TikTok creator Nathan Apodaca showed himself drinking the beverage on his way to work. Ocean Spray also saw a bump in their sales following the height of the trend. They capitalized on it by referencing the trend on TikTok and participating in a challenge inspired by Nathan’s initial video.
TikTok age demographics
Age
Percentage of users
Under 18
28
19-29
35
30-39
18
39+
19
Note: These are global values. Individual country demographics are available in the TikTok Report
Source: App Ape
TikTok gender demographics
Gender
Percentage of users
Female
59
Male
39
Other
2
Sources: App Ape, Bloomberg
TikTok engagement by country
Year
Usage per day (minutes)
United States
68
United Kingdom
60
France
60
Norway
74
Poland
68
Sources: Bloomberg, Sensor Tower
So, with all these statistics I need you need to rethink it twice if you will not be marketing your product or services on TikTok.
Type of TikTok ads
Here are the five types of TikTok Ads:
In-Feed Ads
Brand Takeover
TopView
Branded Hashtag Challenge
Branded Effects
TikTok Ads: In-Feed Ads
In-Feed Ads are the video ads that appear in between user videos as you scroll through your For You page. If you’re unfamiliar with TikTok and the For You page, In-Feed Ads are very similar to the ads you’d see while tapping through Instagram Stories.
TikTok Ads: Brand Takeover
Have you ever opened up TikTok and received an ad right away? If so, those are Brand Takeover Ads.
Brand Takeover Ads appear upon opening the app — presenting a full-screen video to your targeted audience.
They’re one of TikTok Ad’s best options for delivering mass awareness and driving direct sales since you can place your messaging right in front of your target audience.
Not only do these ads show up as soon as users open TikTok, but they can also appear on the For You page as still images, GIFs or videos — including a clickable link driving users to a landing page or a Hashtag Challenge within TikTok.
See how Guess Jeans had their #InMyDenim Challenge advertised all across TikTok. The photo below on the far left is an example of a Brand Takeover.
Brand Takeover Ads are exclusive to their category, which means that TikTok makes sure users don’t see more than one Brand Takeover per day. With Brand Takeover Ads you can expect a lot of eyes on your content with little competition.
If you’re just starting out with TikTok Ads, Brand Takeovers may not be your first choice. Because, while super effective, Brand Takeovers do come at a high cost.
If you’re a bigger brand with a large marketing budget, they are a great option for fast growth and reaching a large group of TikTok users.
TikTok Ads: TopView
TopView Ads are a new advertising option that builds on Brand Takeovers.
What makes TopView Ads different is that unlike Branded Takeover Ads, TikTok users aren’t bombarded with an ad as soon as they open the app — TopView Ads are the first in-feed post after 3 seconds.
It shows up at the top of the For You page, TikTok’s most premium real estate, with up to 60-seconds of full-screen video with auto-play and sound.
TikTok Ads: Branded Hashtag Challenge
Branded Hashtag Challenges are a one-of-a-kind advertising opportunity exclusively to TikTok. You’ve probably seen branded hashtag challenges displayed on TikTok’s Discovery page.
TikTok Ads: Branded Effects
TikTok now offers branded shareable stickers, AR filters, and lenses in their advertising mix.
Similar to Snapchat’s branded lenses, TikTok’s branded effects allow brands to design their own custom filter on the app.
Branded Effects can be live for up to 10 days at a time and are an awesome way to encourage users to directly interact with your brand (in a fun way!).
How Much do TikTok Ads Cost?
TikTok Ads are new to the scene — brands and businesses are still experimenting with the platform — so understanding the average spend or return on investment (ROI) is difficult.
So, if you’re a small business and want to give TikTok ads a try, don’t let the unknown scare you off right away — spending big bucks on TikTok isn’t the only way to advertise on the popular app.
You can set up a free TikTok Ads account and create In-Feed ads with your own set budget and schedule. Currently, TikTok’s minimum campaign budget is $500 and the minimum ad group budget is $50.
However, it has also been reported that the cost of advertising on TikTok can be anywhere from $50,000 to $120,000, depending on the type and duration.
If these reported numbers are true, it would make sense as to why we haven’t really seen smaller businesses advertising on TikTok just yet.
As more brands begin to engage and use TikTok Ads, it will become clearer whether TikTok will follow a similar model to Instagram and Facebook ads where (no budget is too small), or if they will continue to keep certain ad types, like branded hashtag challenges, as elite spends
How to Create a TikTok Ad
Now that you’re familiar with TikTok’s creative advertising options, it’s time to talk about the tools that help get your ads into action.
Before you can go ahead and create ads on TikTok, even In-Feed ads, you have to be approved by TikTok. It’s not a difficult process, just an extra step to keep in mind.
#2: Enter your country and account type and press “Next”.
#3: TikTok Ads is currently only available in certain regions. Fill out all of your contact information and depending on if TikTok Ads self-serve is available in your region, either press “Make a Reservation” or “Inform me of Future Updates”.
Note: TikTok Ads Manager self-serve platform is now available in the United States for businesses of all sizes.
#4: Now it’s time to wait for TikTok to send more information. Make sure to double-check all your email folders (promotions, social, junk, etc).
TIP: If you know you want to start advertising on TikTok in the future (even if it’s not for a while!) create an account sooner than later to be sure you have it there when you’re ready.
Once you get the verification email, TikTok asks a number of questions about your business and advertising goals. After you submit the questionnaire, a TikTok representative will be in touch with you over email to help you complete the process.
Following that, you’ll be able to enter and officially set up your account.
On TikTok’s self-serve platform, you can create and run campaigns, easily define your target audience, select bidding methods, and design your ad creative.
Similar to regular hashtag trends and challenges on TikTok, Branded Hashtags Challenges offer both organic and sponsored opportunities for brands.
They’re a great way to encourage user-generated content and build brand awareness.
The best part about Branded Hashtag Challenges? You can have a ton of fun with them! They are an awesome way for brands to collaborate and seamlessly integrate themselves into the TikTok culture and community.
It’s important to have concrete objectives when you’re creating a Branded Hashtag Challenge. Are you looking to create awareness for a new product? Generate new leads? Or increase general brand awareness?
When a user clicks on a sponsored hashtag, they’re taken to a landing page on TikTok with the brand logo, link to their website, brief description of the challenge, and popular videos using the hashtag.
#4: Now it’s time to wait for TikTok to send more information. Make sure to double-check all your email folders (promotions, social, junk, etc).
TIP: If you know you want to start advertising on TikTok in the future (even if it’s not for a while!) create an account sooner than later to be sure you have it there when you’re ready.
Once you get the verification email, TikTok asks a number of questions about your business and advertising goals. After you submit the questionnaire, a TikTok representative will be in touch with you over email to help you complete the process.
Following that, you’ll be able to enter and officially set up your account.
On TikTok’s self-serve platform, you can create and run campaigns, easily define your target audience, select bidding methods, and design your ad creative.
Similar to regular hashtag trends and challenges on TikTok, Branded Hashtags Challenges offer both organic and sponsored opportunities for brands.
They’re a great way to encourage user-generated content and build brand awareness.
The best part about Branded Hashtag Challenges? You can have a ton of fun with them! They are an awesome way for brands to collaborate and seamlessly integrate themselves into the TikTok culture and community.
It’s important to have concrete objectives when you’re creating a Branded Hashtag Challenge. Are you looking to create awareness for a new product? Generate new leads? Or increase general brand awareness?
When a user clicks on a sponsored hashtag, they’re taken to a landing page on TikTok with the brand logo, link to their website, brief description of the challenge, and popular videos using the hashtag.
If you’re looking for maximum exposure, you can pay up to a hefty $150,000 per day to show up on TikTok’s Discover banner. That’s huge real estate but it’s not the only way to get users engaged with your branded hashtag.
TIP: If you’re looking for a less costly alternative, partner with popular creators on TikTok, like Houseparty and Freal Milkshakes below, to help your challenge take off!
Check out how the popular video messaging app, Houseparty, uses branded hashtags in a recent campaign on TikTok.
See how Houseparty partnered with Gen-Z heartthrob Chase Stokes (or better known as “John B” from Outer Banks) to help push their hashtag even further.
You can get super creative with In-Feed Ads. You can include multiple call-to-actions and make your video anywhere between 9 to 15 seconds.
Having the opportunity to include a call-to-action is a huge advantage. For example, you can encourage users to shop now, download your app, or visit your website right from TikTok.
See how Adobe uses a clear CTA in their In-Feed Ad below.
One thing to keep in mind is that like any other video on your For You Page, In-Feed Ads can be scrolled past or skipped pretty quickly. You only have about 2-3 seconds to catch your audience’s eye before they keep scrolling.
In-Feed Ads should be full screen and should be enticing enough to stop users from scrolling past your content.
TikTok offers brands an effective way of communicating with their audience by helping brands engage with users through multiple ad formats that speak the TikTok language, seamlessly integrating with native content and delivering maximum results.
Over the years TikTok have grow from not just been one of the video sharing apps but among the biggest video sharing apps in the world at the moment with about 1 billion monthly active users worldwide and still growing it has become so powerful that you just can’t ignore it anymore.
So, I will be showing practical ways you can create very Engaging Contents on TikTok, so without no further ado let’s get started.
Be authentic.
Keep it real, keep it organic, and create something truly engaging. Don’t focus on “branding” it too much; instead, create something which would drive lots of user-generated content. Ordinality will always sellout.
Focus on Niche Content Your Ideal Audience Will Want to Watch
When people think of TikTok, they tend to think of viral content, popular dances, and trendy music. TikTok trends tend to be fairly universal. Certain content also tends to be fairly universal, things like food, for example. Universal content can help you rack up a lot of views fairly quickly but it doesn’t always equal high engagement or sales like having a targeted audience.
A targeted audience most often comes in through niche content. Niche content doesn’t need to be super-narrow but it does need to be content your ideal client would be interested in watching, or even binging, while on TikTok.
While going viral can be fun and exciting, the real success for businesses comes with consistent content targeted toward their audience, growing a community based around that content, and offering the same tips and value that would elevate them to thought leaders.
Hashtags on TikTok
One more thing to consider when it comes to creating content for TikTok: the hashtags. Like other platforms, TikTok uses hashtags to help categorize and filter out content. And users use hashtags to find the content they’re interested in. Using niched-down hashtags will help ensure that your content gets in front of the right eyes.
However, hashtags aren’t necessary and don’t always play a role in going viral. Even if the hashtag is trending, using a popular hashtag that’s unrelated to your content won’t necessarily increase the views on your videos.
Educate Your Audience
It’s time to flex your skills and expertise! Break down valuable information or guide viewers through an educational how-to video.
This type of content works because it can be applied to any industry or niche, and you can share your knowledge about a particular subject.
Real-estate professional Tamika Ellsworth (@realestate_t) educates viewers about home buying terms, insurance, and more:
Not sure where to start? Take a look at FAQs related to your business on Google, gather feedback from your followers, or think about what advice your friends ask you for.
TIP: Make educational TikTok videos a recurring element of your content strategy by creating a dedicated TikTok Playlist. This will allow viewers to find all your related videos in one place.
Tell a Story
With over 65B views, the #StoryTime hashtag is proof of the demand for personal, story-based content on TikTok.
Take Tiana aka @hoopsandt, an official scorer for basketball games. Her TikTok video telling the story of how she landed her job has over 72K views:
Or you could get inspiration from Joanne L. Molinaro who shares personal stories about her life while cooking Korean dishes:
You can also share stories you’ve been captivated by and spotlight employees, role models, or game-changers in your industry.
TIP: Storytelling videos don’t need to be too complicated. They can be as straightforward as filming a selfie video to talk about a unique experience.
Prioritize creativity.
Be creative! That’s the only thing that brands should consider while engaging with their audiences on platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels! Brands who are able to show their creativity in a funny and natural for the platform way, are always welcomed by the viewers
More Than Just A Trend
While it can be daunting to use a new content-creation platform like TikTok, the most important thing is to have a little bit of fun while using TikTok. Services that can express their creativity and funny side will be more popular with audiences and leave a positive lasting impression. What do you think about brands using TikTok to widen their reach and Creating Engaging Contents? Do you think it’s just a trend that is soon to pass? Share your thoughts, feelings, and opinions with us at kennysoft STUDIOs, because together, we learn!
