Our 5 Top Tips on How Businesses Can Start up on TikTok

Are you a business looking to expand your marketing activity? Have you thought about marketing on TikTok but not really sure where to start?

We’re here to give you some support, share our own TikTok experience and answer the common questions businesses may ask themselves when it comes to starting up on TikTok.

Firstly, let’s tell you a little about our TikTok journey and where we are now. We started the Visit Kent TikTok page in July of last year and have since been sharing our own content and User Generate Content (UGC) to grow our page and expand our audience. It was important for us to incorporate TikTok into our marketing activity, and after researching the benefits and understanding a little more about the platform, it wasn’t hard to see why!

Before we get stuck in, let’s share with you three useful statistics from Sprout Social, Inc. , that helped us to understand the benefits of using TikTok as a business:

·???????55% of TikTok users have made a purchase after seeing a brand on the app

·???????43% of TikTok users try something after seeing it on TikTok

·???????30% of Gen Z use TikTok for product research

1.?????“Should we set out a TikTok strategy?”

Yes! Setting out a TikTok strategy will help you to understand more about the platform and how your business can use it to your advantage. Set short term and long term goals and objectives and monitor these regularly. It is also important to identify ways in which your business can use TikTok whilst keeping in line with your brand values, brand image and brand identity.

2.?????“How do we operate as a business account on TikTok?”

After setting up your account, ensure you switch your account to a business account, similar to other social media platforms, this will allow you to track and monitor more analytics.

3.?????“Can we use TikTok like our other social media pages?”

No. TikTok is unlike any other social media platform. Although you might use it for the same purpose, for example, to promote your products or services, the app is unique and requires a whole different approach. This may be because your content is different due to hopping on the latest trends or using trending sounds.

Our advice would be to set up your account with a fresh mind and go into TikTok with new ideas. Research the latest trends and see if this is something you could be part of.

4.?????“We’re not too sure what style of content to create. How do we know what will perform best?”

Trial and error. If there’s one great thing to learn about TikTok as a new business, it’s that trialling your content and testing out different styles is okay! Because how will you know what content is resonating best with your audience if you don’t test out new ideas. Therefore, don’t be afraid to try new things and let your brand personality shine through in your content.

5.?????“How do we gain followers to begin with?”

Spread the word! Let your existing followers know that you are on TikTok, after all, they are your advocates and will support your new journey. For us at Visit Kent, we decided to focus on engaging our Instagram followers as we found further statistics from SproutSocial which indicate that 40% of TikTok users do not have Facebook.

So there we have it, our top 5 tips. We hope you found this article useful and hope that it gives you the encouragement to give TikTok a go!

If you're a Visit Kent partner and would like further support, reach out to your account manager and we'd love to help you on your journey.