TikTok Is Trendy, Can It Support B2B?
TikTok is growing exponentially around the world. Find out why the social media platform appeals to today's youth and how to determine if it aligns with your B2B brand's content strategy.
Five years is an eternity in the social media world. For example, the massively popular, China-based, short video platform TikTok only became available globally back in August 2018.
By October 2020, it passed the 2 billion milestone in mobile downloads. It shot up to 3 billion at the end of 2021. According to US-based content delivery network Cloudflare, TikTok was the most popular website in the world that year, beating out Google.
TikTok gained its initial reputation as a music channel. The length of a TikTok video clip can vary between the minimum of 15 seconds up to the recently increased 10 minute maximum.
TikTok Has Over 2 Billion Users in 150 Countries
Worldwide, TikTok has over 2 billion monthly active users in more than 150 countries. There are over 100 million users in the United States, 23 million in the United Kingdom and 3.2 million in Canada.
Most people seem to log onto TikTok for dance clips and lip syncing. Some clips are professional and impressive, while others are just plain goofy.?
TikTok traditionally appeals to a younger demographic, with 47% of its US users between the ages of 10 and 29 and 42% in the 30 to 49 age group.?
Reported $4 Billion in Advertising Revenue in 2021
TikTok reported $4 billion in advertising revenue in 2021. Creators with 100,000 followers or more (about 4% of the total) are eligible for a 50/50 ad revenue sharing program.
However, the main revenue source for TikTok creators is influencer marketing. Brands collaborate with top TikTok creators to raise awareness, form individual customer relationships and drive sales.?
Marketers compensate their influencers in various ways. These can include product giveaways and cash payments, which they negotiate privately.
Adobe, Semrush and Shopify Moving Into TikTok
We’re starting to see well-known B2B brands like Adobe, Semrush, Zoom and Shopify moving into the TikTok space. With all the excitement and opportunity TikTok has generated, it’s natural for B2B marketers to consider how the platform might align with their content strategies.?
Of course, the question shouldn’t be, “How can we use TikTok to drive business?” Instead marketers should be asking themselves, “Which social media are best positioned to help reach our goals?”
Who, What, Where When and Why
B2B brands should answer this question the same way they would look at any marketing channel. One simple approach to assessing a social media platform, including Tiktok, is the classic “who, what, where, when and why.”
Who is your brand’s target audience? Are they likely to subscribe to TikTok? As TikTok’s reach expands, this question isn’t as easy to answer as it used to be without careful research on up-to-date sources. It’s surprising who turns up there now.
Based on your target audience, who could you recruit as your brand's influencer? Are they on TikTok? Do they have a substantial following there?
What content do you plan to create? Every social media platform has its own culture, and you need to adapt your brand’s content accordingly, while maintaining a relatively consistent voice.
In the case of TikTok, we’re definitely not in LinkedIn anymore. I chose the word “goofy” earlier for a reason.?
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Other words people use to describe TikTok marketing content include unique, experimental and clever. Of course, as fans of the fictional rock band Spinal Tap will realize, “There’s a fine line between clever and stupid!”
People also call TikTok content intimate, personable and authentic. These words can be euphemisms for what many of us of a certain age would call “too much information.”?
The TikTok culture is sarcastic, chaotic, unconventional, nonconformist and free-spirited. You and your team should seriously consider if your brand voice has that kind of range.
Advertising pioneer David Ogilvy once said that talent was most likely to be found among “non-conformists, dissenters and rebels.” He’d probably have enjoyed TikTok, but it’s hard to say if he’d have recommended it to his B2B clients.
Where is your target audience? Do the decision makers, line managers and influencers in your ideal client base spend time on TikTok? If so, who would they be following, and which hashtags would reach them? How would you navigate your content toward them in the TikTok platform?
When, if ever, is your target audience on TikTok? When are they mentally available for your brand’s messaging? Is it during office hours, or their free time??How often should your brand post on TikTok, and how would your editorial calendar look?
Why would your brand choose to add TikTok to your other social media channels? We could have started with this question, but it makes sense to ask it after pulling together answers to the above the questions.
Potential to Go Viral, Boosting Brand Awareness
Advocates of TikTok for B2B content marketing often cite the same basic features. Since TikTok is energetic, volatile and creative, content has the potential to go viral with a massive audience there, boosting your brand awareness.
Since TikTok emphasizes user-generated content and direct messaging, it can be a powerful networking forum. Participating in audio trends is a popular way for brands to reach their target audiences and generate leads.
As I’ve mentioned in previous editions, there’s a growing consensus that B2B marketing content has fallen short of its potential. The most common reason cited is a lack of human connection.?
Forum For Your Brand to Let Its Hair Down
We’re discovering that?business cases, product specifications, facts and figures aren’t enough. TikTok just might be an appropriate forum for your brand to let its hair down, reach out, and build trust on an individual level.
The TikTok platform is still unexplored territory for everyone, including creators, users and advertisers in both B2C and B2B spaces. Explorers can be the first to strike gold, but they can also be the ones who fall into the quicksand.
Based on Analysis, Not Because It Seems Trendy
Only you and your team can determine whether TikTok is a viable channel for your B2B brand. You should make that determination based on an analysis like the one above, not because TikTok seems trendy.
There’s a joke making the rounds that goes, “In the stone age we used crude tools cleverly. In the information age we use clever tools crudely.”?
There’s no question that TikTok is clever, but brands should find clever, not crude ways to profit from it.
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