Unconventional TikTok Tactics for Businesses

It's clear that TikTok is a leading destination for gaining visibility at the moment, but since most businesses know this, it's getting crowded. One of the ways you can find success on the platform is by working with TikTok creators beyond the traditional arrangement, making use of its unique advertising features, revisiting the concept of a social media contest, and embracing the laid-back and authentic feel of the app.

In this edition of Social Media Marketing Trends, we’ll review the strategies other brands are using to drive results from TikTok so that you can adapt them to your circumstances.

Hiring TikTok creators to run your company's accounts

Many companies have had success with paying TikTok influencers to promote their products, but some brands are now taking it a step beyond. Organizations like Nerf are hiring creators to run their brands’ TikTok accounts, in the hopes of growing their following on the platform—and developing a long-term relationship with their audience.

The toy brand Nerf's TikTok account is now run by Sophie Lightning, a creator with 2.1 million followers on the app. She is featured in most of the brand’s videos where she acts out characters in original skits, shares behind-the-scenes footage, and reacts to TikTok trends—always with Nerf products included. One of the most popular videos with 9.4 million views was Nerf’s take on the “is it cake?” trend where viewers guess whether an item is a Nerf toy or cake meant to look like one. Continue reading this one on Fast Company.

Advertising with existing organic content

Another strategy worth testing is TikTok’s Spark Ads. This feature allows brands to sponsor existing user-generated content about their products and services on the platform. For instance, Vessi Footwear uses TikTok Spark Ads to reach customers more authentically while earning a 2X higher return on advertising spend and a 59% lower cost per purchase across these campaigns.

Gabriel Dias, the former Director of Paid Acquisition at Vessi Footwear, outlines how to achieve similar results by sponsoring organic content:

1. Monitor posts about your brand. Be on the lookout for TikToks from others positively discussing your brand, product, or services. This is likely only a reality for businesses that have already achieved a certain level of popularity, so often you'll need to pay creators to post about your organization first.
2. Get the permission of the creators. This content might come from a creator you're working with, a new creator, or ideally, a customer. In all cases, you will need to get permission from them to advertise using their content. This collaboration can earn the creator or customer a significant number of followers and engagement, so stress this as a benefit of collaborating in addition to compensating them for their participation.
3. Aim to be flexible. Don't add or edit their content, instead, you want this to come across as an endorsement of your offerings. TikTok is a unique place, where creators have more creative control of everything they do. Be flexible regarding your partnership guidelines and allow the individuals you work with to play to their strengths.

Launching reimagined social media contests

Reimagining social media contests and giveaways on TikTok can give you a chance to boost your engagement in an affordable way, while entertaining customers in the process. Rewarding your audience with recognition, prizes, and free products can encourage them to interact with your brand, but the whole experience must be relevant and memorable, otherwise, these types of promotions can quickly feel like a gimmick.

Soyoung Kang, CMO of eos Products, breaks down the company's successful approach to hosting a modern social media giveaway on TikTok in three stages:

• Pre-launch: Before you launch a giveaway, you want your audience to know that it's coming by putting out teasers to build interest and excitement.
• Launch: As you start the giveaway, encourage your audience to participate. Make entry into the contest straight-forward by requiring users to follow your account or post a comment. You get the engagement, and your customer gets a chance to get rewarded.
• Post-launch: Make it easy for your audience to share the giveaway after participation. Customers showcasing their attachment to your brand can help amplify your message and ideally increase the lifespan of your campaign.

Revisiting humor on social media

A survey from Nielsen found that 49% of consumers are more interested in seeing humor in ads over endorsements from celebrities or athletes. The laid-back, more raw feel of TikTok makes it the ideal marketing channel for your company to experiment with humor.

One approach is being self-referential like the language learning company, Duolingo. Duolingo often calls out their own social media use as the focus of the joke they're making with messages such as "Leadership wants to talk about your last video."

Another way is to communicate your marketing message with a humorous take. A safe way to do so without being offensive is to poke fun at your own organization or industry at large. Use memes to show the benefits of your product or explain industry jargon with silly analogies. Incorporating humor might not be the right approach for every company, but done right, it can help humanize your marketing efforts.

This is a highlight reel of my LinkedIn Learning course on Social Media Marketing Trends, which has been taken by over 100,000+ students.