Master TikTok Marketing For Your Business (Beginners)

You probably see a tiny little gorilla figurine. I see Harambe, someone who must be protected at all costs. Which leads me to today's topic. TikTok. A beautiful segue, am I right? As of last month, TikTok beat out YouTube for average watch time in the US and the UK. So if you've been thinking about adding TikTok to your business for social media marketing, the time to do it is now. If not for me, for Harambe, especially if you're interested in capturing the attention of the Gen Z audience. What's up? It's Jamal from HubSpot. In this video, I'm going to show you how to get your business on TikTok today so you can start to grow your audience with all the tools and techniques already being used by some of the biggest brands. If you want to learn more about the current state of social media marketing, download HubSpot's free Social Media Trends 2021 report. The link is in the description, and while you're there, be sure to subscribe to this channel and ring that notification bell. Even if you don't have TikTok on your phone, you've definitely felt its impact. From the milk crate challenge to that guy on his skateboard drinking cranberry juice while Fleetwood Mac is playing. Many of the biggest viral moments of the past few years got going on TikTok. No wonder TikTok was the world's most downloaded app in 2020, beating out both Facebook and Instagram. And it remains in the number one spot with 2.6 billion downloads since it launched in 2016. So if you haven't already, it's time to download TikTok and start using it for your business. Where to begin? Well, first you need to properly set up your profile. Start by going to manage your account in Settings and select Switch to Business Account. This gives you access to specialized features like enhanced metrics, a business content guide, and music approved for commercial use. When setting up your profile, photo and bio, there isn't much of a difference from other social media accounts. Use text, emojis and hashtags to briefly describe your business. TikTok also lets you include one URL in your bio, just like Instagram. That space should be your homepage or use link tree if you need multiple links. TikTok also lets you link your profile to your Instagram or YouTube account with a separate CTA right next to the bright red follow button. That is some premium real estate, and it's kind of a Flex on TikTok's part. They're basically just like go on, leave our platform and he'll be back. They already know. They know we love it. So now you're all set and ready to start TikToking. But what are you going to post? Like all social media, you don't just want to start posting willy nilly. TikTok is a video first platform, which means you need a content strategy for creating a steady stream of attention grabbing clips. Like any marketing strategy you want to start with considering your user profiles, some content might work great for TikTok as a platform, but doesn't connect to your audience at the same time. You need to make content that performs well on TikTok. So spend some time researching what other businesses in your category do to earn followers and engagement. And if you take nothing else away from this video, please do not be cringy. There are so many brands that think that they get it and they don't get it. You know, maybe ask young people a little bit what they do. You know what I'm saying? Look at what young people do, you know. TikTok makes this easy with their video showcase tool which lets you flip through the top brand videos in terms of number of likes and levels of engagement, as well as the most liked videos from all creators. This is a good starting point, but you'll want to do some deeper research into your immediate competitors to really get a sense of what's possible. Once you have some ideas as to what kind of content you want to make, start creating a calendar. It's generally recommended that brands post on TikTok one to three times a day to maximize engagement. This can seem like a lot, but remember that not all your TikToks have to be award winning masterpieces. And I know this because I tried to do that myself. Sundance hasn't called me. Unfortunately, out of all the social media platforms out there, TikTok is the most casual, meaning you can post authentic moments from your business without turning every 15 second video clip into a major production. According to TikTok's own research, the number one reason users report going to TikTok is to lift their spirits. So keep things light and entertaining. Want to see a good example? This TikTok from Chipotle is nothing more than a smartphone video of someone dipping their quesadilla in guacamole while song sings about dipping a quesadilla in guacamole. That's it. That's the whole thing. Doesn't need to get more sophisticated than that. Literally, people eat this stuff up, you know, they get it puns yeah. One of the fundamentals of TikTok is the way it lets users play music over their videos. For that reason, dance trends or other music based content dominate the platform. If you want to talk about dance trends, listen, you know. Mmm, yeah, there you go. You know who you gotta hit up? Somebody else. I don't know what I'm doing. As a brand, you're required to use music from the app's commercial use library of pre cleared songs. Otherwise your post could end up being taken down or worse, you could actually end up being sued for copyright infringement. If your brand just has to be part of a TikTok music trend, it's up to you to license the song directly from the owner, then safe list it with TikTok. This is legally required even if you're working with influencers whose creator accounts don't have the same limitations as a business account. But before you put in tons of effort licensing the hottest tracks, independent research tells us that 65% of TikTokers prefer content from brands that feature original sounds. If you need help Creating these sounds, TikTok has partnered with several music distributors and production companies that can help you create or discover your own catchy tunes optimized for TikTok. Keep in mind that while it's great to participate in existing TikTok trends to gain likes and views, the gold standard for a brand on TikTok is to create a trend of your own. Converse did this to promote its London Fashion Week activation by encouraging other London TikTokers to express themselves creatively using a pair of all stars as their canvas. And it used one of TikTok's branded hashtag challenges plus a media package to promote the campaign with a Discover page banner, campaign hashtag and music page recommendation. There was also a seamless shoppable experience to boost sales, and the brand commissioned some of the most popular artists on TikTok to kickstart the campaign with their own all star designs. Influencers are a huge deal on TikTok, so you'll probably want to use them at some point for your brand. I am not available though, but thanks for asking. Using influencers doesn't have to mean hiring someone with millions of followers. If you spend time following your Brand's niche on TikTok, you'll see plenty of micro influencers or potential potential influencers who you can reach out to directly and get them talking about your business. For help with that process, download HubSpot's free Influencer Marketing guide from the link in the description. Finally, if you're going to maintain a steady stream of relatable, participatory and niche specific content on TikTok. You're going to need the same tools the pros use. Fanbytes is a great app for finding influencers in the coveted 13 to 21 year old range to use in your TikTok campaigns. And and I'm sure you're thinking really Jamal, 13 year olds? That's who we're going to have push our products and our campaigns and our brands. Yes, they are powerful. More powerful than you could ever realize. Viamaker is a video editing tool made by the owners of TikTok to really upgrade your clips. Trend Talk offers AI powered analytics to help predict what's going to become a TikTok. Trend Exalyte is designed to help optimize your own content to maximize engagement. And Story Clash offers monitoring so you can discover where TikTokers are talking about things relevant to your brand. And like all social media, it's important to interact with other users by commenting on things in a proactive and non spammy way. Some of these are free apps for your phone, while others are paid services, but they're all worth it to help you make the most of your TikTok marketing efforts. After all, it's not every day that a new app comes around and takes over the entire Internet. I would know. I tried with Jambo. It didn't work. To learn how to succeed on all your social media platforms, you can sign up for HubSpot Academy's free online social media certification using the link below. And don't forget to like this video on your way to class. Now if you'll excuse me, Harambe and I have some trends to start. Alright, they're not gonna start themselves. We want to be the first ones to do it. You already know how this game works. Alright, until then, I'll see you next time. Now if you'll excuse me. Oh no, Harambe. I let you down literally.