Here’s 4 steps everyone should read before they dive into TikTok.

TikTok is here to stay. Not using it? You better start...

‘TikTok’ has the tendency to intimidate people, especially play-it-safe marketers. It’s a word that gets lumped in with other digital age marketing buzzwords, like ‘viral’, ‘influencer’, ‘hype house’...whatever the hell that is. The fact is, if your target audience is part of that Gen-Z or Millennial crowd, you should be using TikTok to communicate with them. To sound professional, add it into your social media marketing mix.

So, if you’re just getting started with this whole TikTok thing, have no fear. Your friendly neighborhood social media manager is here to break it down for you in 4 easy steps. .

Step One: Learn it, live it, love it.

The first step to achieving success on TikTok is to become obsessed with the app. Download it, spend time on it, learn it inside and out. Learn how to use the various editing features, observe the viral sound charts, try to understand all of the idiosyncrasies of the For You Page, and lastly, wrap your head around the fact that a video of a potato delivering the morning news might get twenty million more views than a professionally shot car commercial.

Step Two: Be consistent. 

The For You Page is a weird, weird place. If you want to give your content a fighting chance against the algorithm, then you need to post consistently. A general rule of thumb is to backlog enough content to post three times a day for at least two weeks. That means have enough content in the bank to make forty-two videos before you even think about posting. Does that sound like overkill? No doubt. But consistency is king, and there’s nothing worse than running out of content as soon as you start building steam.

Step Three: Work with what you’ve got. 

The best camera in the world is the one that you have with you. Your smartphone is capable of capturing some pretty high quality videos, and it’s literally as easy as point and shoot. If you’re a local soccer club, don’t compare your media team to Manchester United. If you’re a small bakery, don’t compare your media team to Bon Appetit. Work with what you’ve got and take baby steps in upgrading your cameras and video editing software.

Step Four: Think outside of the box.

As a TikTok manager, it’s your job to figure out which sounds are climbing the viral charts. While you’re scrolling through the For You Page, have you noticed multiple videos utilizing the same song, voice over, or sound effect? And have you noticed how all of those videos are skyrocketing in popularity? Good. Tap on that sound effect and figure out how you can capitalize on it. Maybe that song makes for the perfect soundtrack for a penalty shot video that’s sitting in your database. Or maybe that voiceover perfectly describes a client interaction you recently had. Find out what’s trending and figure out how to make it work for your brand.

The more time you spend on TikTok, the more you’re going to understand the app and the things you need to do to be successful on it. At the end of the day, just have fun with it. Get creative, throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. Post something that the suits upstairs probably wouldn’t understand.

Need a crash course?  Checkout their FREE webinar called “Ready, Set, Grow” coming up in March!

Want IOI Ventures to help you burst onto the TikTok scene? Click HERE to get in touch with our social media crew.