TikTok

What is Tiktok?

The TikTok App on Shopify makes it easy to get your business in front of billions of highly engaged consumers. These users aren't just browsing — they're buying; as referenced by the popular hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt. And they could become your next customer. With the TikTok App, you can effortlessly create TikTok ad campaigns, sync your product catalog, and sell products through in-feed videos and LIVE broadcasts on TikTok Shop.

Business Benefits of Using TikTok

1. Enhance brand identity

In 2023, TikTok had close to 102 million users in the United States. With this figure projected to increase by over 5% each year, it’s clear that a presence on the app provides for ample opportunity for growth in brand identity and the ability to connect with a large audience.

What makes TikTok unique is its lighthearted, “casual” and personal approach to content sharing. To use the app effectively and reach a wide audience, it’s best to match the established tone of the platform and opt for either a humorous take to your content, or offer behind the scenes footage. The clothes store, Zara, for example, uses the platform to share immersive in-store experiences, while BMW shares behind the scenes glimpses into the shooting of their marketing content. Whatever approach you take, your creativity and angle will contribute to — and hopefully enhance — your brand identity.

2. Increase brand awareness

Similarly, TikTok offers opportunities for increased brand awareness. A key method for growing brand awareness on the platform is the use of hashtags, which allows content creators to jump on popular trends and gain significant traction from their posts. Similarly to Twitter and other social media platforms, TikTok allows users to browse videos according to trending topics and hashtags. This means that by tailoring your content to a popular trend, you can greatly enhance the number of views your videos receive.

3. Partner with influencers

Linked with building brand awareness is the vast amount of opportunity to work with influencers to promote your brand, products or services. Reaching out to influencers with large followings can help your business reach a much larger audience. TikTok have actually helped streamline this process for businesses by creating the TikTok Creator Marketplace with an analytics tool allowing businesses to find an influencer that’s right for them.

4. Take advantage of user-generated content

A great feature of TikTok is that it allows users to repurpose content published by other creators, using the ‘duet’ and ‘stitch’ features. This means that businesses can effectively launch campaigns off the backs of other creators at a relatively low cost. An example of this is a campaign by Chipotle launched in Spring 2020 called #ChipotleSponserMe. As well as posting the campaign themselves, the company also reached out to six TikTok influencers and asked them to encourage their viewers to contact Chipotle on TikTok and request free Chipotle food for a year. The campaign went viral, attracting over a billion views in just a few weeks.

5. Reach your target market faster

While having a presence on any popular social media platform can be a great way to attract customers, TikTok user engagement trends suggest it’s the app offering businesses the most bang for your buck. The app has 50 million daily active users in the U.S. with users spending an average of 33 minutes a day. That puts it just behind Facebook in terms of daily engagement. This effectively means you can reach a larger audience much quicker by creating a presence on the platform.

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