If you're still convinced TikTok is just a bunch of teenagers doing weird dances and challenges, throw that out right now. TikTok is now one of the fastest-growing platforms, and the influencers on the app are having a massive impact on the purchasing decisions of app users.
Let's break down the pros and cons of using TikTok to market your business to help you determine if it's the right channel for you.
Defining TikTok
You may be starting to see some similar features on Instagram's reels as the platform seeks to keep up with TikTok's popularity. TikTok is best known for its user-generated short-form video content. Anyone can produce content, and everyone has the potential to go viral.
Yes, weird dances and trends are a part of it, but harnessing these trends when they're popular and adapting them to appeal to your target audience can help raise your brand awareness and gain new followers.
TikTok is also popular because users perceive brand ambassadors on the platform as being more authentic and therefore more relatable on this platform compared to traditional influencer platforms like Facebook and Instagram.
Pros of TikTok x Your Business
- Gen Z and Millenials love the app.
- Short-form video content is in right now.
- Effective at building brand awareness and showing your brand's personality.
- Every niche is on TikTok.
That's not to say that no one from any other generation isn't on the app, but these two generations make up the overwhelming majority of TikTok users. Approximately 43% are 18-24 years old and 32% are aged 25-34.
So, if your buyer personas fit these age demographics, there's a solid chance you'll be able to reach them through this app.
With the average attention span only being around 8 seconds nowadays, short videos are one of the best ways to attract and hold your audience's focus to get your message across.
Since TikTok is already seen by users as being more authentic, it's the perfect platform to showcase your brand's personality along with your team's energy. You can use this personality to guide how you'll take advantage of new trends and guide the overall direction of the content you create for the platform.
So many businesses are already using the social channel, which means every industry niche also exists on the app. The challenge becomes how to reach them, and you may already have some of those answers in your social media strategy.
Cons of TikTok x Your Business
- Not a lot of sales usually result from the app.
- Virality doesn't always equal an instant huge following.
- Not all demographics are on the app.
- Need content published regularly to remain relevant.
Although great for building brand awareness, businesses generally don't report super high sales revenue stemming from TikTok. This channel is primarily for entertainment, so people aren't usually looking to buy directly from the app.
That's not to write it off entirely. Working with an ambassador or paying for a TikTok ad can help your business gain more traction in the app, and that added awareness and ongoing engagement can help nurture prospects through your buyer's journey. This is particularly true if one of your must-have, game-changer products goes viral.
It's great if one of your videos goes viral, resulting in tons of views, likes, and shares. But if you don't have other great content ready for newcomers to consume immediately, they aren't likely to stick around.
Your focus shouldn't be on going viral. Your focus should be on creating great content that resonates with your target audience, shares your key messages, and guides followers through the buyer's journey.
As we outlined earlier, the bulk of TikTok users are between the ages of 18-34. So, if your buyer personas are in a different age demographic and you want to continue to primarily serve that demographic, getting on TikTok isn't going to be a worthwhile investment for your team.
Your TikTok followers will want to consume content from you regularly, so you'll need to be able to dedicate resources to adequately keep up with this demand. Someone untrained in creating video content will need to devote significant time to learning how to do it and producing the final videos that'll go up on your channel.
Conclusion
Weighing the pros and cons of every business decision is critical, including whether or not to incorporate a new channel into your social media strategy. You need to think about how it'll help you achieve your overarching goals and how you'll go about monitoring progress towards those goals.
You should also consider the resources — including people and tools — available to make the content required to be on TikTok. Flip phones or one person with "TikToker" added to their job description are not going to be adequate for making quality TikTok content that'll convince users to follow and support your business.
TikTok can be great for your business, as many others have found success marketing themselves on the platform, but only if you first strategize how you'll use it to take advantage of its unique capabilities.
