Integrating TikTok into Your Social Media Marketing

Adopting a new social network can prove challenging. You not only need to learn about its functionality, but you also need to understand the nuances of what attracts users and how they engage on the platform. Plus, you need to translate that engagement into tangible results that help grow your business.

Adopting TikTok as a place to market your company can prove especially daunting. The video-focused social network, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is as popular as it is controversial. While some see TikTok as a security risk, many businesses and individuals are finding success promoting and selling on the platform.

Before you add TikTok to your regular social media marketing routine, here are some steps to take.

Step 1: Determine if TikTok is right for your brand and your target market.

While the experts often say TikTok is best used to reach a younger audience, the truth is it appeals to a wide range of people in different age brackets and geographical locations. The key is to understand how people use TikTok, what content appeals to them, and what topics, hashtags, and video styles are trending.

TikTok videos cover a variety of topics, from travel and dining to fashion, makeup and DIY projects to books, movies, and entertainment, not to mention self-help and relationship advice, just to mention a few. Trending content includes choreographed dances, off-the-wall challenges, and "Get Ready with Me" aka GRWM videos where a person does a skincare or makeup routine while discussing either the products they use or a completely unrelated topic.

Getting familiar with the TikTok style of videos can help you determine if you can reach your specific target market through the platform. Consider surveying your current customers, asking them if they are on TikTok, but also do your homework to make sure being on TikTok is on brand.

Set up a business account on TikTok.

If you decide to integrate TikTok into your social media marketing mix, set up a business account and not a personal one in order to take advantage of the extra features that can help you promote, sell, and measure on the platform.

A TikTok business account will provide you with features such as:

• Analytics
• Creative tools including an extensive music library
• The TikTok shop that connects with Shopify
• Access to ads and promoted videos

Other features for business accounts include engagement tools to help drive traffic to your website and integration letting you link third-party apps to your account to add functionality.

Spend time watching TikToks.

If you’re not using TikTok personally, becoming familiar with the platform can help you make better informed decisions about leveraging the platform. Browse the TikTok feed to get started. Conduct searches for topics related to your business and search for your competitors to see which ones are using TikTok and how they are using it.

TikTok, like other social networks, uses a proprietary algorithm to serve videos to you based on what you have searched for and viewed. Keep that in mind as you are assessing what type of content is on TikTok since the feed will eventually show you videos based on the algorithm.

To easily identify trending videos, visit the TikTok Business Creative Hub where you’ll find not only a current selection of what’s popular, but also tips on developing TikTok content.

Plan out your TikTok content.

Look at what type of content you are already creating for other social media platforms. Chances are you will have to modify it to work for TikTok. If you’re not making videos in the vertical 9:16 aspect ratio (1080 pixels x 1920 pixels), then you’ll need to redo them in the correct format.

Instagram Stories and Reels video dimensions mirror TikTok ones because Meta copied the TikTok video format to be competitive. In some cases, you can post videos you’ve produced for Instagram to TikTok and vice versa. Using the correct dimensions is not the only criteria for TikTok videos. The content and video style should also match what is popular on the platform.

Get familiar with TikTok hashtags. For example, #FYP and #ForYouPage are two popular tags that people add to their TikTok videos hoping that it will help them get onto the For You Page, a feed of videos that are recommended to users. While this may not be true, adding it can’t hurt but don’t use those at the expense of ones that are relevant to your brand and the content you’re producing.

While it is tempting to adopt a new social network because it seems popular, always make the final decision based on business criteria to ensure your efforts are in line with your brand and goals. Be prepared for a potentially steep learning curve when adopting TikTok or find someone within your company or a consultant who can bring you up to speed.