TikTok for Business Reviews

If you have ever bought an item because you saw an advertisement for it on social media or you had to choose between two brands and you chose one over the other because you saw it being advertised on Tiktok, then you have witnessed first-hand how social media marketing influences people’s buying decisions and how important it is for businesses today.

If you are a business looking to build your brand, stay on top of your prospects’ minds, and stay ahead of your competitors, social media marketing, particularly TikTok for Business, is not one to sleep on, and the reason is not far-fetched.

TikTok is witnessing exponential growth in usage. In September 2021, TikTok announced 1 billion active users, ranking ahead of X, formerly Twitter, Snapchat, and Pinterest, and bagging the number one spot for the social media platform with the most user engagement. Businesses are beginning to recognize the wider reach the platform can offer and upping their TikTok ad spend. What does this mean for your business?

Exponential growth potential waiting to be tapped.

If you are considering Tiktok for your business, this comprehensive Tiktok for Business review is for you.

General Overview of Tiktok for Business

Let’s take a quick look at how TikTok and TikTok for Business started. To serve as an alternative to social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, which are banned in China, ByteDance, a technology company in China, created Douyin, a social media platform that allows people to share their videos. Within a year, the app attracted millions of users.

In 2018, ByteDance decided to buy another app known as Musical.ly, combine both features and release it as TikTok for the international audience. Since then, the app has witnessed sporadic growth because of its use of music and video and its top-notch algorithms, which are fast at picking up what content people want to see based on their engagement and bringing it to their timeline.

TikTok launched TikTok for business in 2020, enabling brands to get the most marketing juice out of the platform by giving them the tools to get discovered and connect better with their communities.

One of the major characteristics of TikTok for business is the creativity it allows for marketers, unlike other platforms. If you have creative ad ideas you want to implement, Tiktok for Business will be an excellent platform to implement them. Plus, if your ad really resonates with your audience, the TikTok algorithm will reward you with exposure and reach. This is a leverage especially for new companies who are just starting out and looking to drive brand awareness. Additionally, TikTok for business allows you to track your ad performance easily. You can use your ad performance and audience data to reevaluate and devise better TikTok marketing strategies to help you achieve your business goals.

Key Features of Tiktok for Business

Tiktok for Business has been integrated with marketing features that distinguish it from the Tiktok platform for individuals and let businesses get the best from the platform. Some of these key Tiktok for Business features are:

TikTok for business allows you to generate quality leads for your brand by collecting prospects’ details through forms integrated into your profile, videos, and live events. You can also integrate lead gen forms into your ads and get people to drop you their contact details in exchange for something they will find valuable. Tiktok for Business also provides lists of call-to-actions (CTAs) to choose from, such as Sign Up, Subscribe, Get Quote, etc., so you can select CTAs that match your goal. You can also easily download these leads and upload them to your CRM software without hassle.

TikTok for Business allows you to track your performance by giving you insights into which of your efforts is working and which is not. There is the overview tab that allows you to check your reach, engagement, conversions, and follower growth within a specific range of time. You can check the performance for the past 7, 28, and 60 days.

Additionally, you can gain insights into who is seeing your content by gaining access to your audience data profile. You can see the gender proportion, age range, demographics, and activity. This data is useful in iterating and improving your TikTok marketing strategies until you find the one that works best for you.

One TikTok for Business feature that stands out among other social media platforms is how well it allows you to target your audience. With TikTok for Business, you can set your ads to be seen by your target audience. For instance, if you want to target people between the ages of 18 and 27 living in the United Kingdom, TikTok allows you to do that. You can even target people based on their interests and behaviors, helping you get the most out of your ad spend.

TikTok Ads Manager is where you launch your ads and manage them effectively. Under TikTok Ads Manager, you can buy more views for your videos and drive more engagement. You can also choose to make direct sales on the platform or direct people to your website.

Creativity is the core of TikTok. It is how you can stand out both as an individual and a brand. One of the TikTok for Business features is the Creative Hub, where you can find inspiration and industry trends to boost your own creativity. TikTok also has a music library in the Creative Hub, and you can be creative in using a trending song in your video, driving more traffic and engagement.

TikTok for Business offers a mobile app for convenient access to your ads on the go. It is faster and lets you conveniently monitor your ads. However, the post-scheduling feature is only available on the desktop version. Since activities on the app integrate with those on the website, using both together gives you the best results.

TikTok allows you to integrate your ecommerce stores on Shopify, Woocommerce, and other ecommerce sites into your account such that you can display your ecommerce items for sale directly in the TikTok shop. This TikTok for Business feature means TikTok can be one of your biggest traffic sources to your ecommerce store if optimized well.

If you are just starting out with TikTok for Business, the customer center has you covered. They have tons of knowledge-base materials that will guide you and help you navigate the platform with ease. You can also contact the support team directly, who can provide solutions to any problem you may encounter.

How to set up TikTok for Your Business

TikTok Business account setup is relatively easy. Here is a step-by-step guide:

Best practices for using TikTok for Business

Here are 7 solid best practices on how to use TikTok for Business and get the best out of your TikTok marketing:

TikTok is teeming with people, but marketing wisdom is knowing that not all of them are your target audience. This realization helps you guide your marketing strategy and set you ahead. Shooting arrows in the dark will not work, but if you can define your audience, you can start defining your goals.
Deciding your major business goals and ensuring they are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound is one of the best practices for TikTok marketing.

Creating your marketing strategy requires you to take the time to study the platform. Get to know what you can do on the platform and how the algorithm works. Play around with the app and find out what type of content your target audience loves and engages with the most. Also, check out brands in your niche that are crushing it, observe what they all have in common, and brainstorm how you can integrate those things they have in common and how you can stand out.

Come up with the type of content you want to produce, and let your creativity run wild. When you start implementing and get feedback on how your strategy is working, you can make the necessary changes.

When you have your target audience, goals, and strategy defined, do not waste time starting implementation. If a large chunk of your content is your product video, get the equipment you need to start shooting, putting out videos, and ensuring you do it consistently. Consistently putting out good content was one of the best practices from Gymshark, a fitness brand that reached 2M followers on TikTok in six months, which a host of other TikTok creators attested to.

It is safe to say not all your campaigns should be directed at making sales. If you are looking to grow your brand and build communities, TikTok is also excellent at that. Campaigns do not have to cost much, it only needs to be creative and engaging. For instance, if you are a brand selling Tees, you can launch a creative campaign on how different people can style their Tee shirts, create a hashtag for it, and have your audience buy their custom tees and jump on the challenge as well.

Trends are one way to increase your reach and drive more engagement. Jen Ruiz, a travel entrepreneur with over 250k followers and 8.9M likes on sharing best practices for TikTok, mentioned using trending sounds and hashtags to get more reach. If you see a trend doing well, think of ways to spin it up to make it relevant to your niche and the service you provide.  If you are a brand that sells weight loss products, a practical example of jumping on trends is to jump on the Before vs. After trend, showcasing the results you have driven for previous customers.

If you have the budget, one of the fastest ways to build your brand is to collaborate with influencers in your niche and leverage their audience. Creators on TikTok are also looking for brands to collaborate with. If you do not have the budget to collaborate with influencers yet, you can start by collaborating with other businesses that are also just starting out in your niche but offer different services.

One of the best practices to get the best out of your TikTok is to utilize the features that have been provided, and utilizing the ads is top of that list. The targeted marketing feature ensures your ads are shown to the relevant audience. Momentary Inks, a brand that sells permanent tattoos, is an example of a brand that utilized TikTok ads to generate massive sales. You can start out by experimenting with smaller budgets and increasing them as you get results.

TikTok for Business Advertising Options

If you are going to utilize TikTok ads for your business, you need to know the different TikTok advertising options that are available. Here are the six types of TikTok advertising options and the features of each one:

In-feed ads are ads that are displayed directly and organically in your audience feeds as they scroll through their “For You page”. This TikTok ads format receives the most engagement as users can engage with it through likes, comments, and shares. You can also embed a CTA to lead people to your external landing page. In-feed ads are typically short, pass the message fast, and help build your brand with your audience.

The TikTok Spark Ads allows you to turn your organic content into paid content. It is also displayed to the audience under the “For You Page” like In-feed ads, allowing users to engage directly by liking, commenting, and sharing. Since the ads are displayed from individual creator’s accounts, all the boost you gain from the ads is attributed to your account, leaving a long-lasting impact and ROI.

TikTok brand takeover ads pop up on your audience screen and play for five seconds anytime they log in on TikTok. This TikTok ads format garners brand awareness and is a great choice if your brand just launched a new product and you want to get the word out. The ad continues to show on your audience’s account for the whole day anytime they log in, building a memory of your brand in your audience’s mind. The caveat with brand takeover ads is that compared to the other types of ads, the price is a little on the high side, but it is totally worth it.

The Branded hashtag ad is one of the best TikTok user engagement strategies, as it encourages your audience to create content with you while tagging your branded hashtag. An example of such an ad that generated massive success is the #Croctok challenge, where TikTok users were posting videos in everyday settings wearing their Crocs to create the ‘Crocs aesthetic’.

TopView Ads are the first in-feed content your target audience sees when they log in to TikTok, and because they are the first, they easily catch attention. They take over your screen and play automatically with the sound.

This is another type of TikTok ad that encourages your audience to create content with your brand, build your community and spread awareness. This TikTok ads format ad allows you to create custom AR effects, filters, and special effects for brand promotion. It is also one of the best TikTok user engagement strategies to build an engaged audience.

The Difference Between TikTok and TikTok Business

The TikTok business account is different from the individual creator account in the following ways:

Literally, all the main TikTok for Business features are not accessible on the personal account.

Advantages and Disadvantages of TikTok for Business

Final thoughts on TikTok for Business

TikTok for Business presents a plethora of growth opportunities waiting to be explored. Its large and global audience, ad features, sharp and accurate algorithm, and room for creativity make it stand out among other social media platforms. You can tap into these growth potentials by getting started with TikTok for Business today!

TikTok for Business Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)