How to Spice Up Your TikTok Marketing Campaigns

TikTok marketing is a good fit for just about any business. It was initially Musical.ly, an app where users created lip-syncing videos. TikTok launched in 2016, and the following year, Musical.ly and TikTok merged.

Today, TikTok has been downloaded over 1.5 billion times worldwide. With over 60 million monthly active users in the US spending 52 minutes per day on the app, what does this mean for businesses? Simple: If you haven’t already invested in a TikTok marketing campaign, now’s the time.

The basic social media marketing principles that you’d use for any platform apply for TikTok. But in many ways, TikTok is different. So if you’re going to create a marketing campaign, you have to know how to market yourself on the platform. Here’s how to advertise your brand on TikTok.

Study your customer base

Every social media platform has a different demographic, so it’s important to tailor your marketing accordingly. For TikTok, that target demographic is Gen Z — anybody born between 1997 and 2012. A quarter of Gen Z teens use TikTok every day and the number is continuing to rise. And when you consider that Gen Z holds $44 billion worth of buying power, it’s easy to see why this demographic is important. They command 40% of all consumer shopping, so you need to know how to market to this group.

Before you launch a TikTok campaign, spend some time studying your customer base. What attracts them to a product or service? What makes them stop and watch an ad? How are they persuaded? These are all questions you need to answer to guide your content creation.

When it comes to Gen Z, interactive experiences are key. Young people want to get involved, and TikTok makes that easy through basic features like comments and platform-specific features like Duets.

As you try to gain their loyalty, keep in mind that it’s often more practical to create entertaining content that gives a gentle nudge rather than leaning into a hard sell. Building relationships over time is the best way to win over Gen Z TikTok users.

Partner with influencers

Influencer marketing is a must to reach Gen Z on TikTok. This demographic isn’t inclined to trust brands and companies. Instead, they’re persuaded by hearing reviews from their favorite celebrities. 25% of Gen Z see their favorite celebrities as their friends — and who wouldn’t buy a product after a rave review from their best friend? Gen Z cares about online celebrities more than Hollywood celebrities. So by using influencers to promote your products or services, you can start racking up the sales.

Start developing strong partnerships with influencers on TikTok to make your product known. Here’s how to find influencers on the platform.

Finding influencers

The quickest and easiest way to find TikTok influencers is to use an influencer-specific search engine, like Influence Grid. This tool helps you find influencers in your niche and provides you with the contact information you need to start your partnership — saving you time.

When you run a search on Influence Grid, you’ll be able to see the following analytics for each influencer, such as:

• Number of followers
• Average number of views and likes per video
• Engagement rate

This information can help you decide whether a given influencer is a good fit for you.

You can also find influencers by searching directly on the TikTok app. Search for a hashtag that’s relevant to your product, service, or industry. You’ll see top videos using that hashtag and can evaluate the TikTok profiles from there. When you’ve found an influencer, send them an email to get your partnership started.

Create a challenge

TikTok is full of challenges, and new ones are being created every day. Creating a challenge that revolves around your brand is a great way to gain more exposure.

Here’s a good example:

Chili’s created a challenge known as the #margbomb. The idea behind this — you purchase a margarita from the restaurant and then leave it on your friend’s doorstep to surprise them. This is a great way for Chili to advertise its products, and the challenge is fun to participate in.

If you can’t think of a unique challenge to start, participate in somebody else’s challenge on the app. In doing so, you’ll show up under that challenge’s hashtag — exposing your account to a larger audience.

GoMacro posted a video as part of the #givebackchallenge, a popular TikTok hashtag that has over seven million views.

Duets

Duets are another popular form of content on TikTok. Create a video that your followers can “duet” by filming their response to your initial clip. The two videos will show up side-by-side, which is a fantastic opportunity to get your followers engaged and involved.

This interactive feature is a good way to market your brand — whether you’re dueting somebody else’s video or creating your own for your followers. You might even end up creating a duet chain that reaches farther than you ever thought it could.

What does this look like in practice? In this video, influencer Cassey (@blogilates) duets a video from another influencer. Thanks to this feature, one video can travel a long way, exposing the content to new audiences who might not have seen it before.

TikTok paid advertising options

Paid ads on TikTok can be a great addition to your overall marketing strategy, helping you reach a wider audience. There are five primary types of TikTok ads:

• In-feed ads
• Brand takeovers
• TopViews
• Branded hashtag challenges
• Branded effects

In-feed ads pop up when users scroll through their TikTok feed, which can cost at least $500 to place these ads. Brand takeovers are even more expensive; these ads pop up as soon as the app is launched.

TopViews are a kind of in-feed ad that shows up either at the top of a user’s feed or at the top of the For You page. Branded hashtag challenges allow businesses to create a landing page with information about a certain challenge or campaign. Finally, branded effects are fun AR filters that get your audience involved. If you have the money, TikTok paid ads can take your advertising to the next level.

TikTok marketing campaign examples

Need some extra inspiration for your TikTok marketing campaign? Check out these real-life campaigns by well-known brands.

#TransformUrDorm by Kroger

Kroger launched a creative TikTok campaign aimed at college students using the unique hashtag #TransformUrDorm. Kroger asked students to show off videos of their dorm rooms using the hashtag. When users tapped the hashtag, they were able to view and purchase Kroger products.

#gymshark66 by Gymshark

With two million followers on the platform, the brand Gymshark has built a loyal TikTok following. Gymshark consistently puts out creative content and often partners with influencers to get its videos out to more people.

One good example was its 66 Day Challenge. The idea behind this is that it only takes 66 days to create new habits and change your life. In 2019, Gymshark joined forces with several fitness influencers to create content based around the challenge. A year later, Gymshark and influencers are still using the hashtag, which now has over 192 million views.

#GuacDance by Chipotle

Chipotle is another brand that’s truly embraced TikTok marketing. Perhaps its most well-known challenge was the #GuacDance, a campaign the company announced in honor of National Avocado Day on July 31st.

#GuacDance was a challenge Chipotle created, asking TikTok users to film themselves dancing to a certain song about guacamole. Many celebrities and influencers joined the trend, including YouTuber Brent Rivera, who has 34 million TikTok followers. As a result of the campaign, Chipotle served 800,000 sides of free guacamole in a single day.

Succeed on TikTok

The benefits are clear: TikTok is an excellent way to reach new leads, advertise your business, and ultimately gain more revenue. And with these tips under your belt, you can create a TikTok marketing campaign that makes your brand stand out in the best way possible.