Growing on TikTok is looked at like it is easier than other social media platforms. The problem is it is not that easy, because the level of growth you need on each of these platforms is different. The number of followers you have on TikTok does not hold the same value as the number of followers you have on IG or Youtube. 

 

But that is a story for another time. You are reading my guide on Tiktok Marketing from the “One-page series”. If you haven’t read my Instagram marketing guide you can and subscribe to the newsletter for future guides & Insights. 

 

To understand TikTok, Let’s start with the algorithm and discuss the nature of Tiktok. How both are different from most other algorithms: 

 

TikTok’s CEO on Algorithm 

 

After the recent US Ban issues, Tiktok’s CEO Shou Chew did a Ted Talk about Tik Tok. During that event, He explained that TikTok uses a machine learning algorithm to preview content to users. 

Which eventually every platform does. 

 

And he continues to explain that it is basic mathematics. If a user likes videos 1,2,3,4 out of 10 videos shown to him by Algorithm. The next 10 videos will be relevant to those 1,2,3,4 video liked previously by the user. And that user always remains in a content loop of similar content. 

What it means for businesses and creators is that TikTok culture plays a huge role in growing your account. Because the algorithm is showing similar content to everyone and that could be trends and most viral content formats. That loop of identical content builds what we call Tiktok Culture. 

 

The culture changes and never remains the same. But you have to adapt to those trends, Sounds & content styles to be part of the Tiktok cultural conversation. And generate awareness regarding your business or creator journey. 

 

A good example of Tiktok culture is #corecore. Started by Gen-Z audiences to talk about how content consumption & trends are affecting their attention. 

 

To blend into the culture, Creators use similar topics, editing styles, and most of the time the same sounds. Even though the main content in your video is different, these factors help the algorithm deliver your content to the right audiences. 

 

TikTok Moderation Algorithm

 

TikTok is always in question because many times adult and propaganda-related content slips through the algorithm. To cause a huge problem for teenage users and new audiences. 

 

That is why Tiktok content and moderation policies change very often. And after analyzing 46+ TikTok client profiles, this platform takes longer to validate your content for its users. And push it to everyone. 

Unlike IG & Twitter, Tiktok many times does not push your content immediately after it is published. 

 

It can take the platform longer to validate your content. In a few cases, this can result in your video getting stuck at a certain number of views like 4000 views. And then, you see no new engagement. 

 

That is why you should always repurpose your old content on TikTok. There were times for my clients when the same video with 20k views in January, reached 234k viewers when reposted in March. 

 

That is why you believe your piece of content was good. Try to repost it to your profile after a short period. I always say algorithms are moderators, they make mistakes too. That is why I always give it another try. 

Miseducation of TikTok Algorithm

 

There is a new problem with TikTok. And that is social media gurus saying they talked to TikTok and now they know the recipe to go viral on Tiktok. For context, here are a few videos of creators bragging about their conversations with Tiktok: 

 

• Creator #1 about the algorithm
• Creator #2 about the creator algorithm
• Creator #3 about TikTok 

 

First I would like to address that Tiktok has representatives, people in marketing & creator partnership teams. With jobs to make creators stick to their platform and have them create more content. No one from the engineering or product team is spilling the beans to hack the algorithm. 

 

If you view the clips above, you will find creators recommending longer content, more engaging & using different growth tactics. And these types of things are told by people at Tiktok to encourage user engagement for their benefit. 

 

They are indirectly saying that posting more content makes people stick to the platform for longer. And that does not help you to grow your own TikTok account. Why? Because to do what they are telling you, you need to build a TikTok content strategy. 

 

These cheeky hacks won’t work. Unless you understand your niche and the state of content formats. And other elements of TikTok Marketing. 

 

By now, I know you have a clear understanding of how the Tiktok algorithm operates and what does not matter to grow on Tiktok. 

 

Moving forward, I would like to take you on a journey. From starting a tiktok account to growing it to your desired number of followers. 

 

Understanding TikTok Before Start

 

There are researches on Tiktok that prove 80-90% of users never upload a video on the platform. And my survey of 500 Tiktok users proves that 70% of Tiktok users never engage with their Friend's content on the platform & 30% don’t follow their friends. 

 

What does this mean for your business? This suggests that Unlike Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter who follow your account don’t make that much impact on your account growth & who you reach ( I am not suggesting the impact is zero).  Especially when you start your journey on Tiktok. 

 

What matters from the start of your journey: who interacts with your content, which is the establishing point of your business. 

 

That is why don’t start your Tiktok Account if you don't have the right content strategy to reach the right audiences. Now, what happens if you start your journey and the first interactions are with your company & friends? 

 

Analyze their feeds and see what content they are viewing and how often they interact with content like your business. If they are interacting with similar content daily. 

 

You will be on the right path to reaching the right audiences from the start. I will explain this idea with a small roleplay

 

Roleplay Time: 

 

Chad suggested to Maria that Tiktok is blowing up. And said she should start one for her cookie business. 

 

So, she did and started posting her videos of making cookies. Chad and friends followed her and liked the first few videos from her profile. 

 

But then Chad never sees Maria's videos on his feed because he is interacting with puppy videos the whole time. Even if he switches to “following Tab” he is following like 200 accounts that are more relevant to his identity than Maria’s account. 

 

And Maria asks him why he never interacts with her videos. He says your content never shows up. And from the first few interactions with the wrong people is getting Maria no new orders. And only random people engage with her posts, they never order. 

 

Both are stuck. 

 

Simple Breakdown: Think of TikTok as a media platform, not social media platform. First, you have to figure out the media part to establish your presence on a certain topic. And get the right people who are genuinely looking for your content. 

 

Your friends might have different interests and that is why your videos will land very few times on their “For You” page. That is why you need to invite people with similar interests or your creator friends to engage with you. That will help you more. 

 

So, from the start, your main focus should be on creating Content focused on the right users. And trying to engage with people who are constantly engaging with similar content. 

 

This is before you publish your first video, the planning part of where to begin. 

 

Setting up your Account

 

Honestly nothing fancy here regarding setting up your account. Like other social media platforms, you create a regular account. 

 

And for businesses and creators, You have to visit Account settings to switch your regular Account to a Business profile on Tiktok. With that, you will be able to view account analytics and get access to Advertising & all other business features. 

 

And I recommend from the start you should bookmark, the TikTok newsroom where they announce new features and campaigns they are doing to improve Tiktok. 

 

It is an easy setup. You choose a branded and professional username for your account. Make it easily searchable for users. 

 

And after that, We have to write our TikTok Bio. Many advise that fill that section with everything about your business don’t do that. Keep the profile description short. 

 

And after that have CTA to make people take further action. Until 1,000 followers you don’t have the option to add a Link in your bio. When you achieve that, you can add a CTA focused on visiting your website or buying the products. Under 1k followers, try to include CTAs focused on messaging your business, following on IG, or emailing you about X. 

 

The last part is utilizing your pinned posts section on Tiktok Mobile. On the Desktop, Users see your feed with all the latest videos, with no pinned feature.

 

TikTok Pinning Strategy

 

You have three opportunities to make the profile visitor fall in love with your content or understand your business. But most creators & businesses don’t use the first 3 pinned posts to benefit themselves. 

 

They pin their most viewed posts at the top. Making a huge mistake. Those viral posts don’t represent your content or business. Most viral posts appeal to a broad audience. But your business speaks to a target audience of buyers interested in buying X. 

 

That is why try to pin a video about your business. What do you sell and what is the story of your brand? 

 

And after that share a current post about your recent ongoing offers or business events to get them into the current loop. These tools will help them understand your business. 

 

The third post should be filled with value or relatability. Because you need to showcase that your account is not only business and product videos. You are on TikTok to entertain and provide value to the brand supporters and new fans. 

 

After that, you have your whole TikTok feed to make the user fall in love with your content & business. But these first 3 posts allow you to control what the visitors/ non-followers see when they land on your page. 

 

A more strategic approach to convert cold audiences into new TikTok buyers. 

 

TikTok Posting Framework 

 

Posting on TikTok is simple. I don’t want to make it complex. You can go ahead and publish your content without any effective measures. 

 

But to get ahead of your competitors and discover new followers. I recommend you take these steps before you hit publish on your next Tiktok post. 

 

First, Do the social listening part of the posting strategy. Find what is trending within the niche. 

 

• What are people searching for? 
• What type of content is trending? 
• How did your followers react to the last post? 

 

You can easily do that by searching your targeted keywords on Tiktok or you can use tools like Brandwatch or Mention. These tools will help you do social listening and also tiktok post scheduling. 

 

After that, To increase your chances of reaching a newer audience. Try to use trending audio in the background of your Tiktok video. Because many new viewers on Tiktok don’t follow anyone yet, they are looking for new content & interests. Using trending audio helps many creators get discovered. 

 

The dancetok era on Tiktok is dying but Music is still influencing users to watch & find content. 

 

Here are two resources I use to find new trending audios: Tokboard & ShortFoam. Both are free, and one is a website and the other is a newsletter. 

 

And the last point regarding Hashtags. 

 

I have worked with creators in the past. Destroying their posts by adding 20-30 hashtags and on the other hand businesses adding zero hashtags. 

 

Both are wrong, Hashtags are not growth oriented to help you grow. On any platform. Hashtags have the role of representing topics, trends & niches by showing the relevant content to those factors. 

 

That is why you should use hashtags but the ones that connect with your post. Tiktok’s search engine is loved by many because it shows more relevant results than IG, LinkedIn & Twitter searches. 

 

Combine Hashtags with SEO. Use keyword-focused hashtags that people search for and your content shows up at the right place. 

 

Tiktok launched search Ads in March and data shows more and more Gen-Z users adopting Tiktok search. Both point at the idea, of how your content could be discovered by customers through a “tiktok search” or hashtag. Even if it did not do well on the “For You” page. 

 

That is why at the end, You should use hashtags and keywords within your caption that connect with your video. Even though the keywords or hashtags are narrow. Because by doing this, you are utilizing your content for the ideal buyer, not everyone. 

 

Others: On Instagram, we can see the best times to post on the platform for your account. On Tiktok, we don’t have this feature yet. You can read this report from Buffer to learn about the best posting times on Tiktok. They did their research, data was limited. It is not like you should post at these times only. Try to test different posting schedules to find the best time suitable for your account. 

 

Tiktok Content Strategy 

 

Tiktok content strategies change for many businesses and create consistently. If you are a creator or business, who does a lot of product or trendy content. Because when the platform decides to focus on new objectives. 

 

Your organic reach will be affected by their actions. 

 

Like recently, Tiktok’s new Creator Fund 2.0 was launched. It is called “Creativity Program Beta” and focused on getting creators to create longer and quality content. 

 

Since the launch, Many creators started complaining that their organic reach for short-form content between 12-40 seconds was down. 

 

Another aspect of how TikTok as a platform makes changes to affect content strategy is when the platform decides to push a specific style of content. 

 

During the starting days of Tiktok, the platform pushed Mom creators to attract a female audience to the platform. Making the families of top creators join the Tiktok loop. Many Insiders know this aspect of Tiktok. 

 

By telling you these two factors, I want to help you understand that posting more and more about Trends & Products should not be the main aspect of your strategy. 

 

First, try to focus on including storytelling and personal brand elements in your TikTok content strategy. 

 

For Example, Brands like Duolingo, Microsoft, Bose, and Scrub Daddy do better on Tiktok than Gap, H&M, and many B2C platforms. Because they have Social media managers as their brand identities on Tiktok. 

 

Your logo, brand images & product videos are not brand identities on Tiktok. Your social media manager or an influencer showing up on your account is what people connect with. That human element is what makes people connect with the brand. 

 

Many people now read the Washington Post because of their social media team. Because How they entertain and connect with users is magic. 

 

Coming back to the main point, besides jumping on Tiktok culture which changes every once in a while. You should focus on having storytelling and branding elements in your content that make people stick to your content. 

 

Alternative Content Strategies 

 

Video Editing Style: Many creators especially in the photography niche. Stand out because of their editing style and unique ways of representing content. 

 

A cool example is @brandino.wang 

 

He is now growing his home accessories business on a massive scale. How did he do that? He posted continuously about his minimal apartment and editing on those videos was eye-catching and smooth.  

 

What his ideal audience of minimalists will love. Showing that if you want to show minimalism, it does not need to be full of videos about that culture. You can visualize that minimalism with a style of videos to please that audience. 

 

Character Building:  In any niche, 90% of characters aka creators and businesses are doing the same thing. They have the same formats and read the same scripts with minor changes. 

 

Only the weird and user-focused characters stand out.  

 

A nice example is @henrybelcaster 

 

Even now many have started copying him. He was the first character that brought different characters like animated elements to his business-related content. 

 

Most creators had the same subtitles going over their chest and telling a story copied from blog posts. Only focused on grabbing the attention, not making people stick to the video. 

 

Henry is a great example of using characters in your content to keep people watching. Those characters could be animated or you could dress as someone else. Creating a metaphor or character to make people resonate more. 

 

Grab & Steal: This is one of my favorite strategies but works for creators only. If you are a business, you can be creative with this strategy. To find an angle to utilize it for your benefit. 

 

A big example of this strategy is @keithlee

 

Besides him being a great food critic. What genuinely worked for his content was Grabbing a Viral piece of content, and stitching his take. And stealing the attention of his video. 

 

This is a great strategy, there are various videos about your industry. Going viral because they appeal to a broader audience. But those are not the best videos, they have an attention factor. 

 

The strategy is to use that attention factor to attach that video in the starting. And then share your valuable insights on X subject or your product. 

 

This way you are getting the most out of both pieces of content and growing faster. 

 

**

You can bookmark this post now, as I will be adding more alternative strategies and insights about trends that work for everyone. Not only to grow your account but also to help you build those true fans. 

 

**

 

Tiktok Insights 

 

In your Tiktok Analytics tab and Post Analytical section. You have two major KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to focus on and grow faster. 

 

First, In Your profile analytics. Check your video views and compare them to profile views. 

 

If you are getting massive video views but that traffic is not converting into profile views. Meaning your viewers are not visiting your profile and they scroll past your content after watching. 

 

Don’t let that happen, try to include CTAs in your caption or video to increase the number of profile views. And get more followers from the same amount of every week. 

 

Here below you can see what the post views and profile views tab looks like. This example has about 4-5% fewer profile views than what established creators get on the same number of views. 

Now, when we talk about Post analytics. The most important Insight is the Retention rate. Finding out how long your viewers are watching the content. If your retention rate is too low and people are not watching the video till the end. 

 

It means your content needs improvement. Don’t move to the next part of the strategy or create more content. You need to review your content and get feedback from your team or audience. That criticism and advice will help you get your retention rate up. 

 

These tool elements of Tiktok growth are in your hands. You can’t blame algorithms. Track these metrics/insights regularly, you will discover what CTAs and content ideas work to help you. And which steps you took were against the growth strategy? 

 

What about other metrics in Tiktok Insights? 

 

Likes, comments, shares, and other metrics are easy to study and as simple as analytics on other platforms like IG, Twitter, or LinkedIn. I’m writing a bigger guide on KPIs and metrics useful for social media marketing. You can count on me to see a new guide in a few weeks on that topic. 

 

Tiktok Outbound Strategy 

 

Outbound engagement strategies play an important role in social media. On platforms like Twitter & Instagram organic growth is getting harder. To achieve success creators and social media managers are spending more time engaging outside their accounts. 

 

Engaging with other creators, businesses, and big influencers to send algorithms signals about their social media presence. And secondly to build an audience network of people that also wants to grow like you. So, they engage with each other to maintain a level of engagement. 

 

If you are very beginner to the outbound & Inbound strategy elements. Inbound engagement is when you interact with your followers in your feed, stories, or DMs. To build better fans. 

 

Outbound engagement is when you interact with posts from other creators, trending posts within your niche & network with Big influencers. To reach new people. 

 

Both types of engagements are important. That is why social media strategists use outbound strategies to discover new followers on hard-to-grow platforms. 

 

Coming back to Tiktok, There are not many opportunities like IG, LinkedIn, or Twitter to do outbound. Because most focus on TikTok is on content & media. 

 

But creators do outbound strategy by engaging with each other’s content occasionally to start building a genuine connection with each other. 

 

In a few scenarios, Creators go out of Tiktok to connect on Instagram. By doing that, they try to collaborate and understand each other's audiences. And that helps both of them grow. 

 

This is the reason in the early stages of TikTok we saw Creator groups were formed to help every member trend on the “For You” page. 

 

Meaning you don’t have to spend an hour or two like Instagram to steal audiences off other creators and give algorithms better signals. You can collaborate and network outside the platforms to work together and grow. 

 

When you associate your business account with other businesses or creators. You are building your authority in the niche and increasing the chances of getting your content seen. 

 

Other than this strategy of collaborating and associating your account with established creators. You can always do stitch & duet-type content to show your activity within a creator or business network. 

 

Tiktok Influencer Strategy 

 

I will start with a harsh truth. Your Tiktok content will reach fewer existing / old followers compared to your content on Instagram. In practice, If you have 10k Tiktok followers chances of your content reaching 10% of that is lower on this platform. Compared to you reaching 10-15% of your old followers on IG. 

 

But the thing is we can’t see how many existing followers on Tiktok viewed that post. But Industry data proves that Users on the app don’t open the Following & Friends Tab as often as they should to see your content. Most time is spent on the “For You” page. 

 

Meaning that your own Tiktok handle does not reach most of the followers. You should not fall for the number of followers on an influencer account. 

 

To work with Influencers on Tiktok, check their previous engagement on the posts, and read their comments to analyze the level and quality of engagement. That matters the most to identify if the creator is reaching a new audience daily. 

 

Another step regarding starting with Tiktok Influencer marketing is understanding industry practices & campaign strategies. I see there is miseducation regarding influencer marketing with brands pitching the creators in the wrong way. And sometimes overpaying for the influencer content. 

 

You should introduce yourself to the whole idea of influencer marketing before moving forward. 

 

If you are focused on Tiktok Influencers, I would recommend you sign up for these resources: 

 

• Tiktok Creator marketplace - To find new creators and influencers to partner with. 
• Consultation call with Jaskaran - I have worked with various Influencer agencies to consult with influencer campaigns. 
• Tubefilter - It is a creator economy news blog where you find the latest information on where the industry is going. 
• Adobe’s Creator Economy Report - Published earlier last year, focuses on points like only 14% of creators are influencers. 
• Influence Grid  - Previously this Influencer search engine was completely free. Now shows only a few results, but still worth giving a try to find Tiktok Influencers. 

 

Working with Influencers remains an important element of Tiktok's marketing strategy. Great for awareness and brand messaging. 

 

For the bottom of the funnel, Try to guide your influencers about your marketing goals. And after that, you need to maintain a healthy relationship with influencers to work with them for long-term success. 

 

TikTok Advertising 

 

TikTok Ads are working, even with US Ban issues. In March, Advertisers spent more money on Tiktok Ads. Yes, the Ad spending on Tiktok increased by 11% in March. But that does not mean you go and spend your whole budget on Tiktok advertising. 

 

Marketers still agree that they prefer Meta Advertising platforms for bottom-of-the-funnel & conversion-oriented campaigns. But for brand awareness, Tiktok is taking the spot and the Ads are working. 

 

The beginning part of Tiktok Advertising is understanding the different Ad formats and audience targeting steps to take. 

 

Different TikTok Ad Formats 

 

I will start with one of the most loved Ad formats by marketers. TikTok introduces new Ad formats now and then. One of the formats launched a few days ago with detailed targeting to deliver better Ad results. 

 

Spark Ads 

 

Brands leverage content created by Users and Influencers in this type of Ad format. They find existing content focused on their brand and ask the user or Influencer for usage rights to run Ads. 

 

In these campaigns, Users allow 30-60 days of content users access to the Brand for Advertising purposes. 

 

This TikTok Ad format is doing wonders as the creatives blend into “For You” page content. Giving the viewer a similar experience to organic content. 

 

Earlier it was businesses using organic Influencer & User content. Now, the Ad culture has changed. 

 

There are UGC content creators where users with no special audience or Influence create content for these advertisers. Showcasing the use of their product as a real customer of that product. 

 

Then, some Influencers work with Brands for organic posting about their product on their feeds. And then demand access to Paid Media rights, for running Ads on Tiktok. 

 

I have observed that users are now also releasing that these are not organic product reviews and Influencers don’t use them regularly. So, the effects of Spark Ads, UGC & IGC content are declining. 

 

To stay in a growth state, I again recommend building better relationships with the Users & Influencers you work with to run Ads about your product. 

 

In-feed Ads 

 

Similar to Ads on all social media platforms. In-feed Ads are promoted pieces of content shown in-between organic content on the “For You” page. 

 

You can use business managers to run In-feed Ads with customized Ad creatives or use your old posts. 

 

Introduced early last year, You now also have the feature “promote” to quickly run In-feed Ads using your organic Tiktok content. Simple! 

 

But it is still recommended to run campaigns from TikTok Ads Manager for better Ad targeting & studying the performance of your different Ad sets. 

 

Brand Takeover Ads 

 

This Ad format is best for brands looking to introduce the audience to a new product line, event, or Brand launch. Overall a campaign that focuses on making the most out of the attention they get from someone opening the Tiktok. 

 

Brand Takeover Ads are previewed when you open the app. These Ads overlay over the whole feed for the first 3-5 seconds of the user opening the app. 

 

Meaning this Ad gives you more assurance of the user seeing your Ad on Tiktok to a certain watchpoint. Before they scroll past it. More chances of conversion & increased Brand awareness. 

 

But this Ad format requires the Brand to have a minimum budget of $50,000 or more. The format is well-trusted by likes of brands like Louis Vuitton & Hulu & other big brands. 

 

Top View Ads 

 

This format of Tiktok Ads is similar to their Brand Takeover offering. Your Ad is previewed to the Tiktok Users when they open the app and after a 1-2 second delay. That piece Ad will be embedded into the Main “For You” feed. 

 

This format is well-known to derive better conversions and overall results. You only have to nail your first impression of the Ad creative to utilize these Ad formats to the best. 

 

Treat the first part of the video like a youtube thumbnail. Your average viewer is going to judge it from the start. 

 

Branded Hashtag Ads 

 

These Ads also show up at the start of your feed when you open Tiktok App. And everything is similar to Top View Ads but with a branding element. 

 

And the Ad creative requirements are different. TikTok requires Advertisers to include a branded hashtag representing their campaign. Showcasing a new offer or opportunity for brand lovers to jump on the trend and use that hashtag. 

 

The main objective to run these campaigns is to increase the number of user-generated content around your brand. Brands have used this format in the past to jumpstart a trend around the upcoming movie, DTC product. Even with Tiktok promoting its own offer #BookDay. 

 

Branded Effects  Ads 

 

With this Ad format, TikTok allows brands to use Tiktok Effect House to create branded filters and Stickers promoting their campaign. 

 

This format works well for brands looking for organic awareness by promoting the usage of branded filters among users. 

 

First Brands partner with Macro Influencers and then they start to use their presence in the Ad campaign. Showing Influencers use that branded effect in the Ad campaign. Leading the Brand to the right path of more organic user content. 

 

Collection Ads 

 

This format of Ads was newly launched last year and also had a new major update this year. You can read more about it here. 

 

Collection Ads are more Tiktok shopping-focused Ads. Initially launched to compete with Meta Shopping Ads & Advantage+ campaigns. 

 

This format of Ads showcases the Tiktok user a collection of Products available to see in your Instant Gallery. (Instant gallery, a tiktok e-commerce feature)

 

In that gallery, the user can see your product catalog before visiting your website to make the end purchase. This is a really useful format for e-commerce businesses & DTC marketers. 

 

Tiktok Pulse Ads (New)

 

This Ad format was previously in testing. But last week (4th May), Tiktok announced this new Ad format alongside the news regarding the launch of the new creator fund 2.0. 

 

In this new Tiktok Pulse format, Your Ads will be previewed next to the Top 4% content on Tiktok. 

 

What this means for Advertisers is Tiktok analyzes most viral content at the time of your Ad campaign. And it places your Ad next to that piece of content. 

 

Shared on the Tiktok newsroom, This new Ad format is focused on building more trust and increasing Ad performance. 

 

This Ad format will slowly roll out to all the advertisers. Now is the waiting time for small advertisers. For enterprises, no better time than now to reach out. 

 

Free TikTok Resources 

 

To help with advertising, organic, and content posting. Tiktok itself is here to help, the platform continuously launches free reports and resources for businesses. 

Tiktok Ads Academy 

 

We talked so much about Ads. You might think you need a course on running Ads on Tiktok. Before you reach another fake TikTok Guru. 

 

This is a free course launched by Tiktok in 2021 to help small businesses and new ventures run Ads on the platform. 

 

Tiktok Keywords Library 

 

This is a free library launched in Dec 2022 to help marketers and advertisers discover the latest keyword trends. And to find what CPC and advertising rates are people paying for on the platform. You can visit the library for free. 

 

Tiktok Insights Library

 

At this library, You can find all the latest data about campaign ROIs, the State of Tiktok Ads, Industry Metrics, and much more. Tiktok continues to add new data to this free library regarding new demographics, Gen-Z  & Mobile devices too. A bookmark-worthy resource. 

 

Tiktok Ads Library 

 

Similar to Facebook's Ads library, Tiktok has its own Ad library filled with all the Ads currently running on the platform. You can spy on your competitor's Ads and take inspiration from well-performing Ads. Here’s the link to the free library. 

 

Tiktok Creative Center 

 

Even though I shared two resources earlier to find new trending sounds. And recommended you use social listening to discover new creators. Tiktok can also help you if you don’t want to do manual research. At Tiktok creative center you will find the latest data on trends, sounds, creators, and strategies too. 

 

This is a great free resource, but as someone who works a lot with social media businesses and influencers. Their predictions on trends and strategic tips are not the best. But better than not knowing anything about the latest TikTok Trends. 

 

Tiktok Guides & Research 

 

These are a list of free guides, content calendars, and research tiktok launched in the past few months. I know about them because, In the newsletter, I share everything new related to TikTok for my subscribers: 

 

• Tiktok’s Latest guide on creator partnerships with 4 tips on running better campaigns. 
• A list of insights on running a winning Paid Media Strategy on Tiktok. 
• Explaining Tiktok Video Insights. 
• TikTok’s 2023 Content Calendar. 
• A Report on E-commerce and Entertainment on Tiktok. Link
• Tiktok Works: The platform shared a list of insights and tips that work for Ads. 
• Tiktok’s What Next 2023 Report for Creators and Business. Link

 

These are the few best resources launched by Tiktok to help the businesses and creators of the app. You can bookmark this blog or add the newsletter to find new resources every week. 

 

State of TikTok May 2023 

 

We kicked in the month with Tiktok announcing the new creator fund and launching Tiktok Shops in Beta. 

 

With both of these actions, Tiktok is showing that they are here to dominate. A lot of creators started to fear the TikTok US ban and also decided to move to Youtube & Instagram. 

But now things are changing. Tiktok also introduced a premium content feature called “Series”  in March 2023. Allowing creators to charge for their content and one of the creators shared in r/Tiktokhelp on Reddit. That he made more than 40k from selling a premium piece of content. 

 

And now the new creator fund 2.0 is also paying creators well. Making them stay on the app and push more content. 

 

For advertisers, Tiktok introduced Pulse Ads. This new Ad format is connected to the creator fund 2.0. Meaning your Ads will be shown in-between quality content created by publishers. 

 

Yes, with these changes. Many have expected that TikTok is aiming at long-form content with a minimum length of 1-minute. To make the users stay and also allow Advertisers to target their ideal audience. 

 

Tiktok is becoming an ideal content distribution platform now. Other than this, many content policy changes were made after the US Ban hearing. Due to that, my last advice is to make sure you follow the new content guidelines. Because many users are also complaining about getting their accounts banned. 

Best Tiktok Tools 

 

• Capcut - For Video editing and to keep the content style native to Tiktok. I prefer using Capcut and the premium version is also great. They are also introducing new AI features now. 
• Snaptik - I use this tool to download my videos without a watermark. As in the past IG & other social media apps have said not to post watermarked content on their platforms. The same is for Tiktok, Content with IG or Youtube shorts watermark is not the best to post. Try to remove it whenever you can.
• Analisa - To understand your Tiktok analytics better. You can use this tool for your account. I prefer sproutsocial but it is expensive and for all social media channels. This tool is primarily focused on Tiktok alone.  

 

Honorable mention: Canva is another amazing design tool for marketers and advertisers to create social media campaigns. 

 

Best Brands on Tiktok 

 

I have created a list of brands to take inspiration from to grow your own Tiktok account. These brands are doing their best to scale the business with the help of Tiktok organic & viral growth.

• @Binance - Finance made funny with SMMs
• @morningbrew - Relatable Office Content 
• @lotuscars - Meme Marketing works
• @hilton - For Beauty Related and long-form Content 
• @ryanair - Using Viral templates and memes to market on Tiktok
• @tldv.io - SaaS Marketing Inspiration and meme marketing. 
• @Duolingo - To Study How to jump on trends 
• @Bose - Using different Characters to showcase brand stories. 
• @Fenty Beauty - For Product Marketing Inspiration 
• @ganni_official - For Fashion Content Inspo
• @washingtonpost - Meme Marketing and formatted news style 
• @latimes - Storytelling Inspiration 
• @Blendjet - For Product focused Content Ideas @candeezeco - For Food Industry Tok Inspiration 
• @socialbeesuk - To find what doesn’t work for Tiktok marketing. 
• @ovira - Edutainment content with Tiktok Style. 
• @Notion - App Marketing x Relatability

Tiktok UGC Content Strategy 

 

You need to train your Creators about your content formats. It seems like a small world when reaching out to creators until you talk to them and realizes they don’t know about trends in your industry and on Tiktok. 

 

They don’t have the same trends and products on their “For You” feed that you want them to create content for that’s why you need to train them. 

 

Train them what? You have done your market research and know your audience and competitors well. The creator is unknown to all those things. That’s why, You need to guide the creators about your competitors and what content formats are supposed to go viral. 

 

I recommend creating an influencer Kit to help the creator with Content creation for you. Navigate them through your business challenges and show them what your audience might like. 

 

Don’t just hand out the product. If you do this, the UGC creator will have a better portfolio to show and you get better conversions. 

 

Tiktok Hooks Strategy 

 

This is my favorite Tiktok strategy to hook people at the start of your content and then make them remember your brand. Tiktok moves fast, making people remember your video is important. 

Using primacy and recency effect.

 

The primacy effect refers to the better recall of keywords from the beginning of the list/video (first three or four grabbing words) whereas the recency effect refers to the better recall of keywords from the end of the list/video (last three or four power words) than middle items of the list. 

 

With the Primacy effect, Creators always try to connect with your most relatable memory about X topic in the beginning & with the recency effect they try to recall that memory again in the end. 

 

Why? There have been a lot of experiments conducted about the Serial Positioning Effect where people always remember the first few words due to long-term memory & the last words due to their working memory.

 

Meaning trying to mention the key subject like your brand name at the start and then again before the end of the video. To make people remember your brand and also watch the video. 

 

For further on writing effective hooks and titles, You can read my analysis of writing titles like MrBeast.

 

Instagram Vs Tiktok Strategy 

 

There is a huge difference between Instagram and Tiktok when it comes to growing on both platforms. Even if we are talking only about Instagram reels against Tiktok. 

 

I tried to talk about Instagram vs Tiktok in my previous post. You can read that post where I have expanded more on the strategies you need to master both of these social media platforms. 

 

Content Breakdown of the Month 

 

This Tiktok video from Max Klymenko is a masterpiece. He used the Pepsi bottle as a metaphor to make people stick to the video for longer. As he reviews the chips every while he eats them. The audience sees him drinking Pepsi after that, bringing attention to the starting point in the video where he mentioned this product is owned by Pepsi. If he drinks it after eating the chips. 

 

Meaning whenever the audience will be likely to lose interest. His drinking of Pepsi brings the audience back to the common point. Making the audience think, how many Pepsi products were in the video? 

 

For Creators & Businesses: Use an extra element or metaphor in your video to keep the audience hooked for a longer period peri.

 

The End 

 

Normally many people sell courses and e-books with less information than this. But I am on a mission to share complete marketing guides on social media brands. 

 

You can read my Instagram marketing guide launched in April. I’m working on updating that guide for May 2023. The next guide will be on LinkedIn marketing. 

 

All insights you read came from my experience as social media & Influencer marketing strategist. What you read on my blog was earned from real-time work and research done by me. Trying to help businesses and creators. 

In case you need more help with Tiktok marketing, you can contact me. 

I would love to do a review of your tiktok account.