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A successful B2B social media marketing strategy makes sure to consider the latest trends. Currently, in the social media world, TikTok is a dominating force. With over a billion monthly active users on the app that could be reached, it’s no wonder companies are using it for marketing. Does TikTok’s popularity translate to success for every company?
Read on below to find out more about how TikTok can be included in B2B social media marketing strategy, and if that’s a road your company should go down:
Why is social media an important part of a B2B marketing strategy?
TikTok may be the platform of the moment, but social media is essential to marketing no matter what the latest trend is. Whether or not using TikTok is right for your company, you should be aware of the benefits of social media.
Some of the general benefits of social media for businesses include:
- Attracting new customers
- Keeping returning customers
- Enhancing a brand’s reputation
- Increased sales
- Increased market share
- Enable communication between brands and consumers
- Increase traffic to your website
In order to really reap the most benefits, you should be including at least two social media platforms in your B2B marketing strategy. Should one of them be TikTok?
Who Is Your Target Audience?
When you’re creating a B2B social media marketing strategy, the intended audience is an essential factor. You will want to focus on the platforms your customer base uses most often. So, if your audience prefers other platforms, focusing on those may be a better use of your time, energy, and resources.
If your target audience skews younger, such as members of Gen Z, TikTok is the way to do it. Research has shown that young people are more likely to use TikTok as a search engine than Google. If your company typically skews older but wants to expand its reach for a younger audience, including TikTok can help accomplish that goal.
However, while young people are most associated with TikTok, they’re not the only age bracket that uses it. Even if your audience isn’t currently on the app, more and more users are downloading it every day. So, it may still be worth considering, especially if you’re especially interested in the benefits of TikTok in B2B marketing campaigns.
Is Being Ahead of the Curve a Priority for Your Company?
While TikTok is incredibly popular, it’s still a newer social media platform. It’s not used in B2B campaigns as widely as Facebook or LinkedIn, but it is used more in B2C campaigns. This has been shown when certain products are suddenly out of stock because they went viral on the app.
If your marketing strategy prides itself on being on top of the latest trends, including TikTok now puts you ahead of the curve. You could end up beating your competitors to the punch. By the time they join, you’d already have established yourself and carved out your niche.
Do You Want Your Brand to Come Across as Authentic?
More than any other social media platform, TikTok is driven by content, specifically user-generated content (or UGC). If the app is a good fit for your brand, this can provide a great advantage. UGC can help your brand come across as more genuine and for a number of consumers, authenticity is a major value they look for in brands. Additionally, more authentic content often leads to a more organic reach.
Of course, joining TikTok doesn’t automatically make your content come across as genuine. You will likely need to tailor your brand voice and existing content for the specifics of the app. This can even include jumping on certain trends, such as the latest dance crazes. If you have the resources to do so, and think it will pay off, then you can start leaning into the opportunities this new content frontier provides.
How Does TikTok’s Format Work to Market Your Brand?
Even those who aren’t on the app know that the content is video based. So, how could you use short videos to showcase your business, services, and products? For some companies, it actually works more effectively than traditional print ads. Especially if your products or services lend themselves to tutorials.
In addition to being more authentic, the brand voice on TikTok should be more light-hearted. You shouldn’t be afraid to post content that is on the sillier side, and you’ll likely be experimenting and trying entirely new types of content.
It’s also important to stay on top of the latest trends. The newest fads can switch fast on TikTok, so you’ll want to be able to make quality content before everyone moves on to something new.
How Do You Most Effectively Include TikTok in a B2B Social Media Marketing Strategy?
To get the best results, you should understand the basic types of TikTok videos that can be used for marketing.
To start, there are the videos your marketing team creates itself. Again, these aren’t your standard commercials. You’ll need to present authentic content that your target audience feels they can relate to. Using people to get your message across, instead of graphics or objects, helps accomplish this.
As mentioned earlier, UGC is a huge part of TikTok. This can include users responding to your videos, recreating your posts, using your products, recommending your business to their followers, and more. It cannot be stressed enough: interacting with your followers is a huge part of a successful TikTok marketing strategy.
TikTok also has a platform for more conventional video advertisements. Find out more about the official TikTok for Business. This is another reason why including TikTok in your B2B marketing strategy is a good idea. To reap the best results, don’t just focus on TikTok For Business content, because the outreach UGC can provide is unmatched.
If you decide to incorporate TikTok into your B2B social media marketing strategy, make sure to choose the right kind of agency! Go with an agency that is a leader in experience and expertise with social media, like the San Diego-located InnoVision Marketing Group.
