How to use TikTok for your business

TikTok quickly became one of the fastest growing social media accounts back in 2018. First launched in 2016, the app originally allowed users to create quick 15-second videos, not dissimilar to Vine. In 2018, it became the most downloaded app in the US and during the COVID-19 pandemic, more people found the time to take part in the various dance trends born on the app.

Now, it’s one of the largest social media platforms, up there with Facebook and Instagram. As of February 2024, the app has been downloaded almost five billion times and has around 880 million users.

It makes sense, then, that businesses are using it to showcase their products, improve brand visibility, gain followers and more. TikTok can offer a whole host of opportunities for businesses, so use the platform to engage with new audiences, teach and inform users, start a live stream or partake in the newest trend.

Is TikTok good for business?

TikTok can be exceptionally good for business, and some of the biggest brands use it as part of their wider marketing strategy in the most creative and inspiring ways. The benefits of TikTok for your business might include:

• Improved brand growth and visibility
• Increased views and followers
• Better audience awareness and education
• Improved audience engagement
• Increased website clicks
• Better leads and conversion rates.

As a social media platform, it’s clear that TikTok can help you to grow your brand and reach a wider audience. However, it can offer so much more than this.

With video views come followers and potentially even leads and conversions. While views and followers might be a slow burn at first, by posting regular content and engaging with your audience, you’ll see the numbers steadily rise. If you create products in the TikTok Shop, you could also see an increase in purchases made directly in the app.

The platform gives you an opportunity to directly speak to and educate your audience too, which is not something that can be done as easily on other social or digital platforms, such as your Facebook page or website.

A TikTok profile is a chance to show who your brand is. You may choose to create a persona, as famously achieved by Duolingo and their owl, or put a face to the account so users can identify more personally with your brand.

According to TikTok, more than half of the platform’s users have said it helps them discover new products and brands while almost seven out of 10 people say they look up reviews on TikTok prior to purchasing a product. If nothing else convinces you to set up a business TikTok account, these stats might.

How to use TikTok to promote your business

Generally, it’s advised that you keep a good balance of product content and entertaining content. Users don’t want to be bombarded with products, branding, sales pitches – they use TikTok to be informed or to have a laugh. When your videos are funny or engaging, they are more likely to show positive engagement (liking your post, following your page, etc) and so this is the type of content you should focus on.

Jump on a trend

Trends come and go on TikTok as fast as trains pull into a tube station. There are always new trends coming and going, so it’s important to keep up and act fast. Trends can be tailored to your business, and the trending audios adapted to fit your video. Think of the trend as a ‘template’ that can be adapted for your profile.

Ryanair jumped on this popular trend that has been recreated by thousands of accounts, earning them a hefty 1.2m views.

Provide some educational content

TikTok can be a great place for users to learn (though they do need to be wary of incorrect or misleading information).

If your brand could benefit from educating a user, consider how your videos can do this in an entertaining and engaging way. Planet Money is a wonderful example of this, taking a slightly dull and serious topic and turning it into something enjoyable. The same approach can be taken by beauty, health, business or tech brands.

Create some funny memes your audience can connect with

Memes are almost as popular as trends on TikTok, with many brands creating funny, engaging meme content, like this one. Netflix has a never-ending supply of meme content, and they absolutely use this to their advantage.

Reply with a video

TikTok was one of the first social media platforms to give the option of replying to a comment with another video, like this one from Private Midwives. Not only can this help to increase the amount of content you’re producing (without having to come up with new ideas) but it adds another level to user engagement. You can reply directly to users while also potentially improving the views of your previous video. Keep the chain going as long as you want!

Promote with ads

TikTok has a number of ads options available, perfect for businesses who want to build their account more quickly or get seen by a wider audience.

With spark ads, you can promote an existing organic video that you’ve already published. You may choose to promote a video that has already seen some success, or even a video from another publisher (with their permission). Once the ad has expired, the video will still show in your profile, unlike in-feed ads.

Video ads, in contrast, allow you to make a video that is promoted to a specific audience with a set budget. It’s slightly different to a spark ad, in that it’s not a permanent video and will disappear once the ad has run out.

With both of these advert types, you have the option to add a call to action that could encourage users to view a set landing page, download an app, visit your website, make a purchase, and more. If you use TikTok Ads Manager, it will recommend a call to action based on your account and past ad performance.

Using A TikTok Business account

When you set up a TikTok profile, it will automatically assign you a personal account. However, you have the option to switch to a business account in your settings. Doing this will give you access to more advanced tools that help you to learn more about your customers, convert views to sales, schedule posts and get inspiration for future videos.

A business account gives you access to an additional set of tools, including the Business Creative Hub, Business Suite tools, and more.

The Web Business Suite is a great central location for any additional features that come as part of the business account. This includes Analytics and Activity & Support.

Analytics gives you general information about your account, including video views, profile views, like, comments and shares. This data can be downloaded and analysed to help further improve your TikTok strategy. You may notice, for instance, that a large number of users are viewing your profile but don’t follow you. Understanding the reason for this could help you put steps in place to ensure they do convert to followers.

Activity & Support is a handy tool for brands low on ideas. It provides information to help you grow your account, as well as creative inspiration for your next video.

Finally, a business account gives you access to the Business Creative Hub. Within here, you can see the Content Guide, which provides advice for shooting videos, strategy tips and general best practices (like the best times to post, how many times a day/week you should be posting new content, etc).

How to change my TikTok to a business account

Changing your TikTok account from personal to business is easy. First, go to the TikTok profile you’ve already created, hit the menu in the top right and go to ‘Settings and privacy’. Tap Account, and then ‘Switch to Business Account’. You’ll be asked to select a category or industry that best describes your business (such as finance, beauty, clothing, home, etc) but this won’t be displayed publicly.

Below, we’ve looked at some of the differences between a personal and a business account so you can compare the two: