Looking to upgrade your social media marketing process in 2023?
During the first few weeks of the year, we’ll be posting a series of tips and notes on how to maximize your efforts online, including advice on new tools like ChatGPT and DALL-E, and how these evolving apps can help you with your content planning. process.
We have already covered the following items:
The next step is the social platform of the moment: compulsive, controversial and enormously attractive TikTok.
Looking to up your TikTok game? Read on for some key tips and advice.
Tips for Posting on TikTok
Despite lingering concerns about a possible ban on the app in the US, TikTok is unarguably the social network of the moment, especially among younger audiences. Its addictive algorithm and endless stream of content can be hard to escape once you’ve been sucked in, and its approach has inspired a whole new shift in the broader social media landscape as competitors work to keep up with habits originated in TikTok and trends
Which, understandably, now has marketers wondering how they can take advantage of the app’s popularity, and for the best notes on this, I usually refer to someone who has more TikTok marketing experience than I do.
Savannah Sanchez is my go-to TikTok promotions expert, with her fast-growing agency generating millions in revenue for a wide range of brands.
Based on Savannah’s experience and TikTok notes, here are some key tips to help you maximize your TikTok marketing approach in 2023.
content focus
The key to successful TikTok marketing is creating content that aligns with the organic posts in user feeds. TikTok users are on the platform for entertainment and don’t have to sit through ads like they would on traditional TV. If you don’t grab their attention and give them a reason to keep looking, they’ll move on, so create eye-catching videos that are similar in style to other content in the app.
But that doesn’t mean you should cling to the latest trend or show yourself dancing to the latest trend.
Ads are still ads, you just need to be aware of how you’re framing them, because again, reused open promos from other apps or media probably won’t work.
Hands
Your first calling point when drafting your brand’s TikTok video will be your hook, as it’s these types of narrative-aligned clips that are repeatable and engaging.
So how do you find the right hook for your post? You can check TikTok’s ad library to learn more about which ads are working.
From there, you’ll start to get a feel for hooks that work, things like:
‘I wish someone had told me about this earlier…’
‘if you are not using [product]You are missing out’
‘3 reasons why [product] is the best [problem to be solved]’
Put together a list, then test them with your products/services and see if they feel like a good fit, or if they inspire video ideas.
You can also use ChatGPT to generate additional ideas and variants.
As you can see here, if you enter a list of hooks into ChatGPT, it will give you a variety of additional examples. Some of which won’t be that great, but could be a quick and easy way to iterate on the concept and generate more options for your TikTok creative.
Clip creation
Now that you have your hooks, you can build your videos around them, using whatever talent you choose, or have access to, to bring them to life.
It’s important to use real people (or maybe animals, depending on the product), while Savannah also advises that you also look to “do something visually interesting in the first three seconds.”
If you make your ads boring to watch, you may as well be wasting your money. ?????????
The key to making ads that convert is having a great hook…
So make sure you do something visually interesting in the first three seconds! pic.twitter.com/gotmLlpWd7
— Social Savannah (@social_savannah) January 11, 2023
In terms of presentation and styling, again, visually interesting edits and creative formats will help you grab attention, while you should also look to highlight the benefits of your product and how it will solve viewer challenges, rather than lengthy shots of the product. product. , packaging, etc.
It’s important to get the right person for your clips, which is why many brands use influencers from TikTok and others more native to the platform, and create organic-style promotions. This isn’t beyond most people – watch some example clips and you’ll get the gist of what this entails. But if you want to explore influencer associations, TikTok has its Creator Marketplace for this purpose.
You can create and edit your videos in CapCut, which is TikTok’s own video editing tool, or in TikTok itself, and with a little experimentation, you can find something that’s pretty good, and not so polished that it looks like a blatant advertisement.
Captions and hashtags
Savannah recommends that video captions be short, around five words total. Her main goal is to draw attention to her video, so she doesn’t want her caption to distract too much from the main event.
Hashtags serve a purpose on TikTok too, but as always, try to keep them focused and specifically aligned with your target audience.
You can search for relevant hashtags in the app (enter a keyword or term, then tap the ‘Hashtags’ page for a full overview of related tags and their usage), while TikTok also has a real-time trending screen for highlight popup themes
Also, even though a lot of people still do it, you don’t really need to include hashtags like #FYP, #ForYou and #ForYouPage, as they won’t necessarily help you get more attention.
According to TikTok:
“Hashtags like #FYP, #ForYou, and #ForYouPage work like all other hashtags on TikTok, so adding them to your caption won’t necessarily improve your chances of being featured on someone’s For You feed. Instead, we recommend using the space in your caption to add context to your video along with hashtags that are relevant to your content.”
creative test
Once you have some ideas, you can map out a launch schedule for your TikTok boost.
Savannah has a three-step formula for paid campaigns, which includes additional iterations on a single concept. And even if you only post organic content, the process can still help you map your content.
First, you launch the new content of your ad: a new idea, a new concept, etc. This is the first step, so don’t get caught up in the results, but if you’ve done your homework and are happy with the concept and execution, it should help you gain some traction in the app.
Then, if you’re happy with the ad concept, try a secondary iteration of your original ad, using the same concept and script, and test it with a new talent or new hook.
Next, Savannah recommends creating a multiple UGC ad that shows many different people using the product. “I usually find that showing multiple people in the product works better than just showing one.”
That will give you multiple variations on a single theme, with tests at each stage to weed out the bad ideas and maximize the best ones.
algorithmic considerations
TikTok’s all-powerful feed algorithm is the key element that drives the most relevant content for each user. But because it’s so personalized, it’s not as easy to generate generic and keynotes or lessons, as it takes into account a wide range of personal interactive elements.
But there are some guidance notes to consider:
Actuality is a factor – TikTok says its ‘For You’ feed recommendations are typically based on videos posted in the last 90 days, while newly uploaded videos will typically see a spike in engagement shortly after being posted. As such, uploading new content regularly will increase your potential to maximize your reach.
Posting more will not affect reach – Somewhat in line with the point above, TikTok also says that the number of videos you post does not affect how your content is recommended in the For You feed. So theoretically, if all your videos were successful, you could dominate the For You feed by uploading a lot of them; while conversely, this may also suggest that engagement with your past content is not a significant factor in future reach.
keep people watching – TikTok also says that watch time influences how a video is recommended, “so capturing viewers’ attention early and keeping it for the duration makes your content watchable and shareable.”
These are similar points to algorithms in other apps: the more engaging your content is, among your initial viewers, the better it will perform.
But again, TikTok’s algorithm is very good at taking a variety of factors and considerations into account and showing users more specific content relevant to their interests.
In other words, you need to learn what your target audience wants and then repeat it, which will help you reach that specific audience subset.
Additional notes:
Videos under 30 seconds work best
Subheadings are helpful, but don’t include more than 5-10 words per second.
Showing products in use will improve credibility and response.
Also, be careful with the safe zones for your videos, i.e. where you should avoid putting important details, as they could be hidden by the app’s UI buttons:
The key element you need to do well on TikTok is creativity and creating interesting videos based on the framework mentioned above. Which is not necessarily easy. Experts like Savannah make it sound simple, but creating TikTok-specific promotions like these takes time and practice, and a lot of scrolling through top-performing ads for inspiration and additional notes.
Which is the part where a lot of people fail. Social media marketing is a skill, and while anyone can post a video online, getting really good at it takes learning and patience. There’s a reason so few YouTubers become huge stars, even though they all post similar content. Attention to detail is the difference between good and great, and the more time you take to test and learn, the better.
That’s also why so many companies are looking to work with influencers, rather than spending time learning on their own. In many cases, it’s easier to lean on those who are already in tune with key trends and formats, and if you’re looking for an agency partner, the Savannah firm itself regularly delivers strong results.
But it can be learned, if you have the time, you can make TikTok work for your business. But truly understanding the platform and why people use it is the key step to getting optimal creative and robust results.
Source: news.google.com