“Sorry I’m late. I was enjoying my last few minutes of not being here.” Just one of the many sayings that TikTok has given birth to.
If you have never considered brand promotion using TikTok video content, you need to start here. As we’ve said before, TikTok is big news. It doesn’t just reflect current trends, it creates them – as well as jumping off the screen and influencing everyday life (for better or worse!).
The first visit to TikTok is like someone throwing multi-coloured popping candy in your face. It starts off being bewildering and slightly offensive. Then, this energetic, fizzy and fun social platform can become a serious addiction. Before you know it, you’ll have spent an hour scrolling through an endless library of crazy videos.
It’s got dance and activity crazes, whacky twists on current affairs, animals up to no good or being really cute, babies up to no good or being really cute……it’s a madcap melting pot of mayhem.
Among the biggest TikTok stars are a 16-year-old with over 100 million followers who dances to viral hits (Charli D’Amelio); a guy pretending to be Harry Potter (Zach King) who got 2.2 billion views; and a much-discussed influencer (Khabane Lame) who simply looks in disbelief at other people’s content!
Sales success via TikTok
How do you cut through all this craziness to reach TikTok’s one billion (and growing) users? As always, Creative Jam brings the essentials to the party, with these tips for TikTok video production.
1. Get into the groove.
Soak up the bizarre nature of this platform to create a TikTok video that’s brand-centric but not an ad. Be imaginative and energetic.
2. Avoid controversy and stay within TikTok video advertising guidelines
It’s common for TikTokkers (yes that’s a word) to get banned for infringing various codes of conduct. Check out their advertising guidelines before getting started on content creation so you have a better understanding of what content flies on there and what could potentially lead to your ad being rejected, or worse.
The advertising guidelines of social media platforms can be extremely finicky and TikTok is no exception, so we highly recommend taking a deep dive into these!
3. Try to incorporate a challenge or task
You need something people can mimic (in the best possible way). It’s common for TikTokkers to ‘stitch’ posts together or duet them. A sufficiently creative video has the potential to become a viral concept, though admittedly becoming viral also requires a fair bit of luck.
4. Be careful with text placement
The format and delivery of TikTok videos can be challenging. Make sure your call to action and brand name doesn’t get obscured or entirely lost, especially by your hashtags. You can find an image showcasing the safe spots for text placement on posts here.
5. Sound matters
It’s vital to include music in TikTok content. Find royalty-free or made-to-order sounds to avoid copyright infringement. You can also use trending sounds on TikTok to boost views. Many contemporary music stars sample their hits on this platform to increase sales.
6. Make it punchy
Be succinct, high impact and forceful in both the action and any text used to frame your business TikTok post. Pedestrian just won’t cut it!
7. Use an approachable, authentic person
Most TikTok videos that do brilliantly are normal, everyday folk having fun. Echo that in who fronts your content.
8. Find a novel angle
Secrets and shock facts work, such as showing behind the scenes, or revealing something people wouldn’t know about your product and service. It must certainly be quirky and comment-worthy, rather than stodgy!
9. Humour is gold dust
One of the reasons it’s the fastest growing social platform in history is that TikTok cheered people up in the pandemic. Make people laugh – or even smile – and your followers will grow. Even brands can pull this off if their content is good enough.
10. Find a TikTok video production expert
The best tip for creating commercial content for TikTok is the simplest – get in touch with us!
When you use our video production services, “It’s like a reward” for making a wise decision. (If you know TikTok, that’s funny. Honest!)
