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Flash forward to the present and we’ve found ourselves in what is now being termed as the ‘digital era’. New developments, new technologies, and new online advancements, including the various types of applications available.
 

There’s no denying that TikTok is slowly becoming of the most favored social media platforms to be used by brands thus far in 2021. It seems other big brand names are taking note and have begun to use it too.
 

In times like these, keeping up with the online trend, and utilizing online platforms where possible is of utmost importance. Take the world of marketing as an example.
 

Today, traditional marketing methods just simply cannot be relied upon anymore, as our lifestyles shift towards the digital, and we’re seeing many of these being discarded. But as the new replaces the old, it can be difficult to get a foothold in the world of social media at first.
 

Utilizing a relatively newer platform such as TikTok can be one of your best choices if you’re considering hopping onto the online marketing train and getting some followers for your business. Let’s explore some of the few ways in which TikTok can bring you that brand-edge you’re looking for.

 

Inexpensive marketing with a huge audience

The fantastic thing about TikTok videos is that they are filmed using a mobile device, which means it’s really quite inexpensive to utilise TikTok as a brand, especially if you’re just getting started, added to the fact that many people use TikTok bots, which is another option to help you get started. These affordable avenues that TikTok provides for small businesses to be able to market themselves is another factor that makes this social media platform so appealing.
 

Plus, the platform is considered more of a content-sharing network than that of a social network which is usually focused on content sharing from friends/followers. Think about the many benefits that this could lead to? Your content is shared with a massive audience, not just those who follow you and vice-versa.
 

This can all be given thanks to TikTok’s wonderful (current) algorithm that’s employed within its system, allowing for the natural selection of content to appear on one’s home page, i.e. the For You page.
 

Consider this; TikTok currently has around 800 million active users...The audience reach that it receives is massive, and for small businesses or brands, this form of organic marketing that it allows for is very cost-effective.

 

Entertainment and engagement

Think about one of your other social media platforms for a moment...How many of these focus quite heavily on actual advertising and marketing? You only have to think about the many ads that interrupt your newsfeed every few minutes to understand the scenario.
 

The great thing about TikTok is that people still use this app mainly for entertainment purposes and thus, as a result, this grants brands the opportunity to seem more personable. Many times you’ll notice on TikTok that marketing isn’t blatantly obvious, and is usually produced naturally anyway through its use of video content.
 

Think about this one - how much easier is it to convey a message through video than static images or words?
 

There are also other avenues that are seemingly less in your face that can still gain your brand awareness, take the Hashtag Challenges as a prime TikTok example.
 

These involve creating a challenge, and then a certain hashtag pertaining to this. A brand will conceptualise a challenge involving a particular task/s that users need to perform and then include the specific hashtag. If the challenge is popular enough, it could go viral.
 

This can be utilised as a smart brand awareness tool for any brand/business if you create a challenge where the content/concept is either funny or insanely entertaining enough that it does go viral, ultimately bringing more awareness to your brand/business.

 

Local content creators

One of the biggest benefits, specifically from a small brand/business point of view, is the sheer number of people using the platform every single day. With a reported average time of users spending 52 minutes-per-day on TikTok, that’s fifty-two 60 second videos that just the everyday user is watching.
 

Again let’s go back to the platform’s algorithm which has the ability to use your location to generate relevant content for you at the time of where you are. If you are a TikTok user, the content appearing on your For You page is often location-specific, for example, a Hashtag Challenge trending in your country/area.
 

What this means is that targeted marketing can be utilized more efficiently - this has also seen the rise in content creators BUT that’s great news for small businesses. The upside? Many of these content creators can be collaborated with too, and so it’s a win-win for all involved as small brands and businesses can also utilize the audience of the content creator they’re pairing up with!