I've Helped Over 50 Businesses Scale Their TikTok Followings. Here's What I Taught Them. Here are a few tips on how your business can grow and acquire new customers by using TikTok to create compelling content.
By Srikar Karra Edited by Chelsea Brown
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Every day, a new company approaches me asking how they can expand their business, acquire new customers or increase their overall ROI. I ask them all the same question: Is your business on TikTok? And surprisingly enough, the answer is almost always a "no."
It shocks me that, in 2022, most business owners still fail to realize the important of short-form video content and more specifically, TikTok. The most common response I hear when I ask business owners why they don't use TikTok is "Oh, well our customers don't use TikTok." There couldn't be a bigger misconception out there.
To understand further, let's take a deeper look into the demographics of TikTok users. Now at first, you may be thinking TikTok is filled with little kids who enjoy dancing, singing and making memes. You're not wrong. But what most people fail to realize is that TikTok's audience is ever-changing. There are more older folks using the platform than ever. There is a reason that TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2021, with 656 million downloads. Now, you don't think that all 656 million of those downloads came from little kids, do you? And here is the percentage of U.S.-based TikTok users by age:
10-19: 32.5%
20-29: 29.5%
30-39: 16.4%
40-49: 13.9%
50+: 7.1%
This means that the TikTok user base is only aging upwards! Okay, so now you know that there is a lot of potential for your business on TikTok, regardless of who you cater to. It doesn't matter if your target customer is 14 years old or 45 years old, they all use TikTok. Whether you're a B2B or a B2C, you will find that all your needs can be fulfilled with TikTok. Good. Now that we got that out of the way, let's take a look at what you can do specifically to grow a presence on TikTok in order to develop your business.
After consulting with over 50 businesses and helping them with their specific needs, here are some of the most important points that help almost every single business:
Related: How I Scaled Over 10 Million TikTok Followers (Organically)
1. Think like an influencer, not a brand
The biggest mistake I see most businesses making when they post content is failing to think like an influencer. Take it from me. I've built over 10 million followers on TikTok and over 10 different accounts across a wide range of niches. Every single time an account did well, it's because I took the approach of an influencer. What I mean by that is to not be gimmicky. You don't see influencers pitching a product or service in every single one of their videos. The reason that their follower base is so loyal is because influencers know the perfect blend of content and promotion. Great brands that have done this well include Chipotle, Duolingo and MorningBrew. Start approaching your content the same way.
2. Create compelling content
This is definitely a key point. If you fail to create compelling content, you fail to build a following and ultimately fail to grow your business. It is very important to do research on the best content to create and to really follow up with it. It doesn't have to be the perfect content, but just make sure it is engaging to audiences. You can test this out by creating a few drafts and asking others what they think of the content. You should aim to receive honest feedback that can ultimately help you scale your account. This is where a TikTok coach can really come in handy.
Related: 5 Strategic Ways to Grow Your Brand With TikTok
3. Stay consistent
I can't seem to stress this one enough. It is so important that you stay consistent with the content that you create. If you fail to stay consistent, then you will either see very slow results or absolutely no results at all. A good tip is to create every single day without fail. If that is too much, aim to create at least 4-5 pieces of content a week. However, more is not always better if you're sacrificing the quality of the videos for quantity. Aim for a good balance of the two.
4. Use great CTAs
This is very important for any business out there. Your goal is not to hit a million followers (although it would help tremendously for your true goals). Your main goal as a business is to actually see ROI through TikTok. That is why it is important to incorporate great CTAs (Call to actions). For example, a CTA would be adding a description at the end of a video telling viewers to check out the link in your bio for a discount code for a product. By interweaving great CTAs into your content, you can expect to see tremendous ROI for your business.
Related: How to Use TikTok to Promote Your Business
5. Hire a good agency
I believe every single business out there (that can afford it) should hire out a good agency to help them with their specific needs. I can sit here all day and give generic advice for businesses to grow on TikTok. But unless you have personalization for your business, you're not going to see the results you ultimately want. Now, it is not absolutely necessary to hire an agency. I've seen multiple business owners grow their social media following all by themselves or with their own team. But by hiring a good agency, you ultimately save time, resources and efforts — all of which you can put towards your business. Not only that, but good agencies will guide you along the process and actually teach you or your team the specific strategies to grow out a brand on TikTok.
Well, that's it folks! Those are some of my top tips for you to build a TikTok presence, grow your business and see the traction you've always wanted!
