A child's play?

TikTok is a social media platform that focuses on short, edited video clips, often using background music or voice-over. The audio used can later be remixed or used by other users. Users also have the option to click on information about the sound used and view other clips using that sound. This often creates formats for using these sounds, as well as various trends centered around specific audio. This platform is most popular among young people, especially teenagers, who are actively involved in shaping TikTok-specific culture, as well as spreading new trends. Though, of course, not only. Adults or even older people can also find interesting content and take full advantage of the possibilities of this platform.
Public perception, however, often forgets this aspect of TikTok's demographics, focusing instead on the fact that it is popular among teenagers. For this reason, this platform is sometimes perceived as irrelevant, frivolous, or "for kids." As a consequence of this perception, TikTok is sometimes overlooked or ignored by some people.

TikTok's potential, however, should not be diminished. If its popularity is a serious enough force to change much older and larger social media platforms in their established niches, it can most likely be an equally powerful social, organizational, promotional, as well as marketing tool.

Videos and views

TikTok, while mostly focused on a few seconds of video and ready-to-use audio, also provides its users with other tools. In addition to the aforementioned way to view all clips using a given audio, users can also use tags and "train" the advanced algorithm of this online platform. Such "training" usually consists of intentionally playing, sometimes several times, clips of interest, subscribing to selected creators, leaving likes, and skipping or marking clips we don't want to watch as "uninteresting." Thanks to this, the app "learns" our preferences and is able to accurately suggest clips that match our interests.

This algorithm also interacts with our content, not just the content we watch. In the simplest terms, the more people interact with a clip, whether through likes, plays or comments, the more likely it is to be recommended to other users. This system is a great environment for going viral, as well as for promotion and marketing.

Serious stuff?

Thanks to its dynamism, TikTok can be a great way to promote a personal brand, business, or specific product. As with other social networks, TikTok is a good place to practice influencer marketing and other forms of promotion present on social media. In addition, a side effect of the short format characteristic of this platform and algorithm is that it is easy to create a sense in the audience that everyone is talking about something without simultaneously provoking the feeling that they are being intrusively bombarded with advertising. For this reason, TikTok is a particularly good space for contacting customers and regularly promoting products, campaigns, services.

Another side effect of this characteristic is that the life cycle of various trends is often shortened. Since TikTok's algorithm prefers a regular influx of content, people are often more willing to purchase new products, test new tips, and, of course, share them with the rest of their circle.

A new tool and old rules

One of the most widely known facts about TikTok is that it is driven by a thoroughly refined algorithm, supported and customized by a dedicated team. However, all those elements that create this platform's unique atmosphere and mechanics have often been known to us for a long time and present on other social networks.

Recommendations on YouTube, posts and ads strictly tailored to our interests on Instagram, or increased visibility of posts on Facebook depending on the amount of interaction - all these aspects have been known to us since quite some time and are openly present on TikTok. Hence, we can apply the strategies and tools we are already accustomed to on it, both for building private and business accounts.

However, it is still worth remembering that this is still a separate platform, with its own characteristics and unique culture, so you should not mindlessly and directly copy strategies designed for other corners of the Internet. It is therefore necessary to slightly modify the schemes and ways of doing things that are already familiar to us.

Such an undertaking may sound intimidating, but no worries! Webinar Academy's online platform gives a helping hand to anyone interested in promoting on TikTok. The available webinars take an accessible and comprehensive look at the opportunities and potential marketing strategies that can be applied on this social media platform. This is a great source of expert knowledge on the nuances of TikTok's unique features - and much, much more!

TikTok seems new and exciting to many people, and is currently riding a transformational wave of wild popularity. However, its success and structure consists of elements that are already familiar to us from other social media platforms. Therefore, like other platforms, it can also be used to promote a personal brand or business, although it may require adapting tools already in our repertoire. To learn how to approach this topic, it is worth enrolling in a course on the Webinar Academy training platform.