Insider Tips: How to Grow Your Business with TikTok
With over 1.7 billion monthly active users, TikTok has grown a passionate community of creators who not only share entertaining content, but also catalyze viral sales for businesses of all kinds. The popular hashtag, #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, reflects the speed at which posts can go viral and drive conversions. In fact, Bazaarvoice’s “Social Shopping Survey” shows that nearly ¾ of TikTok shoppers worldwide shop on TikTok when they stumble across something in their feed.
Last week, our very own Magda Houalla, Head of Strategy, and Samantha Kimmel, Global Creator Partnerships at TikTok, chatted about this very phenomenon and discussed actionable steps to successfully grow your business on TikTok through creator marketing.
If you missed it, keep reading for the top takeaways or watch the webinar on demand here.
In this new age of influence, TikTok creators come out on top.
While traditionally the influencer space was reserved for celebrities, professional athletes, and the like, social media has evolved into a place where anyone can be influential. The way people engage with each other on social media — particularly on TikTok — has leveled the playing field of status and created new possibilities for who truly has “influence.”
Today, TikTok creators arguably have the most influence when it comes to impacting product discovery and purchasing decisions. Because of the video-centric nature of the platform, TikTok creators are unable to feign genuine interest in the products that they share with their community. This leads to more authentic content, and therefore more influence. Just take a look at these numbers:
- 59% of users say TikTok creators are more influential than influencers on other apps, while 60% say TikTok creators are more influential than celebrities.
- 65% of TikTok users agree that when shopping online, they always rely on online reviews and creator recommendations to decide what to buy.
Most importantly, TikTok creator content generates interest that motivates action and yields results for brands — even when the content is sponsored. In fact, the “TikTok Marketing Science Global Creators Drive Commerce Study 2022” revealed that, after watching creator ads:
- 54% of TikTok users go to a store to see the product or brand in person.
- 59% of TikTok users go online to view the product or brand.
- 64% of TikTok users buy the product (directly on TikTok, online elsewhere, or in-person).
So, what does all this mean for your brand?
Supercharge your TikTok ads with creator content.
As an influencer marketer, your role is more critical to business growth than ever before. At a time when organizations everywhere are seeking ways to drive efficient growth, you can be the team hero by boosting your paid channels with your existing, high-converting influencer content.
On TikTok, you can do so through Spark Ads. Spark Ads enable you to leverage organic TikTok posts — whether it’s your own TikTok account’s posts or posts made by creators (with their authorization) — in your advertising. Unlike non-Spark Ads (regular In-Feed ads), Spark Ads use posts from real TikTok accounts, which ensures that all views, comments, shares, likes, and follows gained from boosting the video during the promotion are attributed to your organic posts. By doing so, your Spark Ads will:
- Drive believability and perceptions of brand-and-creator alignment
- Be viewed as authentic and native experiences
- Establish creator and brand trust
The best part is that Spark Ads are not disruptive to the TikTok experience. After watching a Spark Ad, 55% of TikTok users say it fits seamlessly into their feed, and better yet, 53% say it doesn’t feel like an ad.
Ready to get started? Here’s the recipe for success.
As you start planning, keep these best practices in mind.
- Provide guardrails, not guidelines. The best kind of content is one that feels authentic to the creator. Although it’s important to provide some direction and inspiration, give creators enough creative freedom to produce content that aligns with their personal brand. After all, creators know what will resonate with their audience the best.
- Work with a diverse group of creators. Don’t be afraid to experiment working with creators from different niches to see what works best for your brand. For example, while it’s obvious for skincare brand Olay to work with creators who are dermatologists or beauty enthusiasts, the brand branched out and worked with workplace comedy creator Corporate Natalie in an ad that generated millions of views and thousands of engagements.
- Partner with the paid ads team. Make sure there’s buy-in from your performance team to test a new format of ads, whether it’s Spark Ads or a different kind of ad using creator content. For more information, check out our article, Why Influencer Content Should Fuel Your Performance Marketing Channels.
- Lean into lo-fi. TikTok users don’t want to see overproduced content. They want to see casual, authentic content that makes you feel like you’re on FaceTime with a friend. So, have creators create content that is native to TikTok and watch as performance soars.
For more actionable tips on this topic, watch the full webinar, Aspire x TikTok Present: How To Supercharge Ads Through Creator Marketing.
