5 Proven Best Practices for TikTok Marketing [+ Examples]

If there was ever a showdown between TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook, TikTok would take the fight hands down. More importantly, it would livestream the entire thing while gushing about the latest cat meme.

Because that’s what the platform is—carefree and unbothered by established rules and norms. Wish to create content that ditches the tired corporate approach? Done. Want to speak to your audience exclusively through memes? Easy.

In fact, with TikTok marketing, you can take your digital advertising strategy to a whole new level. All you need are a few tips to get started here. And that’s precisely what this article will cover.

Let’s break it all down.

The one thing to know about TikTok marketing

When it comes to leveraging viral marketing and social media trends, TikTok is the platform to do it on. It offers a young, eager audience, organic and innovative ad formats, and 1.5 billion monthly active users to capitalize on.

Yet, it’s unlike any other social media channel. Specifically, the promotional material you upload here requires an entirely different approach.

And it all boils down to TikTok's user base. Mainly consisting of 18 to 24-year-olds, the platform's users demand two things in all their content—humor and authenticity. So, heavy-handed messaging will not work here.

However, if you get the community involved with dance challenges, user-generated video content, and memes, you might just have a chance. Case in point, a user uploaded a video of their cat going ham over catnip. The post generated 21 million views and over 4 million likes.

Reports indicate that the brand featured in the reel (Cat Crack) received over 2000 orders within two days of the original upload date.

In short, the funnier and more relatable your material is, the better your chances of succeeding on TikTok. Treat it as you do Facebook (or even Instagram), and your campaigns will fail miserably.

5 tips to simplify TikTok marketing in 2024

Now that you know that TikTok marketing content requires a different strategy, it's time you learn about a few best practices. Below, you'll find five simple yet effective tips to streamline your promotional plan on the platform.

1. Understand how the ‘hashtag’ works

TikTok’s hashtag feature lets users search for communities or content around their interests. And if you use this strategically, it can be an effective marketing tool to boost brand awareness and audience reach.

For example, one of the trending hashtags on the platform is #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, with the top featured reels individually gathering between 1.5 to 67 million views. Another one is #fyp (for your page), which has over 55 trillion views.

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Now, if you try to rank with those tags, you may get more eyeballs on your brand. However, you'll also have to deal with increased competition and risk your content getting lost among millions of random reels and videos.

A better alternative would be to use a less popular hashtag (but one that’s unique to your product) as the primary tag. Then, use #fyp to widen your reach as much as possible.

Put simply, don’t just jump on the hashtag bandwagon. Understand how the feature works. More importantly, recognize what it can and cannot do for you.

2. Leverage the platform’s creator marketplace

Like Instagram, TikTok offers a creator marketplace. And with thousands of available profiles, this is the best place to build influencer partnerships.

A simple tip here is to take your time and look for creators who fit your industry niche. Once you’ve shortlisted a few, go through their pages and check whether they have consistent viewer engagement.

It also helps if you try and pinpoint the kind of content they post regularly. If it aligns with your social media strategy, then you've found the perfect partner. Same as Hugo Boss did when they collaborated with Khaby Lame.

Still, you don't always have to opt for branded deals. Affiliate programs will work just as well. But if you choose this route, pick influencers with a smaller following. This may not give you the best visibility, but it'll let you fit multiple creators within a limited budget.

3. Invest in paid ads

Unlike Instagram or Pinterest, which feature heavily curated marketing material, TikTok lets you build authentic paid ads. That sounds like a contradiction but it’s not. This is primarily because of all the different available ad formats on the app. These include:

• In-feed ads: Classic format that shows up on the users’ feed
• Dynamic showcases: Pulls from large synced catalogs to highlight relevant products
• Collections: Blends product cards, landing pages, and videos to drive impulse buying
• Spark ads: Lets you feature user-generated content in branded campaigns
• Lead gen ads: Enables you to qualify and convert leads with customizable forms

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To get started here, you need to create a TikTok Ads Manager account. Once you’ve set it up, you’ll gain access to everything you need to track and manage your ads. This includes a dedicated analytics dashboard, advanced targeting filters, creative design tools, and more.

The only issue here is the price. In short, paid TikTok marketing can be expensive if you decide to go for large-scale campaigns right off the bat.

4. Embed product links everywhere

Thanks to its link-sharing feature, TikTok isn’t just a platform to boost brand engagement. It’s also the ideal channel to drive sales.

In other words, you can add external clickable links to your page bio to direct users to your eCommerce site or Amazon storefront. Plenty of brands already do this. Gymshark is one such example.

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You could do the same with your reels and create shoppable videos. This type of interactive content showcases your product in action and allows users to purchase the featured product without clicking off the post.

The TikTok Shop offers something similar, but we'll get into that later. This is more about using your content to drive traffic to your site and capturing user attention instantly.

5. Take advantage of the TikTok Shop

It’s no secret that TikTok has become a hub for product discovery and social shopping. Research indicates that 30% of its user base frequently interacts with the platform's integrated shop.

The best bit? The TikTok Shop isn’t just a generic page for displaying your products. It offers features like a dedicated profile purchasing tab, the ability to livestream shopping events, and paid campaign management.

First, though, you’ll need to set up a business account. Once you’ve finalized everything, you can begin by inserting product links that direct back to your page’s shopping tab. If you’ve got enough of a follower count, users may even buy your products without needing an additional nudge.

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Interestingly, Walmart took this further and live-streamed an entire shopping event. It was the first of its kind, attracting over 100 million viewers who shopped from the brand without logging off the platform.

A few extra pointers

With digital advertising trends evolving constantly, we thought it best to include a few additional tips for your TikTok marketing strategy. Some of these are related to technical content elements, while others are about the resources the platform offers.

That said, here’s what you need to do:

• Keep your videos between 20-40 seconds long to maximize engagement
• Access the TikTok Commercial Music Library for 150,000+ free tracks for your reels
• Stick to an aspect ratio of 9:16 to optimize your content for mobile viewing
• Use the auto-captions feature to generate video subtitles when recording

You can also utilize TikTok Insights to gather detailed information on audience engagement patterns. This includes location-specific filtering options, community segmentation based on age, and more.

Beyond that, you must leverage the platform's native analytics to monitor your video metrics. To access it on mobile, you need to:

• Click on the ‘profile’ icon in the bottom right corner.
• Tap on the three vertical lines in the sidebar that pops up
• Select ‘Creator tools.’

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Once that’s done, tap on ‘Analytics’.

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For desktop users, simply hover over your profile icon, and you'll see the option to switch to your 'Business Suite.' The analytics dashboard will be there itself.

Enhancing your website with TikTok videos via Videowise

Transform your website's ambiance and captivate visitors with the energy of your best TikTok content using Videowise integration.

You can select your top-performing TikTok videos and upload them to Videowise, and then embed these videos throughout your homepage, product pages, dedicated review and tutorial sections, or even email campaigns.

Immerse your audience in the same engaging and relatable vibe they love on social media, creating a memorable and interactive experience that resonates with potential customers.

Whether showcasing product features, sharing customer testimonials, or simply infusing your site with trendy TikTok content, Videowise integration offers a powerful way to elevate your brand's online presence.

Get ready to spark curiosity, inspire action, and leave a lasting impression with the magic of TikTok videos on your website.

How will you build your TikTok marketing plan?

We've discussed the unique approach TikTok marketing requires, explored five effective tips to streamline the process, and how you can benefit from your video's virality on your website.

What's most important, though, is to study the platform's culture independently. Understand what clicks with the user base, the humor they relate to, and the type of videos they lean toward.

Once you get that down, you won't need to rely on popular memes or sound bytes to get your content across. Instead, you'll be able to create trends of your own.

Still, if you need some inspiration, read about how brands like Tortuga Backpacks and True Classic leveraged TikTok content to ace the eCommerce marketing game.