New Ways of Marketing

While you can purchase ad space or hyperlink from videos on the app, TikTok offers many other ways to engage.

Take Chipotle, for example, one of the first companies to create and start using a TikTok account. On this app, hashtag trends become viral sensations overnight. Chipotle used that to its advantage by creating the #GuacDance that featured Dr. Jean’s popular “Guacamole Song.”

This helped create a fun trend that people wanted to participate in.

By staying in tune with pop culture, memes, challenges and trends, you can spark viral excitement.

Other companies use TikTok for skits, like the Washington Post. It posts comedic content that differs from its presence in regular media.

This platform provides you with an opportunity to show people a different, fun side of your business. Keep in mind, though, that you should keep it authentic and genuine. Users tend to appreciate things that are real and funny over traditional advertisements.

Increased Awareness

TikTok can be great for businesses that want to raise awareness for movements. While it can increase revenue, it can also serve as a platform for charities or even nonprofits.

Businesses start fundraisers for good causes all the time. If you want to promote those partnerships and engage more people, TikTok can help.

Using the same methods as marketing, you can raise awareness through challenges or hashtags. Since these sorts of videos go viral quickly, you can put a fun spin on helping others.

For instance, TikTok itself launched a hashtag campaign, #PetBFF, to raise money and awareness for Blue Cross, an animal charity.

With a platform like this, doing good becomes fun and easy.

Investment Return

In 2017, ByteDance purchased an app called Musical.ly and reconstructed it into TikTok. The app is very new and, because of its spontaneous nature, not very predictable in how it influences purchasing.

However, if a trend, brand or song does take off, the results can be record-breaking.

For example, Lil Nas X’s song “Old Town Road” began as a trend on TikTok. Users added the song to their videos, creating a viral meme. The song eventually grew to the point where it became the longest-running No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The singer then went on to release an album and receive six Grammy nominations, winning two.

Without TikTok, Lil Nas X’s career may not have taken off the way it did. This platform has now helped make history.

Learn how to schedule with tiktok post schedulers.

Newness

Like many, you may be someone in business who prefers to invest time and money into platforms that have been around longer than a few years. This is a cause for hesitation for some.

TikTok is a sensation, but it hasn’t generated a groundbreaking amount of profit since its release. Though it is making a significant amount of money, its numbers aren’t quite yet comparable to Facebook or YouTube.

Although TikTok’s revenue will differ from your ad profits, it may be indicative of how it will affect your business. Still, it is growing rather quickly.

Influencer Advertising

There have long since been rules and regulations about businesses partnering with influencers or celebrities to promote their products or services. Recently, however, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has been getting stricter on the transparency with those partnerships.

If you are thinking about partnering with a TikTok influencer, you’ll have to keep it clear.

Another potential drawback of influencer advertising is that TikTok is a spontaneous, instantaneous app that generally values creativity and genuineness. Make sure your content is part of the community rather than disrupting it.

Involvement With China

Perhaps the most controversial concern with TikTok is its involvement with China. The company that created this app, ByteDance, is a Chinese company. Since there have been tensions between China and the U.S. recently, many politicians are concerned with potential data or privacy breaches.

Though TikTok officials ensure the Chinese government has no influence on the app, there have still been claims of content censorship and more.

Further, the company settled allegations that it violated child privacy laws by illegally collected personal information from children. TikTok paid a $5.7 million fine and has since updated its privacy policy and age restrictions.

While some feel uncomfortable utilizing the app, others feel safe in using it for fun, experimental business content.