TikTok is new and shiny! And there is some very interesting content on there. Yes, it’s full of dancing teenagers and pouting wanna-be influencers as well well as some things that are downright disturbing. But the big question is “Should my business be on TikTok?”
There are also some really important niches like #BookTok where you guessed it the TikToks are about books and reading, actually adding to cultural discourse rather than running it down.
TikTok has a massive audience
According to Insider Intelligence TikTok will have 834.3 million monthly users worldwide in 2023 which is a huge number! What you might be surprised to know is that they aren’t all teenagers, they spread right across age ranges:
- 25% aged 10-19
- 22.4% aged 20-29
- 21.7% aged 30-39
- 20.3% aged 40-49
The interests don’t always follow age ranges, they tend to follow content and interest types. Users on TikTok have very different experiences depending on their preferences.
Should my business be on TikTok?
You might look at those statistics and assume that there is a big enough audience and they fit with your target age range. And by and large, you could well be right.
But just because your customers may be there it doesn’t follow that you should begin using TikTok.
Creating content on TikTok is very labour intensive, filming anything takes a long time with mistakes, outtakes, camera failures, bad lighting, the wrong weather, team members not wanting to join in, etc, etc.
And once you have your content filming it then needs editing, captioning, using the right hashtags, and adding trending music (this is really key to success). You then need to interact on the platform etc, etc.
What I’m saying is that getting traction on TikTok takes time, effort, planning and budget.
If you have the resources to put the effort in then my next question to you is “is your product or service going to sell, or gain interest on TikTok?”
Like all social media channels, you can have a huge following and gain lots of likes and shares, but it can easily come to nothing.
Before you begin on your TikTok journey, work out your strategy for the platform
- Build brand and gain eyeballs on our content and business
- Gain a following to help convert to some action at a later date
- Sell your product or service
If you find that your strategy is – we don’t know why we’re doing it, someone just said we should – then I’d suggest you think again.
If not TikTok then which social media marketing channel should you use?
To work out which social media channel you should use, answer the question “Should my business be on TikTok” and work out what your strategy should be, go through the same process as I’ve outlined for TikTok.
- Are your customers on that channel?
- Do you have the time and budget to create the content and do it right?
- Do you know what your strategy is and the outcome you want?
- Can you sustain the effort for the long run?
We can help you with your social media strategy
If you’re stuck wondering which way to turn with your social media strategy, please get in touch. We devise strategies, plans and social media campaigns for a wide range of clients, and we can help you ensure you’re travelling in the right direction.
