[Webinar Summary] Fearless On TikTok: Find Your Confidence

Live From #FearlessOnTikTok

TikTok has more than 1 billion active users per month and is still growing. Is this something your building product business is taking advantage of?

Hootsuite hosted an interactive, 3-day webinar packed with expert knowledge, polls and advice. Missed it? Don’t worry, here’s a run down to help your building product business become fearless on TikTok…

Should My Building Product Business Be On TikTok?

TikTok can feel intimidating, how can it be for everyone?

This session answers this and it was covered by Laura Rychlik, Erinn Stewart and Iain Beable who express that TikTok can open a wide set of opportunities that can’t be found anywhere else.

The Opportunities

TikTok stats show that:

These stats show that TikTok has a fast-expanding reach and you can be discovered by new audiences on TikTok.

It’s also important to note that people on TikTok are not just there to watch videos, but users are there to discover new brands and buy from them too - great when promoting your building products or services.

In fact, 39% of users say they discovered a new product or brand which will help boost overall brand awareness.

The 5 Questions

If you’re considering the platform, here are 5 questions to ask yourself first.

1. Is my audience on this platform?
2. Can I provide value to my audience on this platform?
3. Are the time and resource investment worth it?
4. Can I do things on this platform that I can't do on my existing channels?
5. Do the platform and the opportunities it provides align with my social media goals?
   
   

Start by testing the waters and creating a few videos to understand if your audience is on the platform and if they’re not, is there a new audience you’d like to reach?

Perhaps, your audience isn’t on TikTok just yet, giving you time to establish yourselves in time for when TikTok grows even more.

Your audience expects to see different content on different platforms, think about how you can differentiate yourselves on TikTok.

4 Myths And Misconceptions

There are common myths around TikTok, are you guilty of believing them?

Myth 1: TikTok is just for Generation Z

This is false, TikTok usage aged 35-54 more than tripled from 2020 to 2021.

Myth 2: TikTok is only for retail and B2C

FALSE! Which is great news for your building product business – 39% of B2B decision-makers who use social for work research say TikTok influences purchase decisions.

Myth 3: TikTok is just for dancing and lip-syncing

How many of us are guilty of this one? Users generally head over to TikTok to be inspired, learn something new and be entertained.

45% of users feel more connected to brands that teach them something new or give them information about themselves on TikTok. This is an important stat as it shows that you as a building product business can become thought leaders and provide solutions on how you tackle pain points.

56% of users feel closer to brands they see on TikTok – particularly when they publish human, unpolished content. Drop the expensive videography kit, all you need is your mobile phone! It’s seen as more authentic when it's not so professional looking.

Myth 4: You need mad skills to make TikTok videos

65% agree that professional-looking videos from brands feel out of place or odd on TikTok. Extensive usage of filters can become distracting to users on TikTok who are notoriously known for having short attention spans.

5 Tips on How To Create TikTok Videos

This session was covered by Julie Rothehüser and Iain Beable to uncover how to make the TikTok videos.

Start by asking yourself these questions:

It might not come naturally to you at first but really think of these questions, and speak to others in your team as this will really help shape your TikTok strategy.

It’s important to brainstorm how to grab attention with the first shot of your video and focus on creating an emotional response.

This first shot of the video is like an email subject line – it’s the first thing you see. It’s so easy to just swipe to the next video on TikTok, so make your first shot count.

#1 Choose The Content Format

The key to developing successful videos:

• Picking up trending ideas – will you have a mascot for your building product brand? It’s important to have a personality on the app
• Industry or business knowledge (thought leadership)
• Product updates
• Employer branding content - which employees will be happy to get involved?

#2 Picking Trends

The first step is to follow trends and use a trending audio this will allow you to potentially reach a larger audience and will be a good starting point for your building product brand.

#3 Becoming Thought Leaders

With thought leadership content, you can recycle blogs, and fact sheets and put them into bitesize and digestible pieces in form of a TikTok. Take advantage of material you already have and see if you can incorporate a trend or trending audio too.

#4 Product Updates

Once your audience is familiar with you and your industry, they will be open to learning about your products or services. When promoting your goods or services be sure to use a UTM tracking link on the video to the specific landing page.

This will allow you to see analytics and how many clicks you get from the link.

#5 Employee Branding

This is an important aspect of your brand – make sure your building product business has a personality on TikTok.

Showcase your offices, show off your employees and the behind-the-scenes.

Using An External App To Edit Your Video

You can use an external app to edit your video but you also can edit on TikTok too. Try both methods and see what works for your building product business.

Cut out any unnecessary footage so only the best parts of your clips remain. Don’t forget to take advantage of TikTok’s native editing tools like on-screen text and auto-generated captions.

Conclusion

TikTok can be daunting and you can easily feel out of place. Try out the app after using it as a user to learn the trends and what the audience responds to.

If all of this is a little too intimidating, there are businesses ready to handle your videography; all you need to do is make sure they are a good fit for your company.

Get in contact with us if you'd like to learn more about enhancing your online presence through social media or videography; we're happy to help!