5 Questions to Ask Before Launching Your Brand’s TikTok

Let’s talk about TikTok.

In the last two years, the video-sharing platform has become a social media juggernaut. And it’s no longer just for Gen Z: with 800 million users as of 2020 and counting, there’s ample opportunity for brands to engage with customers and prospects through TikTok.

Before launching your organization’s TikTok account, however, it’s essential to determine whether the platform is the right fit for your brand, audience as well as bandwidth and ability to create compelling, authentic content. Below are five questions to help you get started. 

But first, what is TikTok?

TikTok is a social media platform for creating, sharing and discovering short-form video clips. Think of it as a cross between Instagram and YouTube: bite-sized snippets of scrollable video content. Through TikTok’s app, users can create short clips that are limited to 15 seconds, and stitch them together for a combined total of 60 seconds. Short and sweet is key!

 1.  Are my customers on TikTok?

While TikTok started out as a platform primarily used by Gen Z (people born between the mid-to-late 1990s through the early 2010s), the COVID-19 pandemic has been a boon to the app, with many users sharing and creating content as a form of entertainment during the lockdown.

While the platform continues to dominate among the Gen Z set, it’s also gaining in popularity with Millennials, especially parents getting in on the fun with their kids. If your brand is looking to target Gen Z and Millennials, TikTok could be a good fit. Another way to determine whether TikTok can help you reach your customers is to look at the following and performance of competitors’ TikTok accounts.

2. Does my team have the bandwidth to keep up with TikTok?

Your brand’s spiffy TV spot has no place on TikTok, where authenticity and the ability to keep pace with viral trends are key. To succeed on TikTok, you need to not only maintain a cadence of original content, but actively engage with users to grow your following and mine trending topics for content.

3. What’s my content hook?

As this viral TikTok clip explaining the science behind the COVID-19 vaccine proves, health care content is poised to win on TikTok—if you tee it up with the right hook. A few formulas that work include explainer videos that employ humor, engaging in challenges—dancing TikTok doctor, anyone?—or putting a face to your brand, such as employee takeovers (yes, you can control these behind the scenes).

4. Do I have a budget?

Runaway successes don’t happen overnight on TikTok. Especially when starting an account as an organization, rather than an individual with a personal brand, you should consider adding advertising into the mix. TikTok’s advertising platform, TikTok for Business, offers a variety of options, including the ability to set hashtag challenges, promote your ad when a user opens the app, and boost your content within feeds.

Another route for brands with smaller budgets is to partner with likeminded micro-influencers—users with a niche following on the platform—in exchange for goods or services, or to promote a charitable cause.

5. What does success look like?

Before launching TikTok, it’s important to define your KPIs (key performance indicators) for the platform. Depending on your business objectives, it could be average watch time (did you get your information across?), number of comments, likes or shares, or profile views. Equally as important is establishing a reporting cadence so you can track performance along the way.