TikTok, the short-form video app, has taken the world by storm, with over 1 billion active users worldwide. While it’s popular among consumers, businesses are also discovering the platform’s potential for B2B marketing. This article will explore how companies can leverage TikTok to maximise business opportunities and reach new audiences.

From Dancing Teens to Business Queens: How TikTok is Winning Over B2B Marketers

TikTok is the world’s fastest-growing social media platform. It’s a video-sharing app that allows users to create short-form videos using sounds, songs, and original audio to share their content with the world. The app we know today originated in 2018 when the popular lip-syncing app, Musical.ly, was merged into TikTok.

TikTok’s platform is known for its diverse range of content, from showcasing unique talents such as dancing, singing, and comedy skits to promoting products and services. Additionally, many TikTok users enjoy watching “life hacks” and tutorials that teach them how to do everyday tasks more efficiently. The platform is also known for its viral challenges and trends, where users come together to create and share content related to a specific theme or idea.

You may have heard that TikTok is for young people and consumer brands only, but that’s not entirely true. The platform’s audience is more diverse than you might expect. As of 2021, there were 78.7 million TikTok users in the United States, with 64% aged between 20–49 years. It means there is a growing number of older users on the app, which presents a remarkable opportunity for B2B businesses — your target market may already be waiting for you on TikTok.

It’s worth considering that B2B buyers are also consumers who may come across your TikTok content while scrolling through the app at any time of day or night. If they connect with your brand, they may purchase your product or service for their business needs. 

According to a study conducted by the International Data Corporation, 75% of senior and influential B2B buyers use online social networks during their purchasing process. Additionally, TikTok is a particularly effective tool for product discovery, 1.7 times more than other platforms. Moreover, users on TikTok are 1.5 times more likely to make an immediate purchase after discovering a product on the platform.

B2B marketers can leverage the product discovery features of TikTok to showcase their products and brand. With business-focused solutions like ads and analytics available, you won’t want to miss the chance to boost your brand awareness on this highly influential platform. After all, TikTok is the most influential social media app of the 2020s.

Creating a TikTok strategy for B2B marketing

B2B marketing raise awareness of your brand and the value your products bring to other companies. It’s essential to assess your brand identity and identify your target audience. By doing so, you establish clear marketing objectives and develop a unique strategy that sets you apart from your competitors.

Social listening tools can be crucial in identifying your target audience. By monitoring conversations and trends on social media, you can gain valuable insights that’ll help you refine your messaging, create more targeted campaigns, and even identify new opportunities for product development. 

Understanding your audience’s needs, preferences, and pain points will help you tailor your messaging and approach to resonate with them. By targeting the right audience, you can increase your chances of reaching decision-makers and generating leads more likely to convert into sales. 

At SentiOne, we offer SentiOne Listen, an AI-powered social listening platform that introduced TikTok tracking last year. It can help you better understand your target audience and optimise your B2B marketing strategy accordingly. Moreover, SentiOne Listen’s sentiment analysis feature can help you identify the prevailing sentiment around your brand, products, and services, allowing you to address any negative feedback or reviews promptly.

TikTok’s informal nature and short-form videos make it easier for B2B brands to connect with their audiences. According to Sprout Social, short-form videos are the most engaging type of social content. Brands can take advantage of the platform by creating TikTok challenges or partnering with influencers to make their products go viral. By creatively sharing statistics or industry news, B2B brands can provide value and increase their brand awareness. Don’t wait too long to join the TikTok party, as B2B marketing on this platform is on the rise.

Though, regardless of your industry, there are some universal… 

Key Guidelines to Keep in Mind as a TikTok Marketer

• Be genuine: Unlike Instagram, TikTok users are more interested in seeing the real side of brands and creators. They want to know the story behind your brand, its vision, mission, and values. Sharing the challenges you face can keep their interest in the long run. Authenticity is more important than ever, and showing the truth behind your firm is a great way to capture your audience’s attention.
• Post frequently: To gain traction on TikTok, you should aim to post 1-3 (or more!) times per day. Short, raw videos between 21 and 34 seconds are the highest-performing ones.
• Leverage trends: TikTok is full of trending sounds, hashtags, and videos that marketers can use to create engaging content. If there’s a trending sound or hashtag relevant to your business, jump in early and ride the wave. TikTok pushes related content to wider audiences when something is trending, providing an opportunity to expand your reach.
• Don’t be afraid to be playful and humorous: TikTok is a platform where people go for entertainment, so make sure your content is fun and engaging. Try incorporating humour or playfulness into your videos to catch people’s attention and create a positive association with your brand. Remember, on TikTok, it’s not about being perfectly polished, but rather about being relatable and entertaining. So let your hair down and have some fun with your content!
  
  According to research conducted by Semrush, TikTok content that elicits positive emotions is the most well-received, with the majority of popular videos featuring comedic elements.

Creating Engaging B2B TikTok Content Best Practices

By following proven tactics and techniques, you can engage your target audience, build brand awareness, and achieve your marketing goals on this platform. Here are some of the top B2B TikTok best practices to consider.

1. Know Your Customers’ TikTok Habits

Potential B2B buyers are already using TikTok to express their work-related frustrations, with hashtags like #9to5, #WorkFromHome and #WorkLife collectively amassing over 20 billion views. By identifying their pain points, you can tailor your content to offer solutions that meet their needs.

SentiOne Listen is an ideal social listening tool that can help you research the TikTok audience effectively. You can track the hashtags related to your industry and analyze the conversations around them on TikTok to understand your audience’s needs. 

2. Provide educational content

TikTok users are hungry for knowledge, with 84% of users turning to the platform to learn new things. Take advantage of this trend by using your TikTok account to inform and engage your audience with practical tips and fun facts related to your industry. This will not only showcase your expertise but also establish authority in your field. Consider creating videos demonstrating the features of your product or providing step-by-step tutorials on how to use it effectively.

3. Build relationships with other businesses and industry leaders

Networking with industry experts and opinion leaders is a great way to establish your brand as a go-to source of information in your field. TikTok has a wide range of business accounts, including small business owners and entrepreneurs, who have built impressive followings and are considered influencers in their respective niches.

To build relationships, start by selecting a few creators or companies you want to connect with on TikTok. Watch their content and engage with their posts, and consider stitching or duetting their videos to offer your perspective. TikTok’s Duet and Stitch features can help increase your chances of being noticed by relevant creators.

4. Or partner with them for a powerful influencer campaign

You can partner with influential business owners or brand accounts for sponsorship and leverage their influence to effectively spread awareness about your brand. These influencers can talk about how your product solves their business challenges, review your product, share their experience, or even give a short tutorial so their viewers can learn something new.

To boost the authenticity of your message, look for influential creators who are already talking about your brand. Look for those conversations and see if you can help amplify their message. This can lead to an effective collaboration that not only promotes your product but also builds trust with potential customers.

5. Feature customers using your products

To connect with your TikTok audience, it’s important to shift the focus from constantly promoting your product to showcasing how your customers are using it in their lives. Create short video testimonials with your top customers to highlight how they use your products to solve their problems.

By featuring real customers, you can make your content more relatable and show potential buyers how your product can help them. This approach is likely to drive engagement and build trust with your audience.

6. Provide a glimpse behind the scenes

TikTok’s informal format allows you to share works in progress and behind-the-scenes content. This gives your audience a sense of being part of your company and shows your commitment to transparency and building authentic connections. You can create videos showcasing your team, how your products develop, or preparations for upcoming events. A “day in the life” series can also be a creative way to give your audience an idea of what a typical day looks like for someone in your company.

7. Share news about new products and features

TikTok’s short-form videos are a great way to share exciting news like new product releases and feature updates. A quick video with upbeat music can get viewers excited about what’s coming. Creating a full promotional video is not necessary on this platform, as simple video recordings of the tool or feature being used can be accompanied by music, voiceovers, and text overlays using TikTok’s built-in features.

Track Your Triumph: TikTok Analytics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

TikTok for Business provides a comprehensive platform for businesses to connect with and engage their audience, which is the most crucial aspect of TikTok marketing. This platform offers several features to help businesses develop their brand, convey their message, and expand their business. Unlike the creator-focused platform, TikTok for Business offers tools to set goals, target audiences, set budgets, design ads, and measure performance. Businesses can create various types of ads such as TopView, In-Feed, Brand Takeover, Branded Effects, and Branded Hashtag challenges using this platform.

Once you’ve established your content strategy and started consistently posting on TikTok, it’s important to track your performance using key performance indicators (KPIs). These are specific metrics that help you measure the success of your TikTok marketing efforts and evaluate whether you’re meeting your goals. Some common KPIs for TikTok include views, engagement rate, follower growth, and click-through rate. TikTok’s analytics tools provide valuable insights into these metrics, making it easy to track your progress and make data-driven decisions.

Case Studies: Successful B2B Tiktok Brands and What We Can Learn From Them

Check out how these brands are succeeding on TikTok by effectively targeting their audience.

Adobe

Adobe has found great success on TikTok with nearly 3 million likes, primarily by establishing itself as an authority in the creative market. By showcasing popular design trends, collaborating with industry professionals, and promoting its industry conferences, Adobe shares its expertise with followers. The brand also comments on current events and takes a stance on social issues such as minority representation and women’s rights.

But what truly sets Adobe apart is its engaging tutorials that demonstrate how to turn work into masterpieces, providing value to professional designers and social media managers alike. Adobe even runs separate profiles for different tools from the suite, such as @adobevideo, which educates TikTok creators and users on how Adobe tools can enhance their TikTok videos.

@adobe

One ticket to this pastel paradise, please 🛸 Learn how to animate still images with Arley Cornell’s episode of Make It Happen.

♬ original sound – Adobe

Shopify

Shopify, a platform and software for small business e-commerce, has been testing different video formats on TikTok to discover what works best for their brand. By iterating their TikTok strategy, they have found reliable content topics that resonate with their target audience: entrepreneurs and business owners seeking tips, advice, and reviews. Shopify empowers its audience by creating content around inspiring entrepreneurship stories, productivity tips, and business tips.

@shopify

💚 #CapCut #lighteningmcqueen #biggestfan #littlefan #supportentrepreneurs #businessowners #biztok #shopify

♬ original sound – Tay

Grammarly

Grammarly, the well-known text editing software, has found success on TikTok by teaming up with prominent influencers to create entertaining content that speaks to professionals who need to check their grammar. With a large audience of writers, teachers, managers, and even company CEOs looking to improve their writing skills, Grammarly’s relatable social video ads demonstrate the value of their product. By mastering a TikTok marketing strategy that works for them, Grammarly has effectively reached its target audience.

@grammarlyofficial

How do you express gratitude? 🤔 #ThankYou #Thankful #Grateful #Gratitude #Thanks #CommunicationTips #Communication #Grammarly

♬ original sound – Samuel Grubbs

Take Your Tiktok Marketing Game To The Next Level

B2B marketers can stay ahead of the competition by utilising AI-powered tools for customer engagement.

With AI social listening, you can monitor conversations and interpret mentions of your brand to understand your audience’s needs and expectations better.

By incorporating these futuristic tools into your social media strategy, you can create a more personalised and engaging experience for your customers on TikTok. To learn more about these tools, check out our Social Media Strategy Guide and take advantage of the opportunity to boost your TikTok engagement.

SentiOne offers AI-powered tools dedicated to marketing, PR and customer service.

SentiOne Listen is an online monitoring package utilising cutting-edge intent and sentiment analysis NLU (Natural Language Understanding) algorithms. It provides complex audience insights, anomaly detection, custom automated reporting systems and so much more.

Over 1600 brands worldwide have trusted SentiOne’s AI solutions, so book a demo today to see how it can improve your social media presence and engagement.