In social media marketing, being ahead of the game is critical for businesses that want to engage their target audience and boost sales. And as it happens, the future of social media marketing now seems to be in new players like TikTok.
A social media platform that allows users to create and share short-form videos with various filters, effects, and music, it’s become the platform of choice for a lot of people. It presents unique opportunities for businesses to connect with consumers.
Today, we’ll explore how TikTok can fit into the traditional marketing mix and why brands should consider advertising on this platform.
Whether you are a small business owner or a marketing professional, keep reading to discover how TikTok can help you with your marketing goals.
What is the marketing mix?
Let’s talk about the marketing mix first. The marketing mix is a model central to marketing theory. It refers to the tools a business uses to achieve its marketing goals.
In customer-focused versions of the marketing mix, you get four P’s composing it. These are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. Various marketing decisions can be sorted into one of these P’s.
For example, when deciding what design or branding to use for goods, that decision falls in the Product category.
When deciding to charge customers for the product, that falls under Price.
When deciding which marketing channels to use and which markets to offer a good to, that falls under Place.
Finally, when choosing how to introduce a product to consumers, that’s under Promotion.
Typically, businesses consider the four P’s when creating marketing plans and strategies. What does this have to do with TikTok marketing? Quite a lot, as you’ll see next.
How TikTok Can Support the 4Ps of Marketing
1. Product
TikTok offers businesses a unique opportunity to showcase their products through creative videos and product demonstrations.
For example, businesses can create engaging and creative videos that highlight the product's features and benefits in a casual, authentic way. Think: product reviews, unboxing videos, or product demonstrations.
Basically, the platform is great for short, engaging videos that show the product in action and highlight its key features without fatiguing the user with length or content.
Music and filters are also a big part of TikTok's culture, and businesses can incorporate these features to create even more energetic and engaging product videos – ones that are also memorable and shareable.
2. Price
The key task here is for the marketer to base the product’s price on both its real and perceived value. Other things the marketer has to consider would be the costs involved in the product, from supply expenses to the prices of competitors.
TikTok can be useful here by letting you add perceived value to your product. This can come from useful content or thought-leadership content that makes consumers see your brand as an influential one.
That can affect the perceived value of your offerings if you play your cards right, which means you can keep your pricing up!
3. Place
TikTok can be very helpful when identifying your target audience or consumer demographic. In fact, a lot of businesses do it through TikTok's algorithm and advertising options.
You can get to know your target audience by engaging with them on the platform, which can also show you their interests, demographics, and behaviours via analytics.
As you come to understand your audience better, you can create even better content that resonates with them and increases engagement. You also get a better idea of how to target your messages and promotions.
4. Promotion
As we said in the section on Product, TikTok gives you a lot of options to showcase what you have to offer. It’s a superb platform for promotion, in other words.
Just think of the many types of creative videos people as well as businesses have published on it. There are so many ways to hop on trends and increase brand awareness!
For example, challenges are a popular trend on TikTok where users are encouraged to create and share their own videos using a specific song or theme.
Businesses can create their own challenges related to their products or brand, encouraging users to engage with their content and participate in the challenge.
Or you can use filters. TikTok's filters are a fun and interactive way for users to enhance their content to make it more entertaining while joining a fad.
Better yet, you can start your own trend! Do something like L’Oreal’s augmented reality filter, which let users see how their hair would look after one of the brand’s hair dyes – without dyeing anything!
Businesses can also use hashtags, which allow users to discover and engage with content related to specific topics or themes. Businesses can create their own branded hashtags and encourage users to use them in their videos.
All of these can help create engaging and memorable content that resonates with your target audience.
Reasons Why Businesses Should Advertise on TikTok
Still not convinced TikTok is one of the platforms you should be trying out this year? Well then, let’s break down the reasons it’s worth learning how to market on TikTok.
1. It has a huge user base
TikTok’s user base is big. Think about 1.53 billion users, which represents over 30% of the globe’s Internet users.
The platform is now particularly popular with those aged 18-24, who represent 34.9% of its user base. Those aged 25-34 come next, at 28.2% of its users.
Then, those aged 13-17 make up 14.4% and those aged 35-44 make up 12.8%.
This makes it a great platform for reaching Gen Z and Millennial audiences. And as these generations age up, more and more businesses will likely get on TikTok to reach them.
2. It has influencers with highly engaged audiences
TikTok has no dearth of nano- and micro-influencers with massively engaged followers. This is perfect for a lot of businesses looking into influencer marketing because, as we wrote before, these influencers often have good conversion rates.
They have reach too, of course, though you’ll probably want to go with bigger influencers if that’s what you’d prefer to focus on. Still, bigger influencers cost more – so a lot of small-medium enterprises will probably prefer smaller influencers too.
Either way, influencers can build up trust quickly and easily on TikTok thanks to the platform’s high authenticity and engagement. Followers will be excited to see the brands and products they choose to share online.
3. It may have a future of in-app ecommerce
This is still something TikTok is testing in limited locations, but the platform may soon have an in-app e-commerce feature everywhere. So, businesses may be able to sell products directly on the platform through TikTok's in-app shopping features.
As we’ve already seen on other platforms, in-app ecommerce can be a great way to boost revenues for businesses. It offers convenience, a seamless customer experience, and increased conversion rates.
4. It has unique features that can help even new users/businesses
We’ve already talked about some of these, like the many ways it allows you to get creative with your marketing content. Probably of interest too, however, are the TikTok algorithms.
TikTok levels the playing field for marketers in terms of reach and engagement. Unlike other social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok accounts with no followers can receive millions of views or likes on a new video due to the algorithm's topic-based nature.
It’s also especially useful for businesses looking to build a community around their brand. This is because authentic, raw content like UGC (user-generated content) is what makes the platform run… so you can leverage that for your brand!
5. It’s a fast-growing platform
This doesn’t need much explanation. App downloads and use have been going up year-on-year. In fact, from 2018 to 2020 alone, its user base surged by 1,157.76%... and it’s still growing.
This tells you that more and more consumers will soon end up on the platform. As such, it may be wise to get ahead of others who aren’t on it yet! You can try to reach your target audience ahead of competitors who may be slower to join the platform.
Get on TikTok for your business now
In sum, TikTok is a platform business owners and marketers should pay attention to. It may not be ideal for all businesses, but many can certainly benefit from it!
If you’re hesitant about getting on the platform and experimenting with it, give us a call. We can talk about whether or not it’s right for your brand, what you can achieve on it, and how.
Contact us for a chat for your digital marketing needs anytime.