How to create TikToks to promote your brand

Werk’s Robbie Lawton presents a Tiktok tips to help you harness the entertainment platform’s marketing and promotional benefits.

If you run a business, chances are you will eventually use some form of social media platform for marketing purposes. TikTok isn’t strictly social media but rather an entertainment platform and while it was adopted early on by teens, it has steadily gained a broad and diverse user base, making it a prime platform for any brand seeking the elusive attention of millennials and Gen Z.

When Werk was launched at the start of 2019 by myself and my partner Benjamin Johnson, we were watching TikTok mature from crawling to walking in terms of its audience and content pool. As a creative marketing agency, our bread and butter is advising clients on social and digital strategy with a focus on producing engaging and authentic content that ladders back to the overall business objectives. So naturally we were monitoring TikTok’s evolution closely!

When TikTok started to bolt in popularity in New Zealand, we were a little perplexed by it. We observed that the content on-platform had the power to keep audiences engaged and informed and entertained – be it music, general updates or trends. The content pool is massive and diverse!

Realising how engaging it was to a wide variety of audiences, we became interested in how we could tap into the power of the platform for our clients. We showed them how sophisticated TikTok’s audience was through engagement data, how creative and engaging the content can be due to the nature of the platform, and finally the success other brands and direct competitors were experiencing. Our clients agreed to give it a go and take a chance.

Once we began creating content, there was some trial and error but never any guesswork. TikTok provides an immediate feedback loop that allows you to see what content works and what doesn’t with specific audiences – meaning every campaign provides valuable insights and often incredible results.

TikTok is a platform for a diverse and sophisticated audience who are engaged with fun, authentic and creative content – but the best part is, your content doesn’t have to be overly polished or curated, in fact it’s best if it feels real and authentic and not too ‘brandy’ – unlike other platforms. This presents an incredible opportunity for a brand. Explore some of the data on the audiences and ask your friends and colleagues about it.

You will quickly see it has a lot more to offer than just Gen Z kids performing dance trends!

Werk’s Top 5 tips for creating TikToks not ads:

1. Storytelling before product. Make TikToks, not ads! Tell a story to capture the attention of your audience by getting creative, being playful and showing behind-the-scenes or the fun side of your business and its people.

2. Be bold. You need fresh content to get your brand noticed and engaged with. Search for trends on the platform and take advantage of the hype. You may need to be prepared to get out of your comfort zone and try new things.

3. Be purpose built for the platform. Remember this is a video-first platform which holds big appeal with the audience. Make content full screen and vertical. Also, sound is key! Use music and voice overs and try text overlays – there are so many easy-to-use tools within the app to take advantage of. Test and learn!

4. Speed, not polish. It doesn’t need to be perfect; it needs to be authentic to your brand and you need to be quick to take advantage of trends.

5. Remember the audience. This audience is savvy and they don’t want traditional advertising blocking up their flow, so be authentic, lean into trends and if you don’t feel confident – lean on your colleagues, friends or family (or agency partner!) for their ideas. Think like the audience rather than the marketer.

Robbie Lawton is co-founder and marketing director at digital creative agency Werk.