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If yours is a business-to-business (B2B) company, you likely have a strong presence on social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn as part of your marketing strategy. You may even use Facebook and Instagram to your advantage. But many B2B’s think marketing dollars are wasted on the platforms professionals consider to be more youth-centric…namely Tiktok. After all, isn’t this space for tweens and teens to create sound bites and dance crazes? While it is that, it is also so much more…and those interested in B2B marketing should be paying attention.

Consider this—as of 2019, Tiktok boasts more than 3.3 billion downloads. And the user demographics might surprise you. In 2021, over 40% of users were between the ages of 30 – 49. This, coupled with the fact that other B2B companies mistakenly assume there is no market for them on the platform, makes Tiktok the perfect place to connect with other businesses interested in the services and/or products your company offers.

But how does one build a following on the platform? There’s a bit of a learning curve when it comes to Tiktok, and what works on Twitter and LinkedIn will not suffice here. But here’s the good news—coming up with relevant, engaging content for this uber-popular platform isn’t hard. It just requires some out-of-the-box thinking…and that’s why we’re here to help. We’ve gathered a list of our top 3 do’s and don’ts to help you create a well-branded presence on Tiktok that will captivate viewers and have them dying to know more about your business.

1. DO – Be authentic

Quality content requires time, consistency, and authenticity. Remember that Tiktok videos are sometimes shockingly brief—from as little as 15 seconds to 3 minutes, but no more. This means you have very little time to convey to your audience what your business offers to other companies.

Consider making someone the face of your brand on Tiktok. This doesn’t have to be the CEO—perhaps someone on the marketing team is a natural at creating relatable videos. Having a consistent face or faces will make your brand more relatable and build that all-important trust between your business and viewers.

DON’T – Go heavy on sales

At its core, Tiktok is a service-centric platform. Your content is there for the enjoyment of viewers. Whether you’re providing a laugh, a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the inner workings of your business, or helpful tips and tricks, the content you post should serve viewers in a real and trustworthy way.

2. DO – Have fun with your content

This is where you’ll need to get comfortable with a more relaxed version of content than is the norm for other platforms. This isn’t to say you should force employees to engage in the goofy dance challenges found on Tiktok, but you should embrace a lighter tone and, perhaps, a somewhat less buttoned-up demeanor than what you project on, say, LinkedIn.

Take a look at the Tiktok feed of Shopify for an example of B2B marketing done right. You’ll find their feed an interesting mix of informative posts on retail history and inspiring client success stories. Zoom is another great example—their videos dispelling common platform myths are endlessly entertaining.

DON’T – Get overly technical

Tiktok does not want your industry-specific TED talk, thank you very much. People spend hours on the platform for those interesting, engaging, and feel-good videos. They are not there to hear you lecture for 3 minutes at a time about boring business statistics. Find entertaining ways to get your point across without the know-it-all intensity…your viewers will thank you for it.

3. DO – Use UGC to your advantage

There is no greater gift to a business than user-generated content (UGC). It’s essentially free marketing that you don’t have to create. Try to encourage the creation of UGC by coming up with an original hashtag. For example, a fitness apparel company might start the hashtag #fitnessfriday to encourage followers to continue working out on the weekends, then ask their followers to post videos of their weekend workouts using the hashtag. The company can then share and/or record themselves reacting the videos on their own feed and…voila!…instant content that livens up your feed and builds customer trust.

Head over to Square’s Tiktok feed to see how they share content created by small businesses using their products to promote their own account. It’s very well done.

DON’T – Try to use content created on other platforms

We mentioned this before, but it bears repeating—the content you create for other platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter will not work for Tiktok. You must consider the audience and adjust your tone and presentation accordingly. You also need to make logistical adjustments like making sure your content will work in the truncated Tiktok format and that videos are shot vertically rather than in the more traditional landscape composition.

And so…

There’s no better way to learn than to create an account and start posting videos. Give your business time to work out the inevitable kinks along the learning curve, and you’ll likely find a strategy that successfully connects your business to other B2B companies.

Thanks for reading,
Digital Canteen Team
02-9025-4304