TikTok is one of the fastest growing social media platforms, with over 1 billion monthly active users. As more brands and businesses join TikTok to reach this massive audience, many wonder how business accounts perform compared to personal accounts.
In this article, we’ll define what TikTok business accounts are, analyze whether they get less views than personal accounts and why that may be the case, provide tips for increasing views, highlight case studies, look at the future outlook for businesses on TikTok, and draw an overall conclusion about business account performance.
Definition of a TikTok Business Account
A TikTok business account is designed for brands, businesses, creators, and publishers to manage their presence on TikTok. The key differences between a personal account and a business account are:
Analytics – Business accounts get access to TikTok analytics and insights about their content performance. This includes data on views, likes, comments, shares, audience demographics, etc. Personal accounts do not get access to analytics.
Advertising – Business accounts can run paid advertising campaigns on TikTok to promote their content and grow their follower base. Personal accounts cannot run ads.
Content features – Business accounts unlock additional content features like adding links in bios and posts, longer videos, video downloads, etc. These tools optimize content for business marketing.
Overall, a TikTok business account enables brands and creators to use TikTok as a professional marketing platform with analytics, advertising, and content features tailored for business needs. It allows managing a TikTok presence at scale.
Sources:
https://support.tiktok.com/en/using-tiktok/growing-your-audience/switching-to-a-creator-or-business-account
https://www.tiktok.com/creators/creator-portal/en-us/getting-started-on-tiktok/tiktok-business-vs-personal-account/
Potential Reach of Business Accounts
Despite business accounts making up a small percentage of total TikTok accounts, the potential reach for brands on the platform is massive. As of 2022, TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide (Source). While not all of these users follow business accounts, the sheer size of TikTok’s user base represents a huge potential audience. With over 100 million daily active users just in the United States (Source), brands have the opportunity to get their content seen by millions of viewers if they can create engaging and entertaining branded content.
Do Business Accounts Get Less Views?
Looking at the data and statistics, there is no evidence that TikTok business accounts inherently receive less views than personal accounts. According to a Reddit thread, TikTok does not intentionally limit the reach of business accounts. The algorithm that determines which videos are shown to users is neutral towards account type.
When comparing views between similar business and personal accounts, there is no systematic difference. Well-optimized, high-quality content can gain traction regardless of whether the account is a business or personal profile. The content itself is more important than the type of account when it comes to accumulating views.
Some analyses have even found a slight advantage for business accounts. According to research by Influencer Marketing Hub, business accounts gained 19% more views on average compared to equivalent personal accounts. However, this edge was attributed to extra promotional opportunities given to business profiles, rather than any inherent boost from TikTok’s algorithm.
Overall, TikTok does not appear to limit the reach or views for business accounts. Success is primarily determined by the strength of video content and engagement, not account type. Businesses have the same potential to go viral as individual creators on TikTok if they understand the platform and optimize appropriately.
Why Would Business Accounts Get Less Views?
There are a few reasons why business accounts may seem to get less views on TikTok compared to personal accounts:
First, TikTok’s algorithm tends to favor personal accounts, especially in the early stages. The algorithm looks at authenticity and relatability when determining which videos to push out to more people. Content from everyday users can come across as more genuine than content from brands or businesses (Source: https://www.descript.com/blog/article/tiktok-business-vs-personal-creator-account).
Additionally, some users perceive content from business accounts as less authentic or spammy. They may be more likely to keep scrolling past business videos in their feed. TikTok wants to keep users engaged, so the algorithm picks up on these user behaviors and starts showing business content to fewer people.
However, this doesn’t mean it’s impossible for business accounts to find success. With creative, entertaining videos that feel authentic, businesses can still build engaged audiences on TikTok. But it may take more time and effort compared to individual creators.
Tips to Increase Business Account Views
One way for business accounts to get more views on TikTok is to create authentic and engaging content that provides value to viewers. This could involve behind-the-scenes footage, educational content, entertaining videos, motivational messages, or anything else that resonates with your target audience. Focus on creating high-quality videos using good lighting, editing, captions, sounds, and visuals.
Additionally, make sure to use relevant hashtags and join in on trending challenges. This helps TikTok’s algorithm recommend your content to viewers interested in those topics. Do research to find hashtags with a high volume of views in your niche. Create content utilizing popular sounds, effects, and concepts already getting traction. Link your branded hashtag in captions to amplify reach.
Forming partnerships with influencers in your industry provides another opportunity for exposure. Reach out to influencers with an aligned audience and negotiate sponsored content, where they create custom videos featuring your product or service. The influencer’s existing following drives new views and potential customers to your TikTok account.
Case Studies
There are several examples of small businesses finding viral success and rapidly growing their audiences on TikTok through strategic and creative content strategies:
POPFLEX is an online activewear retailer that went viral on TikTok for their creative unboxing and try-on videos showcasing their latest styles. Their fun, engaging videos helped them gain over 800,000 followers in just a few months (Source).
Faces Cosmetics is a beauty brand that uses behind-the-scenes videos to give their audience an inside look at product development and connect with them on a personal level. They also collaborate with influencers to showcase creative makeup looks. Their authentic content helped them gain 300,000+ followers (Source).
Hoodjabi is a hijab and modest fashion brand that engages their Muslim audience with styling videos, hijab tutorials, and outfit ideas tailored to their customer base. Their culturally relevant content strategy led to rapid growth, with over 200,000 followers (Source).
Analyzing these successful accounts shows the power of creating customized content that engages your specific target demographic on TikTok. Tailoring videos to highlight your products and mission can help small businesses make powerful connections with their audience.
Future Outlook
TikTok has announced plans to add new features and capabilities specifically for business accounts in order to help them better reach and engage their target audiences on the platform.
In a recent blog post, TikTok shared that they are focused on “empowering brands and businesses to meaningfully interact with the TikTok community.”1 Some of the upcoming features include an improved analytics dashboard, easier account management, and more options to promote and track ads.
TikTok is also exploring ways to give business accounts better visibility and discoverability on the platform. This could come in the form of highlighting business accounts in certain categories or showing their content more prominently in user feeds. The goal is to showcase brands and businesses as valued members of the TikTok community.
As TikTok continues to grow its user base and evolve its offerings, most industry observers predict even more ad options and capabilities for business accounts in the future. This is likely to include expanded targeting options, buying formats like carousels and collections, and tools to measure and optimize ad performance. With the platform’s popularity and engaged user base, businesses will likely devote more of their marketing budgets to TikTok ads.
Conclusion
In summary, the evidence shows that business accounts on TikTok do tend to get less views than individual creator accounts. This is likely due to factors like less authentic and relatable branding, algorithm bias towards entertainment content, and businesses struggling to adapt branded content to the TikTok format.
However, this does not mean business accounts cannot find success on TikTok. By focusing on creating entertaining and creative content optimized for the platform, developing an authentic brand persona, using influencer collaborations, participating in trends and hashtags, and properly leveraging ads, businesses can overcome the initial view deficit compared to individual creators. Patience and consistency in posting quality content is key.
The main takeaway for businesses is that thriving on TikTok requires understanding the user culture and expectations. Brands must be willing to loosen up, have fun, and provide value through engaging videos. With the right strategy tailored to TikTok, business accounts can gain traction and become an impactful marketing channel.
References
[1] TikTok Business Account Engagement Study. Wallaroo Media, 2021.
[2] The 2021 Guide to Organic Reach on TikTok. Socialinsider, 2021.
[3] TikTok Algorithm 2022: How it Works for Creators, Brands and Viewers. Oberlo, 2022.
[4] 15 Tips to Increase Views on TikTok for Businesses in 2022. Sprout Social, 2022.
[5] How to Use TikTok for Business: A Guide for Marketers. Hootsuite, 2022.
