TikTok has exploded in popularity over the past few years and become one of the most used social media platforms in the world. As of December 2023, TikTok has over 1 billion monthly active users, up from 689 million in 2020 (1). With over 5 billion internet users worldwide, TikTok now has a market penetration of over 23% (2). The app allows users to create and share short videos, often set to music, and its algorithm is exceptionally good at serving users content that aligns with their interests and keeps them engaged. Brands and businesses have taken notice of TikTok’s huge audience and powerful algorithm. Many are now leveraging TikTok as a marketing channel to promote their products, engage with current and potential customers, and ultimately drive sales.
(1) https://backlinko.com/tiktok-users
(2) https://www.businessofapps.com/data/tik-tok-statistics/
What is a TikTok Business Account?
A TikTok business account provides additional tools and features for businesses, brands, creators, and organizations using TikTok for marketing, advertising, ecommerce, analytics, and more. The main differences between personal and business accounts are:
Business accounts have access to TikTok’s Business Suite, which includes analytics, content management, and advertising capabilities not available on personal accounts. Business accounts can use ad targeting, UTMs for tracking, lead generation tools, pixel tracking, and more.
Business accounts can link to ecommerce sites or online stores directly from their TikTok profile and videos. This allows viewers to easily shop for products associated with the brand.
Business accounts have additional profile settings such as adding business hours, location, contact info, and the ability to create shorter vanity URLs.
The “For Business” account type also provides access to special business-focused sound libraries and video editing tools.
In summary, a TikTok business account enables brands and organizations to maximize their marketing capabilities on the platform beyond just organic content posting and growth.
Benefits of a TikTok Business Account
A TikTok business account provides users with analytics and promotional tools to help grow their presence on the platform. According to TikTok’s Creator Portal, some key benefits of switching to a business account include:
Analytics – Business accounts give access to analytics regarding your profile, video performance, content, and LIVE videos. This allows you to make data-driven decisions about what types of content resonate best with your audience.
Promoting Content – Business accounts can use TikTok’s self-serve ads manager to create and optimize ad campaigns directly within the app. You can promote your videos and profile to reach new audiences.
Advertising Options – Along with promoted videos and profiles, business accounts also unlock additional advertising formats like in-feed ads, brand takeovers, and more. This provides greater options to get your brand seen.
Overall, a TikTok business account provides the tools to take a more strategic, growth-oriented approach to the platform. The analytics help optimize content, while promotional and advertising features allow expanding reach and visibility.
Setting Up a TikTok Business Account
Setting up a TikTok business account is straightforward, though there are a few key differences compared to a personal account. The main way to convert to a business account is to switch your existing personal profile over in the app settings.
To convert your personal TikTok account to a business one, open the TikTok app and tap on your profile icon in the bottom right. Then tap on the menu icon in the top right and select “Settings and privacy”. From there, choose “Manage account” and then “Switch to Business Account”. TikTok will walk you through connecting the business details like name, email and category.
According to TikTok’s support page, you can also register a new business account from scratch using your email, phone number or business name. This allows you to maintain a separate business presence without affecting your personal account.
The key aspects to setting up a TikTok business account are:
- Converting an existing personal profile or registering a new business one
- Adding business details like name, contact info and category
- Agreeing to TikTok’s terms for business accounts
Once the business account is created, you gain access to analytics, advertising, and other tools to help manage your brand’s presence. The process is straightforward and free to set up.
Features of a TikTok Business Account
A TikTok business account unlocks additional features not available on a standard personal account. Some key features include:
Analytics Dashboard – The analytics dashboard provides in-depth data on content performance including views, likes, comments, shares, audience demographics, top videos, etc. This allows brands to optimize their content strategy and understand what resonates best with their target audience. Source
Promotions – Business accounts can promote videos and challenges to reach new audiences. TikTok provides self-serve advertising options to choose a target audience, set a budget, and track performance. Promoted videos appear in the “For You” feed with an “Sponsored” tag. Source
Link in Bio – The link in bio feature allows brands to add a clickable link to their TikTok profile, directing users to a website or product pages. This makes it easy to drive traffic and conversions from TikTok content.
Branded Content Tags – Business accounts can tag branded content using the “Branded Content Tag”, clearly disclosing paid partnerships and influencer marketing campaigns.
Advertising and Marketing
TikTok provides a powerful platform for businesses to advertise to and engage with users. There are several options for paid advertising on TikTok.
TikTok Ads allow businesses to promote their content to a targeted audience through in-feed videos, TopView (full screen ads), and Brand Takeovers. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, TikTok ads start at $10 per 1000 views (CPM), with a minimum spend of $500 per campaign [1]. This means TikTok ads can be very cost effective for reaching a large audience.
Influencer marketing is also popular on TikTok, with brands partnering with creators to promote products in entertaining and authentic ways. The key is finding creators that genuinely like the product and have an engaged following in the target demographic.
Other promotional tactics include using branded effects, branded lenses/filters, branded hashtags and playlists. Using a business account unlocks additional analytics to determine the ROI from various marketing initiatives on TikTok.
Tips for Using TikTok for Business
When using TikTok for business, it’s important to develop a strong content strategy. Take advantage of trending audios, hashtags, and viral challenges to increase your visibility. According to Hootsuite, jumping on the latest trends and participating in popular hashtag challenges is a great way to get more eyes on your brand’s content.
TikTok recommends using a mix of educational content and behind-the-scenes footage to engage viewers and build a connection with your brand. Showcase your products in action through demos, testimonials, and how-tos. Interact with your audience by responding to comments and collaborating with influencers. According to TikTok’s Small Business Marketing Guide, it’s key to find creative ways to tell your brand’s story through fun, entertaining short-form videos.
Post consistently, but also take time to analyze your metrics using TikTok’s Creator Portal. Pay attention to which videos are gaining traction so you can refine your content approach. Test different video formats, captions, sounds, and effects to see what resonates best with your target audience.
Examples of Successful Brand Campaigns on TikTok
Many brands have run successful marketing campaigns on TikTok. Here are some noteworthy examples:
Chipotle launched the #ChipotleLidFlip challenge in 2020, which encouraged users to flip Chipotle lids and perform tricks. The campaign generated over 230 million views and boosted app downloads by 21% (Source).
In 2021, e.l.f. Cosmetics went viral with their #eyeslipsface challenge. They encouraged users to transition between eye, lip and face product videos. This helped increase brand awareness and engagement (Source).
Gymshark promoted their products through influencer marketing and by embracing the culture of dance and fitness trends. In 2020, their #Gymshark66 challenge alone generated 66 million views (Source).
These examples show how brands can leverage TikTok’s features like challenges, effects and influencers to creatively engage their audience and achieve viral success.
Risks and Challenges
While TikTok offers great opportunities for businesses to reach new audiences, there are some risks and challenges to consider.
One major risk is the possibility of TikTok being banned or restricted in certain countries. TikTok has already been banned in India and there have been threats of bans in the US due to data privacy concerns. If TikTok were to be banned in a major market, it could severely impact any marketing efforts or audiences built on the platform.
TikTok’s algorithm is also prone to frequent changes which can heavily impact the reach and engagement of branded content. Staying on top of the latest algorithm updates and adapting content strategies accordingly is key to success on TikTok, but unpredictable changes can present a challenge.
There are also risks around brand safety and association. Controversial content trends quickly on TikTok, and brands must be careful about what types of content their ads appear alongside. TikTok has also faced scrutiny over censorship and human rights issues, which brands may not want to be associated with.
Monitoring comments and direct messages for abusive or inappropriate content is another consideration, as is protecting against copyright infringement or data breaches. Overall, brands must weigh the benefits against potential reputational, legal, and regulatory risks when establishing a presence on TikTok.
Conclusion
In summary, a TikTok business account is free to set up and provides brands and businesses with powerful features to reach new audiences. By enabling analytics, advertising, and content management tools, a TikTok business profile helps companies promote their products in creative new ways.
While the platform presents unique marketing opportunities, brands should also be aware of potential risks like negative comments or losing control of a campaign. Overall, a TikTok business account is a free, low-risk way for companies to expand their social media strategy and connect with younger demographics. The key is to approach it strategically and lean into the fun, viral nature of TikTok content.
