TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media platforms, with over 1 billion monthly active users. While many people use TikTok for entertainment, there has been a rising trend of businesses and entrepreneurs leveraging it to reach new audiences.
TikTok offers two types of accounts – personal and business. Personal accounts are for individual users to engage with content and connect with others. Business accounts unlock additional features tailored for brands, businesses, creators, and organizations looking to establish a professional presence on TikTok.
Benefits of a TikTok Business Account
One of the biggest benefits of switching to a TikTok business account is gaining access to in-depth analytics dashboards. These provide valuable insights into your audience and content performance that regular users don’t get. You can view detailed statistics on your followers, likes, comments, shares, and more. This allows you to optimize your strategy and create more engaging content.
Business accounts also have the ability to promote posts using TikTok’s advertising platform. This powerful marketing tool allows you to boost your organic reach and target your ads to precise demographics. Promoted posts can help quickly grow your follower count and engagement.
Additionally, business accounts make it easier to connect with potential customers. You can add links to your website or online shop directly in your bio and posts. This streamlines the path from discovery to conversion. It also provides a more professional storefront for your brand on TikTok.
Reach a Wider Audience
One of the key benefits of switching to a TikTok business account is the ability to reach a much wider audience. By optimizing your content and leveraging all of the tools TikTok provides, you can expose your brand to more potential customers.
Make use of relevant hashtags to help viewers find your content. As this TikTok help article explains, participating in trending hashtags can help you reach wider audiences that may not have discovered your account otherwise. Do research to find popular and relevant hashtags to include in your captions.
Promoting your account on the TikTok Discover page is another great way to be found. The Discover page showcases popular creators and content, so getting featured here gives you a boost in visibility. Post frequently, engage with viewers, and optimize your profile to stand out and potentially get promoted by TikTok.
Monetization Options
One of the biggest benefits of switching to a TikTok business account is gaining access to monetization features. There are several ways creators can earn money directly through TikTok.
The TikTok Creator Fund allows eligible creators to earn a certain amount per view. To qualify, you need at least 10,000 authentic followers and 10,000 video views in the last 30 days. TikTok determines the per view rate based on factors like the region, content category, and engagement. This presents a passive income stream just for posting regularly.
You can also make money through in-app purchases. Fans can send virtual gifts during live streams, and TikTok converts the gifts to cash you can withdraw. Gifts cost between $0.99 to $49.99. TikTok’s cut varies based on your region but is roughly 70%.
Finally, affiliate marketing links let you earn commissions promoting brands and products. Share your unique links and offers in captions, bios, and videos. When followers click and make eligible purchases, you earn a percentage of sales.
Professional Branding
Switching to a business account on TikTok allows you to customize your profile for branding purposes. According to TikTok Business, you can add a bio, profile picture, and cover image to convey your brand’s story and visual identity. The account also allows you to link to your website or other social media profiles, enabling seamless connections across platforms.
With a business profile, you have more control over your brand presence on TikTok. The customizable elements let you establish cohesion with your overall brand image. TikTok also provides marketing tools specifically for business accounts, to help brands reach their target audience and achieve their goals. These features make the platform better optimized for professional use compared to a standard personal account.
Ad Targeting
One of the key benefits of a TikTok business account is the ability to leverage advanced ad targeting options. TikTok’s ad platform allows advertisers to target users based on location, interests, behaviors, and more.
Location targeting enables businesses to show ads to users in specific countries, regions, cities, and even down to the postal code level (TikTok Ads Manager). This allows for highly localized and relevant advertising.
Interest and behavior targeting allows ads to be shown to users who have exhibited certain interests or behaviors on TikTok. Businesses can target audiences based on interests like food, sports, gaming, and more. Behaviors like previous purchases, video views, and engagements can also be targeted (TikTok Ads Manager).
Retargeting options enable advertisers to reach users who have previously engaged with their brand. For example, ads can be shown to people who have visited a website, used an app, watched a video, or interacted with a TikTok profile.
These advanced targeting capabilities allow TikTok business accounts to efficiently reach their ideal audiences and customers.
Analytics and Insights
One of the biggest benefits of a TikTok business account is access to advanced analytics and insights on your content’s performance (source: https://ads.tiktok.com/help/article/tiktok-business-account-features?lang=en). With analytics, you can track key metrics like views, likes, comments, shares, audience demographics, and traffic sources.
The analytics dashboard provides an overview of your content performance, allowing you to see which videos are resonating best with your audience. You can view real-time data on how each post is performing. Metrics like watch time, drop-off rates, and traffic sources give insight into viewer engagement and retention.
In-depth audience analytics let you analyze follower demographics including location, gender, age, interests, and device usage. This helps you tailor content to your target audience. You can also see when your followers are most active on TikTok to inform best posting times.
With a business account, you can also connect your TikTok profile to Google Analytics. This gives you a holistic view of your audience across platforms, helping optimize your overall social strategy (source: https://blog.hootsuite.com/tiktok-analytics/).
Challenges
While switching to a TikTok business account offers many benefits, it also comes with some challenges that brands should be aware of before making the switch.
One key challenge is the significant time commitment involved in creating engaging content and managing a TikTok presence. Unlike other social platforms, TikTok demands constant new material and quick responsiveness to stay relevant with users. Brands must dedicate sufficient resources to content creation and community interaction for success. According to Forbes, brands often underestimate the time and effort needed to do TikTok well.
Another major hurdle is TikTok’s unpredictable and rapidly evolving algorithm. The platform’s algorithm controls what content users see, but the exact factors impacting distribution and engagement are opaque. Brands may struggle to crack the algorithm code and achieve consistent visibility. What resonates with users today may not tomorrow. Staying atop of trends and adjusting approaches quickly is essential. As noted by CMSWire, the need for real-time content on TikTok poses marketing challenges for many brands.
Use Cases
Businesses across numerous industries have successfully utilized TikTok business accounts to grow their brand awareness and sales. Here are some of the most popular use cases:
Ecommerce
Ecommerce brands have leveraged TikTok’s shoppable video features to drive product discovery and direct sales through the app. According to Oberlo, the hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt has over 5 billion views, demonstrating TikTok’s power as an ecommerce platform. Brands like e.l.f Cosmetics creatively showcase their products in short videos to capture the audience’s attention.
Services
Service-based businesses like gyms, salons, and restaurants use TikTok to highlight their offerings, team members, and brand personality. Planet Fitness gains traction by posting motivational workout videos that align with their message of creating a judgement-free exercise environment.
Personal Branding
Individuals establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry by sharing educational and entertaining content related to their niche. Coach Brad Levin provides tips for creators and entrepreneurs to build their personal brand on TikTok and other platforms.
Conclusion
Switching to a business account on TikTok has several notable benefits but also some potential drawbacks to consider. The main advantages of a business account include the ability to access professional analytics, run ads, and unlock additional monetization features like creator funds and ecommerce. Business accounts also enable features like link sharing to drive traffic.
For brands, a business account allows for a verified presence and expanded branding capabilities. However, business accounts do come with some caveats. The TikTok algorithm tends to favor regular user accounts, so your organic reach could potentially decrease with a business profile. There are also more restrictions around music usage. Lastly, targeted advertising and analytics services do require financial investment.
Overall, the pros seem to outweigh the cons for most brands, creators, and businesses looking to grow on TikTok. The additional monetization and marketing capabilities provide significant long-term value. Just be aware of the potential reach tradeoffs. As long as your content remains engaging and relevant for the TikTok community, a business account is likely worth pursuing.
