What Is TikTok?
TikTok is a popular social media app that allows users to create and share short videos, typically set to music or other audio clips. It was launched in September 2016 in China under the name Douyin by the tech company ByteDance. In 2017, ByteDance launched the international version called TikTok. The app quickly became popular worldwide thanks to its fun features and ease of use (Big3.sg).
Some key features of TikTok include:
- Creating and sharing 15-60 second videos
- Adding special effects, filters, and music/audio
- Duets – collaborating with other users on split-screen videos
- Challenges – participating in dance, comedy, or other viral video memes
- Watching a personalized feed of videos based on interests
- Live streaming
Within a few years, TikTok became one of the most downloaded apps globally. As of 2022, it has over 1 billion monthly active users worldwide (Hootsuite). The app is especially popular with younger audiences, allowing teens and young adults to express their creativity through short videos.
User Accounts
To start using TikTok, you’ll first need to create an account. This allows you to upload videos, follow other users, and interact with content. Here’s how to set up your TikTok account:
Go to tiktok.com or download the TikTok app. Click “Sign up” to create a new account. You’ll need to enter your email address or phone number and create a password. TikTok will send a verification code to confirm your account.
Next, you’ll choose a unique username like @yourname. This is how other users will find your profile and content. You can also add a profile photo and bio to customize your account.
Once your account is created, you can start engaging with other TikTok users. Be sure to go through the account settings to manage your privacy and preferences. With your profile set up, you’re ready to start creating and interacting!
Following Other Users
One of the main activities on TikTok is following other users. This allows you to see the videos and content they post in your “Following” feed. There are a few ways to find and follow people on TikTok:
You can follow someone directly from their profile page by tapping the “Follow” button. TikTok will also recommend accounts for you to follow based on the content you watch and engage with. Suggested accounts will appear on your “For You” feed and you can tap “Follow” to add them.
You can also follow friends from your contacts, Facebook friends, or search for specific users or hashtags to find accounts to follow. TikTok makes following very easy – simply tap the plus “+” icon on any video to follow the creator.
According to TikTok’s help documentation, “Following a user subscribes you to their content. You’ll see their videos in your Following feed” (source). So following others is the main way to curate the content you see on TikTok.
Followers
On TikTok, a follower is someone who subscribes to another user’s account in order to see the videos and other content that user posts. When User A follows User B, User A will start seeing User B’s new content in their Following feed. This allows users to keep up with creators that they find entertaining or interesting.
Getting followers is an important goal for many TikTok users, especially those trying to build an audience and grow their influence on the platform. Having followers means your content will be shown to more people. There are a few main ways to get more followers on TikTok:
- Post engaging, high-quality videos consistently. This gives viewers more content to enjoy and a reason to follow you.
- Use relevant hashtags so your content becomes discoverable by people interested in those topics.
- Interact with your audience by liking comments, responding, and doing duets/stitches. This helps build relationships.
- Promote your account through other social media platforms.
- Run TikTok ads targeting potential new followers.
Having a large follower count is desirable for many reasons. It means more eyes on your content and a larger potential audience for each video. It also lends a certain credibility and influence, especially for creators looking to make money through sponsorships or branded content deals. Some users also simply enjoy the social validation and status that comes with having a popular account.
Content Creation
Creating content is a core part of the TikTok experience. Users can create short videos up to 3 minutes long directly within the app using options like filters, effects, music, and more. Some of the key features for content creation include:
Effects – TikTok has a wide variety of fun filters and effects that users can add to their videos. There are augmented reality effects, green screen effects, beauty filters, and more. Effects help videos stand out and go viral. Users can browse and select effects before recording a video directly within the TikTok app.
Challenges – Challenges allow users to participate in viral trends by creating videos around specific themes. Popular challenges include showing off dance moves, cooking recipes, outfit changes, and more. Challenges spread through hashtags and features like the “Discover” page.
Music – Users can add songs, sounds and audio clips to their videos. TikTok has a vast music library with rights to use popular songs. Audio and music help set the mood and tone for short form videos.
Overall, TikTok makes it easy for anyone to create fun, engaging videos through its built-in creative tools. Making content is a key way users interact and gain followers on the platform.
Interacting with Followers
TikTok allows creators to interact directly with their followers in various ways, most notably through commenting, duets, and stitches. These engagement features help build community and allow followers to participate in content creation.
Commenting is the simplest way creators can interact with followers. Fans can leave comments on videos, and creators can reply back to engage in conversation. Comments help creators get direct feedback and build relationships with their audience.
Duets allow creators to record reaction videos side-by-side with someone else’s video, syncing the videos together. To duet, you can choose one of your follower’s videos and record your own video reacting to it. This lets you put your own spin on viral content. As this guide explains, duets are great for comedy, critique, or collaboration with fans.
Stitches are similar, but involve playing someone else’s video first before transitioning into your own. As the TikTok Help Center explains, stitches let you remix and build on trends, adding your perspective to existing viral videos. You can choose to allow any videos to be stitched or limit it to just your followers.
By engaging directly with their content, duets and stitches help creators interact with their followers in creative new ways. The features facilitate community participation and feedback.
Analytics
TikTok provides its creators robust analytics to track the performance of their content. In the Creator Portal, users can view key metrics like follower growth, video views, profile views, likes, comments, and shares over custom time ranges (TikTok Creator Portal). This gives TikTok creators insight into how their audience is engaging with their content over time.
There are also third-party analytics tools available to track TikTok growth and engagement. For example, Social Blade provides daily analytics reports, progress charts, future predictions, and top charts to help creators optimize their strategy (Social Blade). Hootsuite and other tools also allow creators to integrate TikTok data with analytics from other platforms to better understand overall performance and growth.
By regularly analyzing TikTok analytics like views, followers, comments, shares, and traffic sources, creators can gain valuable insight to improve content and engagement. Tracking growth over time is key to measuring the success of a TikTok strategy.
Influencers
TikTok is home to many popular content creators known as influencers. These are users who have amassed large followings by consistently creating engaging videos.
Some of the most notable TikTok influencers include Charli D’Amelio, Addison Rae, and Zach King. Charli D’Amelio became the first TikTok creator to reach 100 million followers. She is known for her viral dance videos.
Brands often collaborate with influencers to promote products or services. An influencer marketing campaign on TikTok allows brands to tap into the influencer’s large and engaged following. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, “Top TikTok influencers can be highly effective brand ambassadors to promote your business.”
When initiating TikTok collaborations, it’s important for brands to vet influencers carefully to ensure they are authentic and a good fit. The influencer’s content should align with the brand’s target audience and messaging.
Sources:
https://influencermarketinghub.com/top-tiktok-marketing-agencies/
Ads
One of the ways TikTok generates revenue is through sponsored ads and paid partnerships with brands and influencers. Brands can pay to promote their TikTok ads to reach new audiences and increase engagement.
Influencers with large followings on TikTok can get paid by brands to create sponsored content featuring their products or services. According to Glossy, many beauty brands are running TikTok ad campaigns and paying influencers to make sponsored content before potential restrictions hit the platform.
There are marketplaces like IZEA where influencers list their rates for sponsored TikTok posts and ads. A sponsored TikTok video can cost a brand anywhere from $100 to $500+ depending on the influencer’s follower count and engagement levels.
Paid partnerships and influencer marketing on TikTok allow brands to tap into new audiences and leverage influencers’ creativity and personalities to showcase their brand in an authentic way.
Trends
TikTok is known for its viral trends that spread quickly through the app. Many of the biggest trends on TikTok start from popular hashtag challenges, where users create videos using a specific hashtag to participate in a themed challenge. Some of the most well-known hashtag challenges include #InMyFeelings, #posechallenge, and #dancetoDC. These challenges allow users to put their own creative spin on a viral trend.
In addition to challenges, dance trends, meme songs, and other viral content spread rapidly through TikTok. Trends like the Renegade, M to the B, and Savage dances took off through users imitating and putting their own spin on the moves. Catchy songs also go viral through memes, dances, and more. Hashtags play a key role in connecting viral content, allowing users to find and participate in trending challenges, dances, songs, and more.
Brands aim to capitalize on trends by participating in hashtag challenges and utilizing trending audios, effects, and memes. However, brands must ensure content aligns authentically with their image rather than forcing connections to trends.
