If you don’t live under a rock you probably heard of Tiktok. If you don’t know what Tiktok is a video sharing social media platform used to share short term videos. I’m gonna show you why and how you can use Tiktok to grow your brand and gain traffic online. Whether you are a studio recruiting or promoting models or a model trying to gain followers and customers for your live shows, Tiktok is a great tool you should implement in your 2021 marketing plan.

A few numbers

As of 2020, Tiktok had over 800 millions users. With the world pandemic you can imagine that number being way higher today, knowing that more than 2 billion users downloaded the app over the year.
Along with Zoom, Tiktok has been the most downloaded app in the Apple AppStore.
The demographic is still a little young. 41% of users are between 14-24 years old but like Snapchat before, the growth has been fast and more and more older users are using the app now with alsmot 40% of users above 30.
Average time spent on Tiktok daily is 52mn. Knowing the maximum length of videos are 1 minute, this is a long time spent on a social media an d way more than the average user stay watching live cams.
Tiktok is available in mostly every country which means the potential reach is huge.

How does Tiktok work?

The platform is based around videos that max out at 15 seconds (and can be combined for up to a total of 60 seconds, and people interact with videos by scrolling through their feeds.
One of the cool things about TikTok is it allows people to add all sorts of editing effects and background music to their videos. This has resulted in lots of dancing videos going viral on the platform, as people can record a video of themselves dancing to a particular song.

When it comes to interacting with videos, people can “like,” comment on, or share the videos they like with other users through direct message or SMS and other apps.

Engagement figures are exceptionally high on the platform. According to one study by Influencer Marketing Hub, TikTok beats all other plaforms when it comes to engagement levels across accounts of all sizes.
If you have a TikTok profile, people can follow your account and set up notifications so they’re alerted whenever you post a video.

The tricky part is working out how to create the kind of content that resonates with TikTok users. After all, the content and style of TikTok content are different from those on other social media platforms.
If you use the platform as an observer for a week or two, you’ll be able to develop a feel for things. This may then make things much easier when you use the platform as a marketing channel.

Why Tiktok?

Now that you know a little bit more about Tiktok, you’ll understand why this is crucial to jump on the bandwagon since it’s still new…before it gets so popular like Twitter and benefits are low or like Instagram very complicated because of strict regulations against adult content in general. By the way, let me be clear, Tiktok is no different than any other mainstream social network and not adult content is permitted on the platform but this is not what social media is about. It’s about building or strengthening your brand online. While people are contemplating the idea or discussing whether or not Tiktok is a good marketing tool, a LOT of people made it their first mean of communication and grew to millions of followers, started a business, etc.
If you are creative in any way and we all are somehow, then this is te platform for you. You can dance, sing, play an instrument, share your pets, your hobby…ANYTHING. It’s not about promoting when you go online. This is irrelevant to this platform. It’s about bringing people to your world, be part of a fun community…and ultimately whatever you do, your followers will follow you.

Tiktok tips

Here’s a few tips on how to grow your Tiktok account the right way:

1. Hashtags

Like many other social media networks, TikTok users rely on hashtags to catalog their videos and search for clips by subject. If users click on the “Discover” magnifying glass at the bottom of the screen, they see a list of videos sorted by trending hashtags.

Although you should include relevant hashtags on your videos, you should probably avoid the most popular generic hashtags. Your videos are more likely to become swamped in a sea of content. It is better to have your videos stand out in slightly less popular categories. As with all marketing, you want your videos to appear visible to those people most relevant to your campaign, so don’t focus on hashtags just because they are popular.

Also, remember that this isn’t Instagram. Don’t be tempted to use 21 hashtags on TikTok. Doing so will take away the effect of your videos.

And VERY MPORTANTT, do NOT use any adult oriented content that eventually Tiktok will ban like #sex #cammodels etc…Tiktok or any of your social media is and should NOT about promoting where you cam, it should be about you. Your followers will do the rest. They know how to use Google and find you without you telling them 😉

2. Follow trends

Keep an eye out for trending hashtags. You can then create and share videos that relate to these trending videos.
Remember that trends can be fast-moving. Keep a regular eye on TikTok trends and be prepared to change your content to keep up with the craze.
If you are sharing your version of a trending video type, don’t just make it a copy of everybody else’s videos. Find a way to make your video unique.

3. Engagement

If you know other models, follow them, comment on their posts, etc…Build a community of your peers because you will also appear on their followers suggestions. Also because engagement is the key ingredient of any social media.
Use the video to reply to people as well. This is a popular way to engage with your audience.

4. Post often

TikTok is one of those social platforms that reward frequent posting.  The more videos you post to your TikTok account, the higher your follower rate is likely to be.
The more times you post, the simpler it will be for people to find your account and decide to follow you.

5. Use effects

As you can imagine, with millions of videos shared on TikTok, you need to do something different to stand out from the crowd. TikTok offers a wide range of effects to help with this. You will find them under the Effects tab, split into Trending, New, Interactive, Editing, Beauty, Funny, World, and Animal categories.
TikTok includes a green screen effect, which allows you to use the image of your choice to replace the video background, much as you often see on television and in the movies

6. Make interesting videos

TikTok’s videos can be up to a minute-long. You don’t have long to get your message across. And whatever you do, don’t merely upload blatant ads or try to promote links t any adult site. Users know how to make the difference between genuine content and just advertising.

You want your videos to be visually appealing, without looking like they’ve been made by a professional advertising agency (even if you have worked with an agency to help your creativity).
Although there may be times that you will use your descriptions as teasers, in most cases, you will want to include a clear description of what your video has to offer its audience. If possible, word it in such a way that people feel the urge to comment.

Writing a good description is also essential for SEO purposes. In essence, you want Tiktok to know what your video is about when it indexes your clip and hopefully suggests it to your preferred audience. Remember to include your most important keywords in your descriptions, but they have to make sense and not just be a random collection of words.

7. Repurpose your content

I can already hears me of you say that it’s a lot more work. Well yes but this is your brand you do as little or as much as you want. The good thing is that you can repurpose your content. You can make that fun creative video for your Tiktok and share it on your Instagram Story or Twitter Fleet so you use the same content for multiple platforms.

Your Tiktok profile

The profile no Tiktok is rather small so be creative.
At the beginning, don’t worry, you won’t be able to add a link to a website to your profile. However you will be able to add your Instagram. After a while you’ll get the ability to add a clickable link to your profile. Don’t make the mistake to add any adult link in there, you wouldn’t last very long. Instead use any of the link page available out there like linktr.ee, or more adult friendly leenx.me.

Last thoughts

If you don’t already use Tiktok or if you use it for personal use with your friends and family, I suggest browsing for a few days and look at trends, popular accounts, what they do, how they do it etc…find the angle that can work for you. If you can dance, just dance. But I often see models doing dance videos that are not real dancers or not very good dancer. That kind of content is not interesting enough to go viral. We are all unique in our own way, sometimes it’s just about cultivating that uniqueness and find what could be successful. If you’re into cosplay, this is a great idea. If you have pets, if you like something and know it that well that you can talk about it for hours, this is also a great idea. Nothing is off the table. If you like hiking, f you are learning an instrument or a language or a skill…
For studios, your angle is different. You might use social media for brand awareness or recruiting purposes. And you have the content right in front of you. It can be your photographers sharing tips, or sharing shots, it could makeup artists sharing tips or showing a makeup session, could be funny like models before and after, it could be staff with each their own uniqueness sharing a piece of their uniqueness…options are endless and limitless.

As always if you need help, suggestions…about Tiktok, feel free to message us.