How to Increase Engagement on TikTok for B2B Businesses

Social media engagement measures brand interactions with its audience across various social platforms. It includes likes, comments, shares, saves, and other forms of interaction the platform provides. The more your audience interacts with your content, the higher your engagement rates will be.

TikTok, a platform widely known for its short-form videos, is not just for B2C businesses and fun dance challenges. It has also evolved into a legitimate marketing tool for B2B businesses. The platform’s growing diverse user base offers an excellent opportunity for B2B businesses to reach a broader audience and foster meaningful connections. LinkedIn and Twitter have traditionally been the go-to platforms for B2B social media marketing, but the landscape is changing. Embracing TikTok can open up new possibilities for B2B brands to engage more casually and creatively with their audience.

Understanding TikTok for B2B

• Basics of TikTok: TikTok is a social media app that allows users to create and share short, catchy videos set to music. As of 2023, the platform boasts over 1.5 billion active users worldwide, making it a highly popular and impactful platform for marketers and businesses.
• Differentiating Factors of TikTok from Other Social Media: TikTok’s primary differentiating factor is its algorithm. Unlike other social media platforms where you must follow specific accounts to see their content primarily, TikTok’s algorithm displays content from all users, increasing the likelihood of content going viral. This provides an excellent opportunity for businesses to reach a wider audience.
• TikTok’s relevance to B2B Businesses: According to a 2022 report, 63% of TikTok users are aged 30 and above, thus debunking the myth that TikTok is just for teenagers. This proves the platform can reach important business decision-makers, making it relevant for B2B marketing.

Identifying Target Audience on TikTok

• Defining Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) for your B2B Business on TikTok: Just like any other marketing strategy, it’s crucial to identify your target audience on TikTok. This includes understanding their demographics, preferences, pain points, and how your product or service can solve their problem.
• Studying the TikTok algorithm: As a recommendation algorithm drives TikTok’s “For You” page, understanding this can help tailor your content to reach your desired audience. TikTok’s algorithm is based on user interaction, video details, and device & account settings.
• Understanding what type of content your audience engages with: Explore and analyze trending content within your industry or niche to identify patterns in popular and engaging posts. These patterns can serve as inspiration for your content creation.

The following steps would be to craft a content strategy, actively engage with the TikTok community, regularly measure and optimize performance based on metrics, and continually learn from successful B2B engagement strategies on TikTok. Ultimately, increasing social media engagement on TikTok for B2B businesses is a dynamic process that requires creativity, consistency, and understanding of your audience.

Content Strategy for TikTok

Types of Content B2B Businesses Can Create on TikTok:

1. Educational Content: This can include how-tos, industry trends, tips and tricks, and explainer videos. According to a 2023 survey, 72% of B2B buyers are likelier to engage with educational content brands.
2. Behind the Scenes Content: This can include a look into your office life, manufacturing process, team building activities, etc. Humanizing your brand can lead to increased trust and engagement.
3. Product Demonstration/Explainer Videos: Show how your product or service works and how it can solve your customer’s problem.
4. Employee Spotlights/Company Culture: Showcase your team members and company culture. This helps to humanize your business and build a community.
5. User-Generated Content: Encourage your customers or employees to create videos about your products or services. This fosters a sense of community and increases trust among your followers.

Consistency and Scheduling

1. The Importance of Consistency: Consistency in your posting schedule is crucial for maintaining and building your audience on TikTok. Posting regularly signals to your followers that you are an active and reliable source of content, which can encourage them to interact more with your posts. According to a 2022 report, brands that posted consistently on TikTok had a 67% higher engagement rate than those that posted sporadically.
2. Developing a Posting Schedule: The optimal time to post on TikTok can vary based on your target audience and their activity patterns. Utilize TikTok analytics to determine when your audience is most active and schedule your posts for those peak times. As a rule of thumb, it’s beneficial to post at least once a day to maintain visibility and keep your audience engaged.
3. Content Calendar: Creating a content calendar can help streamline the process of consistent posting. This allows you to plan your content and ensure a balanced mix of content types. For example, this lets you schedule posts around important dates, events, or product launches.
4. Adapting to Your Audience’s Feedback: Pay attention to your audience’s reactions to your posts. Are certain types of posts getting more engagement than others? Are there certain times of day when your posts get more views? Use this feedback to adapt and optimize your content strategy and posting schedule continuously.
5. Automating Posts: Consider using social media management tools that offer TikTok integration for automating your posts. This ensures that your content goes live at the scheduled times, even if you’re unavailable to post manually.

Importance of High-quality Video Production

1. Professionalism and Brand Image: High-quality videos reflect positively on your brand image and demonstrate professionalism. Even if your brand’s voice is casual and relatable, maintaining a quality standard in your video production is essential. According to a 2023 report, 70% of B2B buyers stated that high-quality visuals positively influence purchasing decisions.
2. Engagement and Retention: High-quality videos can help capture viewers’ attention and keep them engaged, increasing the likelihood of them watching your video till the end. High-resolution videos with clear audio are more likely to be protected and shared, increasing your reach and engagement.
3. Conveying Complex Information: For B2B businesses, communicating complex ideas or detailed product information is often necessary. High-quality videos, possibly coupled with compelling graphics and animations, can help convey this information more clearly and effectively.
4. Investing in Good Equipment and Software: While TikTok videos often have a more organic feel than content on other social platforms, investing in a good camera, microphone, and video editing software can drastically improve the quality of your videos. Remember, good lighting and stable video footage (using tripods or gimbals) can also significantly enhance video quality.
5. Utilizing Video Editing Features on TikTok: TikTok provides various editing features, including filters, effects, text overlays, and more, which can enhance your video content. It’s worth exploring these features to make your videos more appealing and engaging.
6. Outsourcing When Necessary: If video production is not your forte or lacks the necessary resources, consider outsourcing this task to professionals. There are plenty of freelancers and agencies specializing in social media content creators who can help create high-quality videos for your brand.

Engaging with the TikTok Community

• Using TikTok Features for Engagement (Duets, Stitch, Replies, etc.): TikTok’s features like Duets and Stitch can help boost engagement by encouraging user participation and promoting collaboration.
• Joining and Leveraging Trends, Hashtags, and Challenges: Trends and challenges are a significant part of TikTok’s appeal. Joining relevant trends or creating your challenge can help increase visibility and engagement. For example, in 2022, TikTok campaigns using branded hashtags saw a 33% increase in employment.
• Collaborating with TikTok influencers and thought leaders in your industry: Collaborating with relevant influencers can help to expand your reach and credibility.
• Effective use of TikTok Live: TikTok Live is a powerful tool for real-time engagement with your audience. It allows for direct interaction through Q&As, product demonstrations, webinars, etc.

In the subsequent steps, we’ll measure success, learn from case studies of successful B2B TikTok strategies, and summarize key takeaways.

Measurement and Optimization

• Understanding TikTok Analytics: Utilize TikTok’s built-in analytics tool to gain insight into your account performance and audience behaviors. As of 2022, TikTok analytics provides metrics on follower details, content insights, and overall account performance.
• Measuring Engagement (Likes, Shares, Comments, Follows, etc.): High engagement rates signify that your content resonates with your audience. For example, in 2023, the average engagement rate on TikTok for B2B brands was reported to be around 5.3%.
• Optimizing content based on performance metrics: Regularly review your performance metrics and adjust your content strategy accordingly. Businesses that frequently analyze and optimize their content strategy experience an increase in engagement rates by up to 60%, according to a 2022 study.

Conclusion

A comprehensive summary of the strategies discussed, including understanding TikTok, identifying your target audience, creating a content strategy, engaging with the TikTok community, and regular measurement and optimization.

As of 2023, TikTok continues to rise in popularity with over 1.5 billion users, making it an unmissable platform for B2B marketers. It’s predicted that short-form video content, live streaming, and influencer collaborations will continue to dominate the medium. Furthermore, AI-driven personalization and AR/VR technologies for product demonstrations and virtual tours are trends that B2B marketers should look out for.

Encouraging B2B businesses to leverage TikTok as part of their social media strategy reminds them of the potential rewards in reach, brand visibility, and customer engagement. A 2023 survey indicates that 78% of marketers who used TikTok as part of their B2B marketing strategy saw an improvement in their overall social media engagement.