In this transcribed video, you’ll learn how to use TitTok Marketing to make your business go viral.

Full Transcript below of how to make your business go viral on Tiktok:

(If you are looking to add captions to your Tiktok video, to drive more visibility, find out how to add captions to your Tiktok video here.)

Tiktok is growing fast and it is set to dominate this year in 2021. So if I could give you one single piece of advice for social media, it would be this immediately. Start using TikTok. With relatively competition on this platform, growing TikTok is pretty much accessible to everyone. Tiktok has become the ultimate way to grow an audience very fast and to promote your business in a very authentic and engaging way. So if you lack the capital to invest in Facebook or Instagram ads, then building a following on TikTok might just be the key to skyrocketing your sales. I mean, just look at the massive impact that the Dreams Challenge had on Ocean Spray sales, right? But the rules for success on TikTok are a lot different than any of the other platforms.

And that’s why in this video you’re going to learn marketing tips and strategies that are going to help your business go viral.

Hey guys, what’s going on? My name is Michelle and if you’re new, welcome to learn with Shopify. This is a channel for small business owners and entrepreneurs. So if that’s you make sure that you are clicking subscribe. Our videos are going to give you the knowledge you need on every step of your ecommerce journey. We even offer free business tools to help you find your way forward. So make sure that you are subscribed to our YouTube channel and you will always be one step ahead of the competition. In the early days of Instagram, it was so much easier to grow, and I’m sure I speak for a lot of us when I say that I wish that I would have put in the time and energy to grow my Instagram account back then.

So it almost feels like TikTok is the second chance and growing on TikTok right now is much more accessible. So I would urge you to follow these steps because who knows, this window of opportunity might not be around forever. So in this video we’re going to cover two things. First, we’re going to talk about how to use the app, and then I’m going to teach you how you can make your content go viral. Now, I have time stamped these two sections below, so if you want to skip ahead, you can do that. But other than that, let’s get into it. What are the benefits of being on TikTok? So since this platform is pretty new, I think a lot of people are still struggling or fighting with the idea.

Should they be on TikTok? Would they benefit or not? And I know for me, in my business, I was definitely a little lazy. I already had Instagram, I already had Facebook to worry about, and I didn’t want to worry about another platform. But it was recommended by a friend and I decided to try it and I am so glad that I did. So here are the benefits that you can expect from being on TikTok. Firstly, and probably most importantly, you can take advantage of exponentially fast growth. Reaching a massive audience and growing your following is easier than on any social media platform right now. So if you’re looking to be an influencer, industry expert or a business owner, this is a very great place to start.

Tik Tok allows you to link out to your other social media profiles. So if you’re looking to grow on Instagram or YouTube, then TikTok is going to be that perfect gateway to do so. And of course expanded reach is going to lead to more sales. So if you have an ecommerce business or maybe you sell services, then TikTok is the place to reach your niche audience. I also find TikTok pretty liberating because people come onto the platform expecting to see content that isn’t overly produced. So that means you can quickly and easily make videos that aren’t perfect and still be successful. On that same note, this is still a really fun, feel good platform.

Whereas I feel Instagram can be a little bit flashy. Tiktok is still a place where people come to be educated, inspired or entertained. It’s a very lighthearted place to be, which really does take the pressure off. How does TikTok work? Okay, so I’ll really quickly glaze over the interface and how to make content. But if you do want an entire video on how to use Tik Tok maybe you’re looking for something a little more in depth. Then just make sure that you’re leaving me a comment in the comment section down below and that way I’ll know to film it. How to set up your profile So first things first.

You’re going to need to make your account. You can make an account using your email, your phone number, or a third party platform like Facebook. To change your username, tap the icon in the right bottom corner. It kind of looks like a little person’s body. So you’ll hit that and then you’ll hit Edit profile. Here, you can change it to your branded business name. Now make sure you’re adding a bio that sums up who you are as a business so that people are getting it in 2 seconds or less.

And of course you don’t want to forget to link out to your website. That way, if people are interested in buying your products or services, they have a place to go. How to navigate the App So now that your profile is ready to go, it is time to understand how people consume content. So the app is divided into two main feeds. The free feed is where the algorithm is going to show you a stream of videos that it thinks you’re going to like. This is kind of like Instagram’s Explore page swipe left and you’ll find the other feed, which is called the following feed. The following feed will show you videos from people you choose to follow on the right hand side of any video, you’re going to find icons to engage.

So that’s going to include your likes, comments and your shares. Now, this very last icon is a spinning record with music notes and this represents the song excerpt that the user is playing in their video. So if you click on it, you’re going to see the track’s name, artist and the song’s popularity. Keeping an eye on the popularity is also going to help you understand if a certain song is going viral. Now, I’ll explain later why that’s important, but here you are also going to see a feed of other Tik Toks that are also using this song. How to Create a TikTok Video OK, so now you’re ready to share your own TikTok. So first you’re going to tap the plus sign at the bottom of the screen.

And before you start recording, you can actually add a song so that your video is actually in time with the music. But otherwise, if you just want to film something in the moment, you can skip ahead and start recording without a musical track and then you can add music later. Tiktok has a lot of AR effects to choose from. Just tap effects on the left hand side to browse them. And a quick tip here, it’s actually been speculated that using these effects can increase your exposure, so be sure to keep that in mind as you’re creating. And lastly, and probably the most important feature here is the timer. So this is going to allow you to film videos without having to hold the record button, and that’s just going to allow you to be free.

Do your thing and get creative with your content. So you can upload videos that have been recorded outside of the app if that works better for you, and then you can stitch them together in the app. So if you have footage in your camera roll and you want to use those, you can definitely just import them and then trim them.

Once you’re comfortable with TikTok, try using Duet. So duets are going to split the screen so that you can build on another creator’s video so you can record your own content alongside the original. And people are really using this feature to make reaction or response videos. Music is at the heart of TikTok, so picking a popular song can be the reason why your video goes viral. So to choose a song you’re going to hit add a sound at the right hand side of the recording screen. Here you can browse the most popular tracks on the platform. Here you can also look at the songs associated with certain challenges on TikTok.

Challenges unite the TikTok community and they can be sponsored by advertisers. So for example, ABC ran a like an American Idol challenge on TikTok and people were just showing off their voices and singing. But most challenges aren’t sponsored though. They’re actually created by Tik Tok and the community itself. So to browse all of TikTok’s current challenges, you’re going to want to tap the magnifying glass at the bottom of the home screen, and then at the top of the same menu there’s going to be a search bar which can be used to find specific creators, sounds or hashtags. How to look at Your Analytics okay, so once you start sharing your TikToks, you can check out how many people have watched them by looking at the view number on your profile. And then if you want to look even deeper into your analytics, you’re just going to want to click the video itself.

And then you’re going to hit the three little circles, and then you’ll hit analytics. Here you can see stats like your average watch time where people are coming from as well. And then you’re also going to want to tap the notifications icon at the bottom of your screen. And that’s going to be showing you who has commented or liked your videos recently. Okay, so that is basically a super quick rundown of how to use TikTok. And like I said, it’s by no means exhaustive. So if you do want something that is a little more in depth, just leave me a comment in the comment section below and I’ll make sure to make that video for you guys.

So now let’s talk about the eight tips and tricks you need to make your content go viral. Okay, super quick break here. If you’re ready to start driving more sales, then you should definitely think about leveling up your marketing. You can level up your marketing just by changing the way that you’re thinking about your store’s marketing funnel. So if you want to learn how to drive more traffic to your online store, then make sure that you’re signing up for the free Marketing 101 webinar. I will make sure to leave a link in the description box for you guys. How to make a Video Go Viral okay, so tip number one is to tell a story, start your video off with a problem, give clear steps about your journey, and then end it off with a solution.

So let’s say you sell handmade vegan shoes. You can start the video by saying, at first I thought it was impossible to make handmade vegan shoes, but I did it. And here’s how. Then you could show some behind the scenes footage, and then at the end you would just wrap it up all in a neat bow with your final solution. So if your story is unique or inspiring, you’re not only going to grow your TikTok audience, but you’re also going to gain some loyal followers that are emotionally invested in the backstory of your brand. So if your aim is to sell products, these types of videos that tell your brand story will really help you make sales as well. All right, so the next tip that I have for you guys is to provide value.

So while TikTok trends can be fun for a short while. I think eventually viewers are going to get bored. There’s only so many times you can watch the same dance done by different people. So what this means for you as a creator is you’re going to need to provide value. People are coming to the platform either to be entertained, inspired, or informed. So you’re going to want to ask yourself, by the end of this video, what did the viewer gain? Did they laugh? Did they learn a new skill to grow on TikTok? You’re going to want to lead with providing value first and then secondly, you’ll want to promote your brand. So going back to our shoe example, let’s say you create a video explaining how you were able to make your handmade vegan shoes.

Okay, great. The heart of the video is going to be educational, though. It’s really only at the very end of the video where you’re going to be fulfilling your own needs as a brand and take those couple of seconds to plug in your call to action. So your call to action could be, check out our online store, or it can be stay tuned for this collection to drop, but you’re really only taking the last few seconds of the video to plug your products. The type of content that we create on Instagram is pretty much just shameless. Advertising a video on Instagram might just be like a bunch of models wearing your shoes, laughing, smiling, kind of like a commercial that you would see on TV. There’s no real value there, but that’s pretty much normal for Instagram.

However, that type of content does not really fly on TikTok. So make sure that you are providing value and that there is a takeaway for the viewer. Tip number three is use viral sounds. So using trending sounds is extremely important to get discovered, especially on TikTok. So if you’re not using trending sounds, you’re going to be far less likely to be featured on the For You page. And the For You page is where you’re going to gain most of your followers. So this is extremely important.

So what you’re going to want to do to find your viral sound is you’re going to want to click Add Song as you’re creating your video. Then you’re going to go under Playlist, and then you would look under the TikTok viral playlist. And if you’re creating an explainer video or content that does need sound to make sense, what you can do is you can drop the volume on the added song and then you can raise your own volume on the original track. And then that way the viewer can hear what you’re saying in your video. Make sense of the video, but you’re still getting discovered for that viral sound that you’re using in your video. Tip number four, we are just ripping through these okay? So make sure you’re hooking people. You’re not only going to want to hook people at the beginning, but you’ll also want to hook your audience every five to 10 seconds.

This increases your videos average watch time. And we do care about our average watch time because if TikTok’s main incentive is to keep people on their app longer and your content is hooking people, your average watch time is long. Then, of course, Tik Tok is going to reward you with added exposure. Now I find that adding captions to Tiktok or words on your video is going to get people to stick around longer. So when people can watch your video and then also read along, they kind of get glued to your content definitely happened to me, and I’m sure it’s happened to you before as well. So make sure you’re adding captions and words. Another great tip is to ask a question right at the beginning of your video and then use the rest of your video to answer it.

Now this works because people want to see things through to completion. Going back to our shoe example, we could start a video asking, Are vegan leather shoes really more sustainable than actual leather shoes? Now this question works because it’s controversial and it hits on sustainability, which is a pressing topic. And of course, we’re asking a question and using the rest of the video to give a solution or an answer. And the final tip for hooking an audience is to make fast paced videos, quick jump cuts, flashing text, and that’s going to continue to hook people throughout the video. All right. Tip number five is find your niche and stick with it. So you’ll notice that some of the most successful TikTokers are making one type of content and one type of content only.

They recycle content by presenting it in slightly different ways. And these are the videos that go completely viral. This is efficient because not only is it less work for you, it’s also effective. So it’s really just like a complete win win. For example, the Silk Lab makes content around the behind the scenes of owning a small business. And Jenna has videos about how she makes her products and the growth of her business over time. So she really found the type of content that works for her.

And she continues to post that kind of content without deviating. So you might be asking yourself, OK, how am I going to find the type of content that works for me? Well, if you have no pre existing audience, then you’re going to have to experiment a little until you find the type of content that really hits. But once you do find that winning type of content, you’re going to want to keep creating content exactly like that, but just different variations. So you might want to post the exact same video with a different sound, and that’s going to reach a completely different audience. Sticking to your niche is not only important to grow on TikTok, but it’s important to reach an audience that will be aligned with your brand. So if you post something that’s maybe a little bit off brand for you, then sure, you might get 100 extra followers. But are those followers really valuable if they’re not the right audience? So biggest takeaway is find that niche, stick to it, and you’ll be successful.

Ok, so the 6th tip is to close your app as soon as you’ve posted. Now there are theories that are going around that are saying that if you post a video, you should immediately close your app. The reason for this is because TikTok actually wants to send you notifications to entice you to reopen your app. So if you can hold off long enough and resist the temptation to open the app again, then this can help your videos go viral. I’ve noticed that it works for me, but the jury is definitely still out on this one. So try it yourself and actually leave me a comment. If this is working for you, leave me a comment.

I’d be curious to know. Tip number seven is ensure that your videos can be watched on their own. So on TikTok, there’s a little bit less of an emphasis on follower loyalty. So when you log on to YouTube, for example, you can easily watch every single video that your favorite YouTuber has posted. So serious content like part one, part two, those are more appropriate on YouTube. But with TikTok, it’s definitely much easier to miss videos even of the people that you follow. So make sure that you’re creating videos that can be watched alone.

So take the show Seinfeld, for example. Let’s say I started watching right in the middle of the season seven. I could pretty much pick up what’s going on, right? But if I jumped into the middle of Stranger Things or Shit’s Creek in the middle, I might be a little confused, right? So go for Seinfeld type content that is just easy to understand and that they stand alone rather than in a series. Create content assuming that you’re reaching a brand new audience most of the time, especially when you’re just starting out. So tip number eight is watch for shadow bands. Shadow banning is when the bots that moderate Tik Tok detect some sort of a violation of the use of the app. This is going to result in less exposure for your account.

Now, TikTok has not yet confirmed that shadow banning is something that they actually do. However, there’s definitely enough of people that have experienced this or been affected by a sudden drop in engagement. So you might notice that all of a sudden you’re not getting all the likes or all the reach or all the comments that you’re used to. And sometimes this can be for no apparent reason at all. So what I’m saying is keep an eye out for this. Now if this does happen to you, just try deleting the content that you think might be against violation. Also, many actions taken in a short amount of time like replying to every single comment or liking a bunch of videos that might be flagged as spam behavior.

So this could all be contributing to your shadow ban and then sometimes you’ll just have to wait it out. It might take a couple of weeks for your account to be restored back to normal before you can actually start seeing your regular engagement come back. All right, so in the span of the video, you just learned the basics of using the Tik Tok platform and you learned how to go viral. I’m telling you, it does not take a rocket scientist to go viral. It is so accessible. So doable so all you really need is the drive to do it and make sure that you’re following the steps in this video and I promise you you’re going to gain some real traction. So I know most of you watching are business owners or maybe you’re wanting to become an online business owner.

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