TAKING PR TO TIKTOK
Cherish PR’s 5 Top Tips for using TikTok in a PR campaign
No other platform has seen the same rise in popularity as TikTok, hitting 689 million monthly users in January 2021, with 17 million of those in the UK alone. The simple TikTok creation format of 15 second videos, soundtracked by catchy music clips has become a wildly popular concept initially amongst younger audiences aged 16-25, but cross-sharing to Instagram and Facebook has driven its growth across broader demographics from brands to Grans!
But it’s still a little baffling for many PRs to create engaging TikTok PR campaigns that hit the mark. If you are searching for some top TikTok tips (that’s a tongue twister!), look no further!
1. It’s all about the entertainment value!
Like all social media platforms, users are there for entertainment and that’s particularly true of TikTok. The platform has been about movement and dance from the very beginning – it originated from Musica.ly, so creating music or dance based content is a sure-fire route to views and likes.
The good news is that TikTok’s Gen Z demographic is open and accepting of branded content but in exchange you have to entertain. Taking your ads or media stories and flipping them into the platform simply won’t work.
Our recent TikTok campaign for Bloo, a bathroom cleaning product actually tapped into the trend for cleaning and fitness on the platform by bringing together a series of influencer videos, coupled with a dance challenge – a very different approach than traditional PR for a cleaning product. See the Bloo Dancing Cleans hashtag #BlooDancingCleans here.
2. Get your hashtags right
We know the power of hashtags but so often they’re not used correctly. Use the right hashtags and your content can be super boosted to a whole host of new audiences. Simply use the TikTok search bar and pop in your campaign keyword and review some of the most popular and trending hashtags on the platform. Tip, you can also spot competitive PR campaigns. TikTok also sponsors hashtags, which can help with engagement, but remember, don’t stuff posts with too many hashtags, around 6 are fine.
3. Nurturing your feeds goes a long way
If you are using a TikTok profile to amplify your PR efforts and build new audiences for your brand, make sure that you are nurturing your feed even when you are not in campaign mode. Post regularly, at least one new video every week, and check your feed regularly for new trends and your own content for comments. Don’t forget to review and comment on others’ posts, particularly if they’re influential on the platform.
4. Get creative with tools, filters and effects
The great thing about TikTok is that it’s crammed with great effects that make creating content easy, from simple editing tools to filters and animations. This has also created trends within the content to be aware of. Before posting, review some of the popular effects that creators are using and tap into the creative trends and tools on the platform, like the Duet Me trend where the video is split to create a dual post, or taking soundbites from well known films and repurposing them. Check out #theycallthemselvesguardiansofthegalaxy!
5. Let loose and trust your talent!
TikTok’s audience is accepting by nature so use this to your advantage and let loose of heavily scripted wording, pre-screened creative and lack of trust in the talent’s audience. You’ll be wasting your time as the audience will recognise when the talent features content that’s not entirely authentic to them. Trusting that the talent knows what works best and working collaboratively on the campaign is the best route to views and shares.
If you’re considering TikTok as part of your PR – hint: you definitely should be! – come and talk to our influencer and social team at Loud . We’d love to help!