Considering using TikTok for your business, insists expert Wave Wyld, is inevitable. You can't avoid it.
TikTok was the No. 1 downloaded app during Q1 of 2022. And because the business side of it is still in its infancy, opportunities are everywhere, and new commerce-related features are continually being added.
As for the how, Wave's recommendation is just to start by consuming content on TikTok: "Do some research on the platform. Go see if your competitors are there and see what they're doing; notice what is working for them and not working.
"You can easily do this through the search function, by just searching keywords in your industry; you can do it through hashtags—maybe even trying some of your hashtags from other platforms."
It can seem daunting at first. TikTok has its own culture, including its own slang and vocabulary. And so many businesses are hung up on "going viral," which might be a way to get a whole lot of the wrong kind of followers.
But if you keep your content short and choppy, focus on your own brand, and stay in your niche, TikTok can become what host George B. Thomas calls "an idea machine."
View the entire show to discover what TikTok can offer you:
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Episode Details, Guest Information, and Referenced Links
Episode No. 5
- Live Date: July 6, 2022
- Episode Link: https://youtu.be/W_d_I1hUn5k
- Original podcast episode: How to Know Whether TikTok Is Right for You or Your Business: Wave Wyld on Marketing Smarts
Guest's Social media profiles:
MarketingProfs resources referenced in the show:
- How to Make Sure Your Social Media Strategy Succeeds: Take a Cross-Discipline Approach
- Four Things TikTok Can Teach Us About Presentations
"In B2B News" article referenced in the show:
Full Transcript | Marketing Smarts Live Show Episode 5 | How to Know Whether TikTok Is Right for You or Your Business
This rough transcript is machine-generated. It's been only minimally edited by humans.
George B. Thomas: Let's go ahead and get into the show right now because it is an interesting conversations say the least. Today we're talking about how to know whether TikTok is right for you and your business. That's right. Episode five already. Can't believe it. Let's get rolling.
Welcome to The Marketing Smarts Live Show by MarketingProfs and The Marketing Smarts podcast, where we dive in to B2B news and resources, valuable guest content and much more each and every week. Hey, if you're a B2B marketer looking for a place to learn, keep up to date and have some fun along the way. I'm your guy. No, really. Grab a beverage and a notepad and welcome to the show.
Hello to all my Marketing Smartslive viewers. Today I'm super excited to bring you episode five of The Marketing Smarts Live Show on a topic that some B2B marketers are quickly adopting--and not so much--but today we're traveling down the Marketing Smarts Live Road of TikTok. That's right. I'm your boy, George B. Thomas, speaker, trainer, catalyst, and host of this here show, The Marketing Smarts YouTube live show, as well as the Marketing Smarts Podcast found on your favorite podcast app.
Now, today's topic is how to know whether TikTok is right for your business. And of course, whatever tips, trick strategies, or best practices hit my brain along our fantastic journey today. Our guest clips today are brought to you by Wave Wyld Now. Wave Wyld is a TikTok marketing and trends expert. She has helped over 400 clients grow their TikTok accounts through consulting, courses, and also has a community over virality approach. While she's doing that, she specializes in helping brands of business owners use the app as a social media marketing tool to generate, listen, listen, listen. More leads and sales, and that's B2B marketers, you know, we're looking for that.
Also known as the Queen of Trend Alerts, Wave specializes in helping brands understand TikTok culture and trends. Wave has built in an audience of over 300,000 plus followers across her social media platforms, and she regularly appears on national TV and speaks on top rated podcast and social media. You can learn more about working with her or learn more about her at wavewyld.com.
And of course, remember the clips of Wave today are pull it from the full Marketing Smarts podcast episode. And if you wanna listen to the full interview with Wave and myself, make sure to tune in to the Marketing Smarts podcast link in the description after the show ends. All the right links in all the right places, at all the right time. Also, thanks to Mountain and Semrush for sponsoring the original podcast episode.
Now, when you think of, or think about TikTok, do you immediately think about B2B marketing?
I don't know. Do you inherently think best business channel ever? Mm, I don't to be honest; maybe not, but Wave and I had a very compelling conversation that you may or may not, it may or may not change your brain patterns pertaining to TikTok and B2B marketing. Now, one thing I can tell you is in the past 15 to 20 years of doing digital and doing marketing, the one thing that stays the same, ladies and gentlemen is everything changes.
Everything is always changing. It's sometimes very hard to keep up. Does that mean what once was wrong may be right and what once was right may be wrong? And of course, I hope, you know, I'm waxing poetic on strategy here in that last statement. Let's see what Wave had to say when I asked her why should businesses and B2B marketers take pause and see if TikTok is right for their digital strategy Moving.
This is what she had to say.
Wave Wyld: So in the news this morning, I was reading how TikTok, once again was the most downloaded app for Q1 2022, and it's just hard to deny the popularity of shortform of video content and marketing. We know we see it on all the other platforms, Instagram, Facebook reels, Pinterest.
They all have this shortform content built in. So there's really just no way to avoid it for your marketing. If you are using any of these platforms, you're gonna have to do shortform video. TikTok is also changing really fast. The amount of e-commerce capabilities it has built in the past year is mind-blowing.
You know everything from product tagging to livestream shopping. I even just saw a new feature where there will be a shop tab in the search function. You know, the TikTok ads platform continues to grow as many marketers and businesses are now leaving Facebook ads. TikTok ads, you know, because of that rise in cost with Facebook.
George B. Thomas: Did you hear that? My B2B marketing friends e-commerce ads, new tabs. The fact that TikTok is changing so rapidly, I have to ask, when is the last time you looked at TikTok as a possibility for your short video marketing? And, dare I, your storytelling strategy?
Well, we'll get back to Wave and her thoughts on TikTok in a few minutes, but I have to ask, are you part of the marketingprofs community?
If not, become part of the MarketingProfs community by heading over to mprofs.com/mp today. Now it's time for In the B2B News, where we talk about breaking B2B news or really important tips we find on the Google News tab related to you and your B2B business.
Today's in the news section: Five, count 'em. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Pro tips to improve your B2B LinkedIn marketing campaigns. Now, let's be honest, this one I know jumped off the page to me because of being in this mindset of social media strategies and the conversation with Wave. Now this article is brought to you by Search Engine Journal and was written by Sean Johnston.
In this article, you'll read tips like how to make use of LinkedIn campaign groups, how to get laser targeted with company match audiences, how to use company engagement reports to see who is engaging with you, and so, so much more. By the way, that's only three out of the five. You'll have to go to the full article to see the other two.
Just one of the interesting areas of this article had to do with privacy and lead generation. It actually stated an easy way to make lead generation seamless and avoid tracking and attribution headaches is to use lead generation forms within LinkedIn instead of driving traffic from LinkedIn to your website where someone will fill out a form.
LinkedIn's lead generation objective allows advertisers to create a form directly. Now to read the full article and more about that and learn about all five tips, check out the link in the description below after the live broadcast ends. That's right, all the right links in all the right places, at exactly the right time.
So let's get back to Wave and her Marketing Smarts podcast episode. You know, as I do these interviews, I decided I wanted to dig into how TikTok very much feels like a brand. Over a timeframe based on either these two things, education or entertainment. And if that's the case, which I really do feel like it is, you'll see Wave's answer.
How does personal brand versus company brand p lay into the TikTok space? Well, around that question, here's what Wave had to say.
Wave Wyld: It's definitely gonna be different content wise, the type of content you're gonna put out. So for a personal brand like myself, you are the face of your page and your account, and you're primarily going to make what I call educational content.
I really break down TikTok into two types of content, educational and entertainment based. Now, your videos can be a mix of both. But you're primarily an educational content creator or an entertainment-based content creator. So with a personal brand, you're gonna put out lots of that educational content because we know that's what positions you as the expert in your industry.
You know, you're giving value, you're building credibility. Where I find, you know, in some of the business brands is that they tend to do more of this entertainment based. So, for example, if you look at Duo Lingo very successful on TikTok, they have over a million followers, maybe even 2 million. I, I can't remember off the top of my head, but they have a mascot as the face of the brand and they also have a social media manager and you know, some other team members who make appearances in the videos.
Another one is the Washington Post, right? They have primarily two to three people who are creating content and being the face of that page, and they're doing a lot of trends, a lot of the trending content, or they're presenting information in a way that's really entertaining. Such as like these role plays or what I call character skits.
That's when one person plays two characters, maybe even multiple characters. So of course if you are a business, you need to have like an employee who is kind of the face of the brand or, or a few team members.
George B. Thomas: So as you can see, it's a bit of a happy mix of content types, but your possibilities are endless. You just have to get creative and think of what can you do and what can you do different, but find those humans in your company that like to create content that like to be creative and test of TikTok can be a new powerhouse for your B2B marketing efforts.
However, it's interesting where I cut it off there… Wave did go on to give us some interesting words of wisdom about leveraging single person versus a team and the thought around this sole representative of your brand on TikTok
Wave Wyld: It's really important at the same time, you know, not exactly be the sole representatives because if that employee ever leaves the workspace, you know, then you have a little bit of a hurdle to overcome.
So it can be a little bit tricky for business owners and I think that's sometimes why they get kind of hung up and you know, are not super fast to jump on the TikTok bandwagon.
George B. Thomas:That's why I wanted to include, include that clip, because if you know the hurdle in the middle of the road before you get to it, it's easier to jump over when you get there.
Just be smart in how you start to implement TikTok and think multiple humans versus maybe just one. Unless, of course, maybe that just one is just you, the business owner. But we'll dig back into this conversation in a bit.
What are your thoughts on TikTok for B2B marketing? Love it. Have a success story you'd like to share.
I wanna know, keep the conversation going by using the hashtag #mpb2b and let me know again, we'll get back to wave in a few minutes where we dive into the question and the original title of the podcast episode. How do you know if TikTok is right for your business?
But first, it's time for some dope B2B learnings from the vault of marketing prof's articles. That's right. It's time to dig into the treasure trove of valuable information and pull out two pieces of gold to help you be a better B2B marketer.
Article one this week is how to make sure your social media strategy succeed: take a cross discipline approach. This honestly is a quick and easy read and tells the story and teaches lessons from General Motors, Hewlett Packard, Nissan, and many more.
Article number two for this week's episode is four things TikTok can teach us about presentations. Man, is it so true. I love, love, love this section here. Great content starts Conversations. Dance trends, reaction clips, stitching and duets. The best content on TikTok doesn't end when the video loops. It enters into a larger conversation where it's shared, edited, remixed, and repurposed.
The common thread is that the original creators are offering something that is relevant, engaging and to their SP or engaging to their specific audience. It's a not only what they wanna say or do, but also how they can be creative in conversation with a broader cultural context. I want you to think when you're doing presentations, does it end with where your presentation ends, or does it continue on? Does the conversation continue on?
Yo learn more after the broadcast and to read both of those articles, head to the link located in the description below, and actually it's links in the description below. And that's right. You know what I'm gonna say? All the right links in all the right place at the right time, they will be there.
Trust me, I got your back. I love you that much. But back to the interview with Wave, but first, the title of the original podcast was How do you know if TikTok is right for your business? Uh, I should have maybe retitled that a little bit. Maybe right for your B2B business or right for your B2B marketing efforts.
I could have maybe done a little bit of a different title, but either way you slice and dice this conversation. The question remains the same. How can you understand and come to the realization if TikTok is or is not right for what you want to achieve in the future with your digital strategy? To that question and to that title as good or not good as it was Wave simply had this to say, let's take a listen.
Wave Wyld: Go consume content, right? Do some research on the platform. Go see if your competitors are there and see what they're doing. Notice if what is working for them and not working. So you can easily do this through the search function by just searching keywords in your industry. You can do it through hashtags, maybe even trying some of your hashtags from other platforms and seeing what kind of content comes up on the platform with those.
So that is a great way just to see are other people in your niche on the platform: What are they doing? Does this look like something that you could do too?
George B. Thomas: I love, uh, Myra, your comment, uh, and let's just go ahead and. Relieved to know that there are more TikTok content options than just having the CEO shaking his thing to an R&B song.
I absolutely love that. That is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful view. But now let's get back on track. Had to have a little fun there. Did you catch the plethora of ways to find out if it makes sense for you? Literally Wave said, consume content. Do some research. See if your competitors are there. Search keywords and search or use hashtags.
Man, it's so true if you just dive into the platform and then again, test. And test. And test. All of those sound like great ways to start and we're gonna get some words of wisdom from wave here in a few minutes, but right now it's time to turn the spotlight on you, the MarketingProfs community.
Yep. Time for From the #MPB2B Community. We've searched foreign and wide in the #MPB2B universe to find amazing information and of course conversations to bring to you the masses. So first, make sure you're using the hashtag and second, make sure you have fun and add value to the community.
So when it comes to this conversation, what's fun is it actually came from the B2B Forum. That's right. It came from the B2B Forum. And we are going to go ahead and hold for one second because we're having couple difficulties and let me get to the section that we need to get to. So the B2B Foeum is where this came from, and it actually was from the community. Here we go. And we're almost there. The joys of live video. And tech do, do, do, do, do, do. I could start beatboxing for everybody. That would be dope.
There we go. All right. This week it's LinkedIn. That's where we got this, the hashtag mpB2B from LinkedIn, and it is Mark Alvarez. If we tag you and you see this or watch this, mark is a business development executive at Top Rank Marketing, and his Spotlight post is this. It simply was 10 creative content ideas you'll want to try today featuring Top Rank Marketing CEO Lee Odin. That's right, Leo Odin, and if you click on the link, it takes you to a great resource. And of course, they use the hashtag #mpb2b to get us there. Links will be in the show now. Are you gonna be the next to get the spotlight?
Remember, community, use the hashtag #mpb2b on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, and get the light shined on your awesomeness in the next episode or a future episode of The Marketing Smarts Live show. Pro tip: by the way, it won't hurt if you tag me into your post, as I will see it a lot quicker. And again, it's at George B. Thomas on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Let's kick it back to Wave, to the interview, some words of wisdom around this topic of B2B marketers and TikTok. And, uh, to be honest with you, I don't know if this is just TikTok, but these are definitely some good words of wisdom. So let's go ahead and take a listen.
Wave Wyld: You have to consume content and just know that there is still a lot of opportunity on TikTok. Some people will say, oh, you know, the early adopter stage is over. But I have many clients who are crushing it on TikTok because they understand the culture and they get shortform video content creation. The last thing I wanna say is content is king on TikTok.
And I see a lot of people really getting caught up in strategies like using trending music. And this is stuff that holds them back cause they don't know what to use or you know, they're focused on going viral or which hashtags to use or which time of the day to post. And these are strategies, they're all good to employ, but they never ever determine video performance or virality. It always comes down to the content. What you communicate in your videos, what you're saying to people, how you make them feel, the story that you're telling, and how they engage with your videos is what determines what, how many views you get, and then how many, how much exposure you get.
And then ultimately, you know, your success on the app.
George B. Thomas: It always comes down to content and especially if you're focused on educational. And then I love that Wave said, how do you make them feel? Yes, strategy is great, but content is king. And might I say then engagement from that content is possibly queen.
Listen. Have you enjoyed today's journey? Let us know. Use that #mpb2b. Make sure you head to the description below. Click on the link to the Full Marketing Smarts Podcast with Wave Wyld and keep on learning more about TikTok. Remember, These were just a few small clips from the original Marketing Smarts interview that, by the way, were sponsored by Mountain and Semush when we released it in your favorite podcast app.
If you got value outta today's show, hit that like and better yet, share it with a friend to keep learning more. Hit that subscribe or watch additional MarketingProfs videos or go tune into the original Marketing Smarts podcast episode on your favorite podcast app. But don't forget to become part of the MarketingProfs community by heading over to mprofs.com/mp today.
And as always, remember to be a happy, helpful, humble B2B marketing human. And we'll see you on the next Marketing Smarts Live next week. Have a great day.
