You might have heard of the social media mammoth, TikTok and how brands are flocking to it for engagement and advertising. Now, you want in and you are wondering how you can grow your own TikTok community.
There are different ways to grow your TikTok community. You can buy followers for TikTok and then team it up with organic growth. It can be hard to compete with the rest of the users, especially those already with a big following so having that extra boost can be advantageous.
But let’s delve deeper into the branding strategies of TikTok and how you can manage your TikTok community. Today, you will find out how you can coax brand loyalty and advocacy from your viewers so that they will keep on coming back to your account for more content.
Community Management in TikTok – What It Is and Why You Need It
You call your viewers and followers your community. When you interact with them, you are managing that community. Businesses can respond to queries in their TikTok accounts. They can promote their new products or services by engaging their followers.
Here are some of the things you should do if you want to manage your community in TikTok:
#1. Respond to Comments
Gone are the days when influencers can just post and not interact in the comments section. You can’t foster a sense of community in your account if you aren’t directly talking to your viewers and would-be consumers. When you interact with them in the comments section, you give off the image of an approachable brand or person. It helps build a positive image and a positive relationship with your viewers.
#2. Check Your Direct Messages
Nothing can put off a potential customer quite like being ignored. Don’t wait for a long time to respond to direct messages. To make it easier, set standard replies for frequently asked questions or direct them to specific TikTok videos that will answer their questions and address their concerns.
#3. Engage with the Community Through Your Posts
Create videos that will inform your community. Be more attentive to their suggestions and queries so you can make fresh content that will address these things.
#4. Visit Other Accounts and Engage with Them
It’s also about being a part of other people’s communities. Visiting other accounts and interacting with them in the comments section can help draw more attention to your brand.
#5. Do a Live Event
A live event can help you reach out to your target market or audience. You can address their questions and concerns in real-time.
Follow TikTok Community Guidelines
In your bid to grow your TikTok community and create a loyal following, you should not forget to follow TikTok’s community guidelines. The last thing you would want is for your account to be banned because you inadvertently violated the rules. It’s good to thoroughly read TikTok’s community guidelines, which are posted on their page.
You can grow your community by following the guidelines. TikTok fosters a positive and kind environment, so anything that violates that should not be posted. Be aware of what sensitive themes might be banned from the page.
Tips to Grow a Strong TikTok Community
#1. Identify the Brand Image You Want to Project
Before you start making videos, you should be clear about the kind of image you want to project. What is that one message you want to get across to your viewers? Do you want to put more emphasis on your eco-friendly and sustainable ways? Do you want to be seen as a brand that caters to people of all ages?
When identifying your brand image, get down to the vision and mission of your company. It’s also important to know your target market. Learn more about their behaviors and buying preferences. That will help you create a brand image that will be interesting to them.
#2. Create Content That Will Address the Needs of Your Viewers
Create videos that will answer the questions of your viewers. Put yourself in their shoes. What information do you think will help them the most?
One of the reasons why you should read comments and interact with your followers there is to ferret out potentially useful information that can help you brainstorm for future videos. You can reply to questions in the form of another video.
#3. Take Advantage of TikTok’s Features
TikTok has a lot of interesting features that will allow content creators to collaborate with other creators. One good example is the Duo feature. You can create a video reacting to another video. It’s a spontaneous way of collaborating with other users and with more popular videos.
What is great about the Duo feature is that those following that TikTok video will get notifications in case someone creates a Duo video about it. You are tapping into an existing audience.
#4. Take Part in Challenges
People come up with video challenges all the time. Find out what’s out there and what would fit your brand more. You can also challenge other users once you are done with yours.
Be careful though because you would want to try challenges that still represent your brand image. Not all TikTok challenges might be suitable to the image you want to present.
#5. Manage Your Posts So That You Have Fresh Content Regularly
The important thing is to post regularly. You don’t want to post now and drop off the face of the earth for weeks at a time. You have to remain visible on social media. Visibility equals relevance.
Plan your content so that you have something to post regularly. You can brainstorm content ideas. Jot down any content idea you might have and refer to that when you are ready to make your content.
When filming your content, allot a day of the week to focus on it. That way, you can create quality content that will be a joy to consume.
Try to create a schedule. You can make a table and put all your ideas there. That way, all your ideas are cohesive. You can plan the succession of your content as well so that every video relates to what you have posted in the past already. You can even create a video series. Don’t put all the information on one video but try to cut it in such a way that they are short, edifying, and easy to process.
#6. Watch Out for TikTok Trends
It’s good to know what others are doing and how you can get in on that. It helps people stay interested in your brand.
Aside from TikTok trends, also watch out for trends outside this platform. Are there current events that you can address in your TikTok videos?
How Do You Foster Brand Loyalty?
You have your audience, what next? The next thing to do is to ensure that they keep on coming back for more. Earn follows, not just views.
Take a cue from other influencers. Find out what they are doing to make their followers keep on watching their videos. You can tell what the audience like to watch based on the comments they leave on the pages.
Do they find the videos funny? Do they like how informative the videos are? Do they find the story-telling approach engaging?
The following tips can also help you in fostering brand loyalty:
#1. Maintain a Personal Level of Communication
Address your viewers. Responding to them one by one might be time-consuming but when your viewers see that you are making an effort to communicate with them, it just creates that positive image for your business.
You really don’t need to respond to all comments. However, it’s good to designate a time of the week to respond to your comments, especially the ones that really need answers. You will be surprised how much people are actually in tune with the responses of influencers and brands on their TikTok pages.
#2. Offer Discounts or Freebies
Consumers are consumers no matter what platform you find them in. Everyone loves a freebie or a discount. One thing you can do is hold an event where your viewers can win discounts or freebies.
Be strategic about it as well. Figure out when the best time to hold your special event. It can be near the holidays or weekends when people are more likely to spend time on their TikTok accounts.
#3. Foster a Collaborative Culture
Encourage collaboration by doing it yourself as well. Create videos that encourage people to collaborate with you. When someone else shares your videos, take the time to respond to them as well.
Some TikTok Content Ideas You Might Want to Try
The next step is to start creating your videos. Now, what content should you post? Pretty sure you already have an idea or two. You need all the ideas you can collect because running a TikTok page can be sometimes draining, creativity-wise. So here are a few ideas you can add to your list:
#1. Tutorials
Sure, people can turn to other pages like YouTube for tutorials but in this day and age when viewers prefer something easier to digest, TikTok is a prime platform for information.
If you have something to share when it comes to the use of certain items, go ahead and create a tutorial video. You can also create a tutorial on how to use your products and see the before and after.
#2. Share a Hack
We have lost count of how many times we have seen a hack go viral on this platform. If you have something nifty to share that you think others don’t know, don’t hesitate to share it. It doesn’t matter if it seems trivial. There could be someone out there who could benefit from that little piece of information.
#3. Create a Challenge and Use a Hashtag
Get your other content creators to join the challenge. Use a hashtag to make it easier to find the videos.
#4. Post an Educational Video
Yes, TikTok can be an educational page as well. Do you have something to share about your business – some terms or facts – that can benefit viewers? Go ahead and share them. You can even share the history of things.
Conclusion
With the speed at which TikTok’s audience grows, we won’t be seeing the end of it any time soon. If anything, it’s going to continue being relevant in our society. So if you want to get more exposure, this should be a good platform to start with or to supplement the digital marketing you already have going on.
Create a strategy now – one that best fits your kind of business. Take a cue at the things your competitors are doing and that’s where you should be. But make sure you also identify your brand from the rest so you become more recognizable.
