We trialled posting on TikTok every day for 30 days; what we learned will benefit us and our clients, say CPL One’s Maia Parratt and Chessie Cronk.
Everyone knows TikTok is huge – it boasts an incredible one billion monthly active users globally and has launched influencers, pop stars, chefs (you name it) on a fast track to fame. But what resources does it take for an organisation to make an impact there? And what kind of results can you expect?
At CPL One we set ourselves the challenge to post to TikTok every day for 30+ days. This journey was challenging, and rewarding (especially when one of our videos went viral). It also provided us with valuable insights into the platform and how to effectively engage with audiences.
Here are a few things to remember:
- Frequency is key
Posting daily on TikTok is widely advised. The TikTok algorithm favours active accounts and it improves your visibility and reach. It helps you stay relevant and front-of-mind with audiences, and establishes a reliable presence to grow your following.
- Don’t bank on virality
When you first scroll through TikTok it looks as if everyone left, right, and centre is going viral, but that is definitely not the case. Virality is almost impossible to predict, so don’t focus on it or feel deflated when it doesn’t happen. Usually, it’s the ones you least expect that will get picked up by the algorithm.
Instead, keep posting, and trialling new content ideas and see what resonates with your audience the most.
- Don’t always be a trend copycat
On TikTok, trends come and go quickly, so it’s important to jump on what’s trending fast. However, we learned not to rely solely on trends, and to post original content too, such as asking our colleagues interesting questions and sparking debate in the office and comments section. You can also take a trend and flip it on its head to make your own version that stands out from the crowd.
- Test, learn, try again
Experimentation is crucial, particularly in the early stages of growing your following, as you don’t yet know what sort of content your target audience will engage with. We tried various formats (images and videos), longer vs short- form content, trending and silly content vs more serious work-related content, and different times of posting. What works for one profile may not work for another.
- Let your personality loose
‘Authenticity’ is an overused term in marketing, but TikTok really does thrive on it. Make sure you have fun with it and show off your personality. TikTok audiences watch at leisure to enjoy funny, relatable content, or to learn something in an easy-to-consume way. Our most viewed pieces of content so far have been the lighthearted posts we created.
- Followers are not your key KPI
Nearly all the traffic to our content (around 93%) came via the For You Page (FYP), rather than directly from our followers. For our top-viewed video, which went viral with 2.3 million views, almost all views came from non-followers. It shows that, with TikTok, engagement metrics such as total views, likes and comments are more indicative of performance (and how the platform works) than acquisition of followers.
- It’s all about engagement
The more people who engage with your content, the more TikTok registers that the content is something people are enjoying, and the algorithm will push it out to even more viewers. Our most successful post asked who was the youngest colleague in our Cambridge office, based on a series of fun clues. Encouraging people to engage in this way generated a lot of comments, and the more who commented, the more TikTok pushed the content out, creating a snowball effect.
- Stand out with original content
Trends may drive quick wins, but original content helped us build a unique brand voice and identity, and allowed us to show off our wider team by getting more people involved. Balancing trend content with our own creative ideas ensured long-term interest and loyalty from our audience.
- Reuse content on other channels
We’ve also started to test how TikTok content works on other channels, including Instagram, which usually lags slightly behind the TikTok trend cycle. Publishing content across social channels brings a little more bang for your buck and, while not all content works as well on every channel, it adds some welcome brand synergy. Just don’t forget to remove the TikTok watermark before posting elsewhere.
- Engage with your audience
Actively engaging with our audience’s comments showed that we valued their input and encouraged more interaction. Doing so helps to build relationships and a sense of community. Plus, comments can provide inspiration for future content.
So there it is… our 30-day TikTok experiment taught us the importance of consistency, creativity, and engagement when creating content for the platform. It’s helped us to increase brand awareness and demonstrate the fun side of working at CPL One.
If you’re considering a similar challenge, remember to be flexible, stay true to your brand and, most importantly, have fun with it!
If you think your business could benefit from TikTok and would like some help from our social media team, get in touch.
