We’ve been actively following trends for years and it’s no surprise social media marketing has evolved to be more refined, especially as we’ve watched influencers begin to command growing groups of audiences.
TikTok, one of the most current dominating networks, is a web space we believe marketers should consider investing efforts in because of the powerful impact influencer marketing has on audiences.
Since influencer interactions are authentic, this means people gravitate towards their opinions and take them seriously. It’s definitely an option worth exploring when defining your marketing goals.
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How Popular is TikTok?
Online videos are highly popular, and TikTok has created the perfect approach for users to share short-form videos with each other. In fact, the network has been steadily growing in popularity over the last few years. During the COVID-19 pandemic, usage of TikTok soared.
By September 2020, the number of people using TikTok had been up a “staggering 75%” from the beginning of that year. This boils down to one in six people becoming weekly users of the network, and TikTok owning 33x more users than its nearest direct competitor. That’s significant.
While life is somewhat getting back to normal, TikTok’s popularity hasn’t really waned. In fact, people aren’t just consuming content – they’re now creating it too – and becoming influencers themselves.
In fact, many of them have become quite prolific and have attained celebrity status in their own right. These individuals can play an important role in an organization’s marketing strategy.
What are TikTok Influencers?
In a nutshell, TikTok influencers are people who have substantial influence over their TikTok followers. Users of the network eagerly await their videos or live feeds and devour the content they share.
As a result, marketers have discovered the power TikTok influencers have over online users – according to statistics, 51% of marketers feel influencers help equip them to build a better customer base, with 70% of them planning to increase the funds they have in their influencer budget.
One of the primary reasons why marketers are drawn to TikTok and other social media influencers is because a growing percentage of audiences place a high level of trust in what a TikTok influencer says, making it very appealing – and potentially highly lucrative – an area of marketing to invest in.
TikTok does have an official advertising platform, but audiences still tend to gravitate more to the organic approach a good influencer tends to take.
You might find it beneficial to try both options to see which one delivers the better ROI or use a combination of both strategies.
How to find TikTok Influencers
Influencers can play an important role in better campaign performances and help brands significantly boost awareness. If you’re looking to connect with a TikTok influencer to increase your brand visibility, there are several ways you can approach this. Read on to learn more about our top tips on how to find TikTok influencers.
Know Your Audience
Before investing efforts into finding TikTok influencers, the first step is to make sure your audience is actually spending time on the TikTok app.
If they are, you can move forward to identifying who the best influencers might be to promote your brand. However, if your audience isn’t genuinely using TikTok often, you’re probably better off exploring other online spaces where your target audience is spending their time.
Do an Organic Google Search
Using strategic keywords, you can quickly identify TikTok influencers in your niche industry. A Google search is an easy and free way to identify compatible influencers.
For instance, if you run a travel agency, you can plug in “top travel TikTok influencers” or “top fitness influencers on TikTok”. Once you populate a list of search results, carefully examine the types of videos they make and how often they share content.
Search by Location
This tip will depend upon your industry – if your growth depends upon local audiences, you will want to search for influencers by location.
Many consumers – and influencers – care about supporting small businesses, so if you fit this profile and can find the right influencer, it can be a match made in heaven.
Using TikTok in your local online marketing strategy is a brilliant way to help to gain local exposure and steadily grow your audience.
Search by Follower Size
It goes without saying influencers with large followings have high potential. Try performing a search by follower size to see if you can find a good match.
Important to keep in mind is to not be fooled by large numbers because there is more to the formula. Look at engagement and actual reach (e.g. likes, views, and comments), which brings us to our next point…
Search by Engagement Rate
A large number of followers can be beneficial, but more important is engagement. The perfect influencer will be passionate and will actively interact with their audiences.
If all they’re doing is talking in cyberspace on a one-way street, it’s not uncommon for people to eventually tune out and stop listening. Like many other forms of marketing, it is that it boils down to quality over quantity.
Explore Hashtags
Since TikTok influencers tend to quickly respond to popular trends on the app, they start to routinely check trending hashtags. Look for hashtags that are relatable to your brand and then pull up the most high-volume influencers. You might find better success if you use specific keywords along with #ad in your searches so you can see the types of products or services being promoted.
Most of them will latch onto trends to spread their own visibility and get more followers – so it’s a safe bet you’ll discover the types of influencers you want with niche hashtags you search for.
Search Other Social Media Networks
TikTok has a steadily growing number of influencers, but many of them didn’t create a TikTok account and immediately explode in popularity. Some of the popular ones already had an established following.
Take time to check other social media networks, since many influencers leave footprints in several different online spaces.
You might even discover you already have relationships with them on other networks and can carry your content from one network to another to broaden your reach.
Check out this short video we’ve found that shares some great additional tips and suggestions for getting started on identifying the best TikTok influencer for your brand.
Content is King with TikTok Influencers
It’s important to keep in mind before trying to connect with an influencer that 75% of them are only willing to work with companies that have shared values, and 80% place content quality above everything else.
Don’t choose to reach out to an influencer based on their followers or likes – watch some of their content, comb through their profiles, and see what makes them truly tick.
If your company shares values or the same passions, it’s probably a good match and they’ll be more inclined to respond positively.
What to Watch Out For When Selecting Influencers
Ideally, you want to find a few influencers and begin to cultivate relationships with them. This shouldn’t be a rushed process, since connecting with the wrong influencer can unfortunately hurt your brand. Like any other relationship, take your time to get to know one another.
When selecting the right influencers for your brand, look for authenticity, trustworthiness, and entertainment.
Wrap Up: Are You Ready to Check Your Content Maturity?
Years ago, social media marketing took a permanent position in every marketing budget. Today, social media has become more defined and influencers are taking center stage.
Several generations, particularly Gen Z, are heavily engaging on TikTok and, while Millennials still hold the buying power, Gen Z dominates when it comes to setting trends. Even Gen X is spending an increased amount of time on the network.
If you want strong brand exposure, attracting a diversity of audiences on TikTok who would be interested in your offerings can really broaden your reach.
Remember, like in any other aspect of content marketing, quality over quantity matters. You don’t necessarily need to find influencers with the largest audiences.
To learn more about this concept, we invite you to read our micro vs. macro influencers post to help you decide your best options for working with TikTok influencers.
