There are big social networks, and then there are those that explode onto the market establishing trends and creating a new breed of influencers. That’s the perfect way to describe the rapid rise of TikTok, the mobile video app that has infiltrated culture in a way that’s not been seen since Facebook’s debut nearly two decades ago.
According to Hootsuite’s Digital 2021 Report, TikTok hit a huge milestone of 2 billion global downloads, 1.2 billion active users (if you combine TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin) and has climbed up the ranks to be the 7th most-used social media network. Not bad for a social platform that was launched in China in 2016!
With such reach and influence, marketers are now turning their attention to TikTok for brand awareness and lead generation. A huge part of succeeding on TikTok is to know when to post content.
Read on to find out when to post on TikTok to stand out from the crowd and engage your global audience using the power of video.
What is TikTok?
TikTok is a video sharing app where users can share 15-second videos. Due to a merger with Musical.ly in 2018, TikTok gained a huge database of music that many of its audience used to make lip-sync and funny videos.
Through the addition of features such as filters and special effects, people and celebrities flocked to TikTok to create entertaining content such as dance videos and challenges, many of which went viral and seeped into mainstream media.
So, if you’re a marketer looking for a younger demographic, TikTok is the network to be on with 62% of users in the U.S. aged between 10 and 26 years of age.
When is the Best Time to Post on TikTok?
Most marketers know that the ‘perfect’ time to post on a social media platform can be hard to nail down. However, trends are emerging as to the days and times that show an increase in audience engagement.
A study by Influencer Marketing Hub analyzed 100,000 TikTok posts and discovered the optimum days and times to post your content:
- Monday: 6am, 10am & 10pm
- Tuesday: 2am, 4am, *9am
- Wednesday: 7an, 8am & 11pm
- Thursday: 9am, *12am &7pm
- Friday: *5am, 1pm & 3pm
- Saturday: 11am, 7pm & 8pm
- Sunday: 7am, 8am & 4pm
*Times with an asterisk indicate high levels of engagement
But hold on before you start scheduling those TikTok posts! You also need to consider different time zones such as your growing audience in Australia or California. As a global platform, times and days will differ according to the country people are viewing it from. Plus TikTok does not currently have a scheduling function or link to any management apps that allow it.
The best way to account for different countries that are a key audience for your brand is to use a time zone converter. Then you can build a content schedule for each territory. It’s not the easiest thing to do, but localising content is a great way to drive growth on TikTok.
Tip: Check out this content planning template which will help you to plan, schedule and deliver digital content across different time zones and channels.
How to use TikTok Analytics
As mentioned, analytics are only available to Pro users. Luckily TikTok makes it easy to switch your account to a Pro one.
Simply go to your Profile and click settings to choose ‘Manage my account’. There you will find ‘Switch to Pro Account’ where you choose a business category such as personal blog, media, cooking, health and fitness etc. You are then asked to enter a phone number to receive a unique code via SMS. Enter this code and you will have a Pro account with analytics access.
When viewing the analytics dashboard you will see three categories:
- Profile overview - You can identify overall performance using metrics including profile and video views along with follower count. All of these can be viewed over a week or 28-day period. These insights will enable you to see growth patterns so you can gauge how well your content is performing and if it is drawing people back to your profile.
- Content insights - This feature allows you to dive into content performance. You can see how each video has performed over 7 days. Just click on the video thumbnail to get data such as the number of likes, comments, shares, views, and territories.
- Follower insights - As the name suggests, this shows you the nuts and bolts of your followers. It breaks them down by gender, territories, activity, videos watched, and music listened to.
Each one of these categories will give you insight into your audience and the content that resonates. See if you can identify trends in the content that’s most popular? Is there a country or continent such as Ghana or Germany that’s more interested in your videos? Are you seeing follower growth and if so why?
Knowing the answers to these questions will help you to build an effective digital marketing strategy for TikTok and grow engagement with your content.
Tip: Find out how to create a successful social media marketing strategy with an in-depth look at marketing on TikTok with great brand examples.
5 Top Tips for Posting on TikTok
With such reach and popularity, it’s worth putting the time into TikTok if it’s a platform that your audience uses or if you’re looking to engage a younger demographic. Have a read of these 5 tips to grow your followers on TikTok:
1) Post on the ‘right’ days and at the ‘right’ time
As we mentioned above, finding the ‘perfect’ time to post on TikTok is not an exact science. However, you can use the times and days above to trial your content to see its impact.
Finding the days and times that your audience is active is a trial and error scenario. So don’t be afraid to mix it up and try days and times that you’ve never tried before. For example, is your audience in Canada really excited by news or politics? Tik Tok has managed to infiltrate the 2021 Canadian election as a party leader active on the platform, Jagmeet Singh has amassed 7.5 million likes for his videos that criticize current policy or show off his skateboarding moves. Or do your American users react to videos that focus on humour? Remember, you can always repurpose or repost content that doesn’t get seen by your followers later.
2) Create content that celebrates what your brand knows!
The key to TikTok is showcasing your expertise and what you stand for. By doing this, you can build an engaged community as that’s what people love the platform for. In fact, new U.S. research commissioned by TikTok found that 60% of users felt a sense of community when on the network, and 3 in 4 felt that it’s the perfect place to be themselves. Tap into those sentiments by being authentic.
3) Don’t be afraid to experiment!
TikTok is all about fun and creativity, so embrace that! There are loads of great features such as filters and effects, tools (such as speeding your video up or slowing it down), and reactions. You can also dive deeper and try TikTok Live, a great way to engage your audience and show off your personality. Challenges are hugely popular on TikTok, so think about something related to you or your brand that will inspire some excitement on people’s feeds.
4) Collaborate with a brand or TikTok influencer
There are a lot of successful influencers on TikTok such as Khaby Lame and Addison Rae. But collaborating with influencers at that level is out of reach for many brands. The solution? Look for TikTokers that have traction on the platform and have some synergy with you or your brand. Be sure to keep geography in mind if you’re trying to engage a particular audience. So, if you’re focussing on the U.K. market, find an influencer that has a good following there. A great way to do this is by using TikTok’s Creator Marketplace. Just request access to the platform and then you can search for creators by country, topic, reach, and average views.
5) Boost your TikTok know-how with a social media marketing course
It’s easy to create an account and start using a social media platform, but how can you get the most out of it? Ensure success on TikTok and other networks by learning every aspect of social media marketing. Understand social research, content and strategy, and dive into all the key platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and, of course, TikTok. Enrol in a certified social media and marketing course today to get started!
Related
Upgrade to Power Membership to continue
your access to thousands of articles, toolkits, podcasts, lessons and much much more.
Become a Power Member
- Login
- View Courses
- - - -
- Courses
- Resources
- - - -
- My Account
- Change Password
- Logout
