If you’re not already using TikTok for your business, then one thing’s for sure. You’re missing out on access to a pool of consumers who are, as you read this, being drawn towards other brand’s campaigns and products.

Why? Because TikTok is, if nothing else, a great platform for engaging with consumers who are ripe for discovering new brands and learning about new solutions to their everyday problems.

A brand which is using TikTok effectively has the power to turn one post into a successful campaign which goes viral and sees their products sell out in no time. But in order to do that, and to gain the visibility that can render TikTok a success for your brand, you need to make sure that the content you are sharing is optimised for search and discovery.

Here is a quick guide to TikTok for businesses - focussing on how to maximise the searchability of your content.

It’s all about your approach to TikTok SEO…

You might not be an expert in TikTok just yet, but if you operate your own business or make up part of the marketing team for an existing business, then the chances are that you know a bit about SEO.

Well, enhancing the searchability of your TikTok content is really just another form of SEO, targeted at the TikTok platform. And to understand how it works, you need only recognise the similarities between how TikTok works, and how Google works.

SEO is about matching a user’s search, query, or interests to the type of content that they are shown. On TikTok, this translates to the platform recognising the content that a user watches, engages with, or searches for and showing them more content of that style or tailored towards that specific interest.

How does TikTok present content to users?

If you want to optimise your TikTok content for search, you need to recognise how TikTok presents its content to users.

When a user makes a specific search on TikTok, the platform presents them with a combination of the most popular videos relating to their search, featured videos and posts, location-specific posts, and high authority posts which have been shared by influencers in specific fields.

All of this is assigned by the platform according to the use of hashtags and keywords, which tell the TikTok algorithm what you’re posting about and how to connect it back to user searches.

In addition, TikTok pays great attention to trending concepts - largely driven by audio. You might have noticed, whether you use TikTok or not, that social media is regularly being taken over by trending audio snippets be they dance routines, film clips, or quotes - overlaid with a user’s own footage relating to that audio. This is a concept derived from TikTok, with users creating their own version of a trending content style in order to drive high engagement.

To tap into this, you have to be both reactive and proactive, taking advantage of existing trends where you can.

How to enhance your visibility for search on TikTok

Optimising your TikTok SEO and your searchability on the platform is all about recognising the similarities between TikTok and Google, and fine-tuning your approach to things like keywords and hashtags as well as your response to trending content and potentially viral campaigns.

TikTok users spend the majority of their time on the app scrolling the ‘For You’ page, which is packed full of content and videos which relate to things they have previously searched for, engaged with, or enjoyed. As such, in order to rank highly on these pages and create content that a large portion of users will find engaging and worth watching, you need to understand what your target audience is using the app for and how to show up on their ‘For You’ page.

Get to know your competitors and see how they use TikTok. Combine direct marketing content with user-generated content, behind the scenes updates, and playful viral videos which add personality to your brand or business. Hone your use of keywords to appeal to certain users and come up with innovative ways to encourage users to engage with your content.

Most of all, approach TikTok with the same care and attention as you approach any other platform. Have fun with TikTok, but don’t forget the power of a single viral post, and how transformational a successful strategy could be.

For more advice on TikTok and embracing social media for your business, get in touch with the Social Loop team.