TikTok Small Business Marketing Guide:Organic Content + Paid Ad Campaigns

If you're running a small business and want to sell more products/services and expand your audience, you've come to the right place. With a hyper-engaged community of shoppers, trendsetters and word-of-mouth advocates, TikTok is the perfect place to reach new customers and grow your business. There's something here for everyone—whether you're looking to reach Gen Z, Millennials, parents or grandparents, every generation has flocked here to join the fun, learn about new businesses, and create authentic and engaging content.

What truly sets TikTok apart is its ability to guide consumers through every stage of their journey. From discovery to consideration to purchase, TikTok is not only where brands and products are being found, but also where consumer interest is sparked and decisions are made. Here’s a closer look at how TikTok impacts each phase:

• Discovery: 55% of TikTok users discover new brands and products on the platform¹.

• Consideration: 66% of TikTok users say TikTok ads made them interested in the product or brand².

• Purchase: 33% of TikTok users purchase a product because they saw it on TikTok³.

• Participation: 24% of TikTok users posted content showing off a product they bought¹.

Organic content + paid ads = an always engaged audience on TikTok

An always-engaged approach is the winning formula for businesses who want to grow their TikTok presence. It helps ensure you're always staying dynamic and connected to our community that's constantly discovering and participating in trends.

What do we mean by always-engaged? It's what we call a combination of organic posts and paid campaigns, supplemented with something unique to TikTok—partnerships with creators. With these three key components in the mix, you'll supercharge your campaigns and get the most out of your marketing spend. These marketing strategies are essential for maximizing your presence and driving real results on TikTok.

Test and learn with organic TikTok content

There are a million ways to tell your story on TikTok and there are no limits to the amount of organic content businesses can post. Experiment with different ways to tell your brand's story, then access performance analytics at your fingertips through your TikTok Business Account.

Organic content analytics will help you understand what resonates with audiences and enable you to drive business results through creative strategies. You can then use those insights strategically to inform the paid campaigns within your marketing plans. Paid TikTok campaigns provide businesses with in-depth metrics to amplify that success and dig deeper into why.

Connect with creators to tell your story to potential customers

TikTok creators are natural storytellers and brand advocates, and the TikTok community trusts the opinions of their peers. You can find the right creator for your budget or campaign in the TikTok Creator Marketplace, or transform organic content from creators into paid advertising using Spark Ads on TikTok Ads Manager. These marketing tools enable brands to effectively connect with their audience and amplify their stories. Additionally, you can engage directly with the community through organic content and encourage them to post their own videos around a given theme.

Goodcall, a B2B AI-driven software, did just that. Through a combination of creator partnerships and conversion campaigns, Goodcall tapped into the power of TikTok’s creator community, posting organic content and promoting it via Spark Ads on TikTok Ads Manager.

Goodcall’s strategy resulted in impressive outcomes: they achieved a 96% decrease in customer acquisition costs (CAC), from $185 to $7 per sign-up, with over 6,000 new accounts acquired throughout the campaign. Additionally, their retention rate hit 75%, showcasing the quality of customers gained through TikTok.

Connect with your target audience

Understanding your target audience on TikTok is essential for creating authentic connections that drive customer loyalty and boost sales. Start by immersing yourself in the TikTok community to grasp the interests, tones, and content preferences of your potential customers. One of the easiest ways to do this is by exploring popular hashtags and engaging with trending content to gain insights into what resonates with your audience.

Joining the conversation on TikTok is a powerful way to connect with your target audience and build genuine engagement. By actively participating in discussions, commenting on popular videos, and following relevant creators, you integrate your brand into the community's daily interactions. Creating original content that resonates with current trends and engaging directly with users helps establish your brand's presence and fosters a sense of authenticity. This approach not only boosts visibility but also aligns with your digital marketing for small business strategy, encouraging potential customers to view your brand as an active and relatable part of their TikTok experience.

Grow your reach with paid TikTok ads

TikTok’s reach is global, which means a huge potential audience for your business to capture followers, fans and customers. Amplifying your content with paid allows your campaign to extend to even more new audiences. Then, leverage our targeting tools to ensure you’re amplifying to the right audience. We understand that with some small to midsize businesses, it is not just about reach, but reaching the right audience. Our tools allow you to target and convert audiences into customers.

See how Gill's Point leveraged TikTok ads to drive sales!

American auto service company Gills Point ran a campaign where they used TikTok to promote sales on tires. To build excitement and engagement ahead of Black Friday, they used an always-on approach during the month leading up to the sale. First, Gills Point created quality organic content using TikTok trends and audio that would resonate with their target audiences. Then, they leveraged high-performing organic posts as Spark Ads to optimize reach and used Interactive Add-Ons to drive website traffic and sales within TikTok Ads Manager.

Gills Point's campaign led to improvements in their online tire sales. With an ad spend of around $3K over 3 months, they achieved over 509K impressions and more than 3K website clicks, doubling their click-through rate (CTR) by following best creative practices. This campaign also lowered their cost-per-click (CPC) from $1.90 to $0.76 and reduced their cost-per-action (CPA) from $15.18 to $3.14.

See how other small to medium-sized businesses like yours are winning on TikTok!

Getting Started with TikTok: Your Path to Business Growth

It all starts with a TikTok Ads Manager account. Not sure what to post? Try browsing top-performing content in the dedicated TikTok Creative Center for inspiration.

Continue to follow these simple principles to set and refine a strategy that works with your business. Pair an always-engaged drumbeat of organic content to test and learn, and invest in paid campaigns to attract new users to your profile page, build up your fan base, direct customers to your website, increase your views, and more. Consider amplifying with paid during key commerce moments, where shopping and services are top of mind for customers. Finally, build your word-of-mouth awareness and brand love throughout by partnering with TikTok creators.

Ready to get started now? Create your first ad.

Sources:

1. TikTok Marketing Science Global Entertainment Study conducted by Material

2. TikTok Marketing Science US Ad Placement Research 2022, conducted by Material

3. TikTok Marketing Science Global Retail Path to Purchase Study 2021, conducted by Material