Data-driven tips to make your organic content stand out

It’s no secret that the TikTok community loves real stories from real people. In fact, 52% of internet audiences said they want brands to be authentic.¹

Use a combined organic and paid strategy to meet your business’s goals while still providing the genuine, authentic content TikTokers love. Here’s a guide to get you started with creating content and promoting your videos.

Step 1: Create organic content

You don’t need to spend hours thinking of new or unique video ideas to create meaningful organic content. Start experimenting and tell your business’s story. Here are some tips for fun, easy video ideas for small business owners.

Build Brand Trust & Transparency

• Share your brand’s character, beliefs and mission

• Reveal behind the scenes

• Invite users to participate in your business journey

Create Community Connections

• Build connections in the comment sections

• Explore hashtag (#) communities

• Scroll through your For You Page for endless inspiration

Test New Ideas and Content

• What makes your business unique?

• How does your business fit into your customer’s life?

Step 2: Video best practices

Whether your approach for your business is purely organic, paid, or a combination of both, these tips and tricks based on TikTok's internal data analysis are proven to help you get results.

Shoot high res: Videos with a resolution of 720p or higher see an average of 5.4% more in impressions.

Make some noise: Since TikTok is a sounds-on environment, adding audio to your video like a commercial sound, voiceover, or talking to the camera can significantly increase your impressions. 93% of top-performing videos use audio.

Keep it short and sweet, but not too brief: 1 in 4 top-performing videos have a duration between 21 and 34 seconds and see an average of a 1.6% increase in impressions.

Go full screen: Videos that fill the entire screen see a 60.5% increase in impressions. Remove any black space and format your video to the 9:16 aspect ratio using the TikTok creative tools in the app.

Think vertically: Videos shot in a vertical format see a 40.1% increase in impressions than videos using a square or horizontal aspect ratio.

Read about more useful video tips here.

Step 3: Track performance

Once you’ve created your content, track how it’s doing through your TikTok for Business Account. These analytics can help you see what’s performing well so you can build off the momentum and continue to improve your approach.

Step 4: Invest in paid options

Choose your best-performing posts and use paid tools to grow your TikTok audience. Paid tools like Promote can help you reach your business goals to generate more video views, gain followers, or increase website visits.

74% of TikTok users said TikTok has helped them decide what to buy after seeing it advertised or promoted on the platform.

The Promote tool lets you quickly and easily turn your organic content into an ad all within the mobile app and within your set budget. Learn about the feature and promote your first post in under 3 minutes!

A few tips to help your ad reach more people:

1. Choose generic targeting—try an ad without targeting by age, gender or interest.

2. Make videos less than 30 seconds in length.

3. Make the duration of your ad 2-3 days so you can test results.

Step 5: Remain flexible

Most importantly, remember to stay true to yourself, your brand, and to be flexible. The TikTok community values organic content and authenticity. Trying a combined organic and paid approach is perfect for small business owners who want to establish a presence and build their TikTok community. The more you consistently post, the more likely you are to create something that resonates with your audience, increase your views, and boost sales for your business.

By following our step-by-step strategy, you can create appealing content to meet your business goals. Try Promote to launch your campaign now!

1. Global Internet User Data, Global Web Index, 2021 Q1