B2B brands just wanna have fun.
And what’s more fun than TikTok?
With a projected growth of 1.5 billion monthly active users, companies worldwide want to make the most of the opportunity.
But with its reputation as a young and ‘consumery’ social media platform, is there room in the playground for B2B companies?
The answer is yes (with a few caveats).
Read on to find out if you should open an account, and check out our examples of brilliant B2B companies on TikTok.
Getting started on TikTok as a B2B brand
TikTok isn’t going to be the right fit for every company.
For example, if you’re:
- Hoping to recycle videos you post on other networks
- Afraid of looking silly or frivolous
- Required to adhere to strict corporate brand guidelines
- Not sure your target audience is on there
– then TikTok is probably not for you. There’s plenty of other social media fish in the sea, and we’d be more than happy to advise you on the right opportunity.
For everyone else, keep reading.
To make TikTok work for your business you need to do a couple of things:
- Know who your company is on TikTok. Are you sassy? Pedantic? Goofy? Creating a character for you and/or your team will help hook your audience in.
- Find your people. One of the key ways is through hashtags. Once you’ve identified your target audience, look at the other hashtags they are using. You want to make sure you end up on their #foryou page.*
- Think beyond sales enablement. TikTok is also a great channel to showcase your employer brand, green initiatives, or CSR projects in a modern and accessible way, for instance
- Ride the trends but balance it out with original content. The key here is to schedule original content and leave yourself wriggle room to jump on trending sounds that are relevant to your business.
- Add a hook in the first five seconds. Attention spans are extremely short, give scrollers a reason to stop!
- Recycle your TikToks with abandon! While uploading content from other platforms to TikTok is not recommended, the opposite is absolutely true. TikToks perform well on other channels, from LinkedIn to Pinterest.
*A #foryou page is the page you get when you open your TikTok app. It’s curated and includes people you might not follow, but which the algorithm thinks you’ll like based on your viewing and engagement history, as well as hashtag use, sound choices, etc.
Three B2B TikTok examples to inspire you
B2B brands are increasingly taking to TikTok, from small businesses to large enterprises. To motivate you to make the leap, I’ve chosen to focus on growing accounts whose approach is creative and fresh.
1. Square
Since launching in 2009, Square has grown from selling a little card reader to a leading tech B2B brand developing a host of software and omnichannel commerce solutions.
And they also happen to have a drop dead gorgeous TikTok account.
Their secret? Square focuses entirely on their customers, rather than selling their product. Each video puts the spotlight on their customers and their business, such as this video of Rocking C Woodworks.
Inspire yourself from Square:
- Be inspirational. There’s room for more than choreographies and sketches on TikTok. Audiences also like watching processes and beautiful things being created.
- Lift up your customers. Giving your customers the opportunity to shine is always a win, and they’ll also help your organic reach by sharing your content wildly.
2. Clutch
Staffing agency Clutch is mostly managed by their social media manager Maureen Sandler and is a great example of letting one person be the face of your brand on TikTok.
Sandler uses TikTok to share funny stories about recruitment and office life, often using the formula “When…” to use sounds comically. For example “When someone starts the ‘I’ve sent dozens of resumes and haven’t heard back’ conversation”.
Inspire yourself from Clutch:
- Get internal buy-in. This results in refreshingly light-hearted videos that don’t feel “made by a committee”.
- Let one person lead the videos. Consistency is key on TikTok, having the same representative will ensure viewers come back for more.
3. Almanac
Collaboration management platform Almanac’s small but mighty TikTok account is another example of an inspiring tech B2B campaign on this platform. The account features several team members commenting on workplace culture, project management, and communication styles.
For example, this video of Gen-Z email sign offs makes light of generational differences (and is honestly giving us ideas for email signatures):
Inspire yourself from Almanac:
- Use your team. Your people make your business, showcase them to humanise your business.
- Find humour in the everyday. You don’t need large scale comic sketches on TikTok. Niche grievances and snippets of humour go a long way!
Ready to launch your TikTok account?
Ultimately, TikTok can be a powerful tool for top of funnel B2B campaigns is approached correctly.
Like most social media platforms, you cannot post one video and declare it a failure if it doesn’t immediately go viral:
- Create content for the platform. Reusing your explainer animated video from YouTube on this platform, for example, will not work.
- Consistency is key. You need to have a plan in place for creating content regularly.
- Don’t be afraid to get things wrong. Test and test again until you find the right formula for your brand.
If you need help deciding the right strategy for your B2B brand, let us steer you in the right direction! Drop us a line at hello@isolinecomms.com today to discuss your needs.
Psst! Follow us on TikTok here.
