by Mayank · Posted on Jul 4, 2023Leveraging social media to drive traffic to your website is the best strategy in today’s time. And if you are not targeting to drive traffic to TikTok yet, you are missing out on a lot of organic traffic that the platform caters to.
Despite facing bans in a few countries, TikTok continues to grow as a global social media platform, which precisely reflects its potential for marketers and brands worldwide.
With over 1 billion monthly active users, this user-generated content platform has immense potential to garner views and likes that you can strategically use to direct attention to your website.
However, many brands I have spoken to and worked with have successfully overlooked TikTok while designing their social media strategy. This is why here I am, telling you everything you must know about TikTok’s marketing capability for your brand’s success.
Stick around till the end to learn nine expert tips to turn your brand’s TikTok page into a bumper traffic machine. But first, let’s understand why top-tier marketers stress leveraging TikTok for traffic.
Why Should You Add TikTok to Your Social Media Game Plan?
TikTok has often risen to negative publicity for many reasons, including security risks, privacy issues, and its connection with Chinese extremist policies. But you can’t just turn a blind eye to the massive buyer base you can reach with this platform.
Besides, the possible gains of TikTok marketing become even more lucrative when you realize that the ad spending on TikTok is comparatively cheaper than other popular social media platforms.
To give you an even clearer picture, here’re some key reasons you should add this content-based social networking site to your marketing scheme.
i) Massive User Base
TikTok has been growing in popularity ever since its inception. This is not a secret that social media holds the power to influence purchase decisions and encourage users to check out brands.
However, you need to be where your users are to make this influence. TikTok is perfect for diversifying your user base and reaching wider audiences.
As per the latest stats, TikTok topped the list of the most-downloaded apps in Q1 2022. The growing popularity of the platform and its super-active users make it ideal for all budding and established brands.
ii) High Engagement Levels
TikTok users are highly active individuals and more likely to create a post and tag your brand after buying from you. You can strategically use this for your benefit and create a buzz for your products or services on TikTok.
Its short-form video format, creative effects, and interactive features make it even more engaging. All you need to do is identify your target audience and create engaging content, motivating them to visit your website.
iii) Cross-Promotion Opportunities
TikTok content has been working well on other platforms as well. Most creators repurpose their TikTok content and garner engagement on other social media channels. There’s even demand for TikTok compilation in various categories on YouTube.
This allows the brands to tap into cross-promotion opportunities and drive traffic to their website from a single platform strategy. Influencer partnership takes this advantage to the next level by guiding their followers to your TikTok page and web link.
How Does TikTok Algorithm Aid Your Strategy to Drive Website Traffic?
All social media platforms have algorithms that decide what content to show in a user’s feed. The more a person engages with a type of content, the more the algorithm curates and displays similar content. It is true for almost all platforms, including TikTok.
How would that aid your strategy? Let’s expand on that.
a) Content Distribution
The TikTok algorithm analyzes user preferences, digital behaviors, and engagement patterns to determine which content to show each user. However, it drops into random categories within a pack of TikTok videos to expand user engagement.
Hence, when you create engaging and high-quality content, the algorithm will more likely distribute it to a wider audience, increasing your brand’s exposure and the chances of driving traffic to your website.
b) Personalized Recommendations
TikTok’s algorithm tailors the content feed to each user’s preferences, showing them videos that align with their interests. Suppose your content resonates with a specific target audience. In that case, the algorithm will prioritize displaying your videos to those users, increasing the likelihood of driving relevant traffic to your website— traffic that has the potential to convert into customers.
c) Discoverability through Hashtags
Hashtags are a way to make your content more discoverable and may be used to encourage users to engage with your page. So, by using relevant and popular hashtags related to your website or content, you can have a higher chance of appearing in search results or on the “Discover” page.
The increased visibility can eventually accelerate the number of users discovering your content and visiting your website.
d) Trending Content Opportunities
There is a reason why brands hop on trends and do topical posts. The algorithm identifies trending challenges, songs, and topics on TikTok. By participating in these trends, you can leverage their popularity to increase the visibility of your content.
When your videos align with trending topics, the algorithm will likely show them to a broader audience, potentially driving more traffic to your website.
e) Longer Watch Time
TikTok’s business model largely relies on watch time. The longer the users stay on the platform and watch videos, the higher the revenue. Hence, the platform rewards such content and pages by dropping them into suggested pages on the feed.
So, if your content captivates viewers and encourages them to watch until the end, the algorithm will recognize it as engaging and valuable. Videos that retain users’ attention are more likely to be shown to a larger audience, potentially driving more traffic to your website.
Looking For Ways to Drive Traffic? TikTok Can Help!
Initially, TikTok was dominated by users from a certain age group. However, the user demographic has widened to a larger range. Hence, it caters to users from all age groups, including boomers, millennials, and Gen Xers.
In short, the platform is so diverse and broad that tapping into its user base would be the best thing you will do for your brand— if it is relevant to the platform.
So, before you jump and start devising a strategy for your TikTok marketing calendar, answer these questions:
- Is my target audience on the platform?
- Is my brand relevant to the platform, or can I create a niche?
- Can I offer value to the audience through my content?
- Is it worth investing my resources in the platform against the projected ROI?
- Can I differentiate my TikTok brand page from other social platforms?
- Does TikTok and its marketing potential align with my business goals?
Once you are all set, ready to dive in and use this social media channel to your advantage, use this guide to turn your audience into paying customers.
Here’s how:
Tip #1: Optimize Your TikTok Profile
Profile optimization is the first and foremost thing you do while starting on TikTok, especially as a brand. Choose an apt username that reads the same or is similar to your brand name. Add your logo to the profile pic.
Additionally, put important information about your brand and its niche in the bio section. Avoid writing fluff and unnecessary info. Instead, use keywords, sentence fragments, and concise info about what the brand is about and what it does.
Creating a design guideline and using it all over your page makes a huge difference. Your color theme and font help your audience recognize you and mark your presence among the ocean of TikTok profiles.
Tip #2: Link A Promo Landing Page in Your Bio
The only place you can add a link apart from paid ads is the bio of your TikTok profile. Only a handful of brands utilize this feature to the T.
Directing the user to your website’s home is one basic way that may not garner any profitable outcome; however, if you add a link to a promo page, a discount page, or a subscription page promising something valuable in return, such as a discount coupon code.
- Make a freebie, discount, or surprise available on your website.
- Add the link to this page to your bio.
- Create a few posts hyping it up and ask people to access it through the link in the bio.
- Use this opportunity to increase traffic to your brand by optimizing your website.
Tip #3: Perform a Thorough Competitor Analysis on TikTok
Experimenting and figuring out what works on the platform is a good approach. But why waste time and money on hit-and-trial when you can analyze and observe what your competitors are doing and derive from their strategies to achieve more foolproof results?
You can follow your competitors from your account, scrutinize their content and strategy, see what is performing well on their pages, and create your game plan accordingly.
You can also use readily available social media competitor analytics tools to refine your research and make more meticulous efforts.
Tip #4: Get Creative With Your Content
Create an extensive creative content strategy that incorporates your product or service tastefully. When well integrated with trends, TikTok can make any posts viral overnight, even if you don’t have enough followers.
Some brands do well with educational content around their brand and its products/services. Going more raw and unfiltered with your strategy will help your audience relate more to your brand.
For example, some prominent beauty brands leverage short video formats to share tutorials and beauty tips. ASMR videos are also received well by the audience when done artfully. You can also post videos that require further action, such as “Check out the full recipe on the link in my bio.”
Tip #5: Use Trending Audio and Hashtags
Piggybacking on trending audios and hashtags gives your brands more visibility and virality on TikTok. You can increase your content’s discoverability by participating in popular TikTok trends and challenges and using relevant hashtags.
Hashtags and audio that trend at a given time expose the content to a larger audience, potentially driving more traffic to your website. Add a catchy thumbnail and CTA in the caption to make your videos more intriguing.
Keep an eye out for challenge hashtags, topical hashtags, and trending meme hashtags to leverage those at the right time.
Tip #6: Use TikTok Paid Ads
Paid ads are a no-fail method to drive engagement and traffic to your website. TikTok offers a variety of options to run advertisements on the platform, including:
- In-feed video ads that appear on the “For You” page on users’ feeds.
- The brand takeover, where your ad copy takes over the whole screen for a few seconds.
- Spark ads that allow you to promote an organic content piece.
- Image ads where images are placed in a video format.
- Video ads are full-screen videos on the “For You” page.
- Carousel ads allow you to post up to 10 images in the news feed apps.
Furthermore, as a brand, you can create stickers, lenses, and other AR pieces that users can use in their videos, spreading your brand’s awareness and intriguing users to go and check out your website.
Tip #7: Plan Giveaways and Influencer Campaigns
Another infallible trick to leverage any social media channel, including TikTok, is to leverage the influencers’ networks related to your niche. All you have to do is, find influencers in your brand category with a set number of followers.
You can plan campaigns where some influencers would either talk about your product/services or recommend them to their viewers, encouraging them to visit your website.
You can also plan giveaway campaigns where you will spread the news of the giveaway through some influencers. An example of this type of campaign can be:
- Create a template of Giveaway rules and share it with multiple influencers.
- Ask the users in the influencers’ networks to follow you on TikTok, comment on a certain post, and visit the website to register for the giveaway.
- Choose three random winners based on engagement level or lottery system and send the promised gifts.
- Ask them to post the gifts on their pages and tag your official TikTok handle.
Tip #8: Add Call-To-Actions To Each Content Piece
You might produce regular content, shoot high-quality videos, and employ top-notch strategies to drive engagement. However, if you are not mentioning a CTA at the end of your video or in the caption, you are letting go of a lot of traffic.
It is necessary to include a strong CTA with every post you create around your product or services to persuade your audience to go and visit your website. Make sure your CTA is attention-grabbing and innovative.
Tip #9: Engage With Your Audience
Many brands excel at the above aspects of TikTok’s marketing strategy but must build a more authentic connection with their audience through likes and comments.
The cherry on the cake of your social media game plan is the personal connection you make with your audience and the way you make them feel heard and valuable.
Hence, always reply to comments, acknowledge when they tag your brand or mention it, and reply to personal messages. When the users feel connected with a brand, they are more likely to feel obliged to visit your website and even make a purchase.
Final Thoughts
TikTok is not everyone’s cup of tea. However, if you wish to capitalize on the largest user base and leverage the platform’s top-notch features, these nine pro tips can help you drive traffic to TikTok to your website.
With its creative features and viral potential, you can captivate viewers, create brand awareness, and encourage users to visit your website, even organically. This is a rare possibility on other social media channels.
