Of course, we’ll first go back to the basics and then go into more depth later. This time the topic is: TikTok promo and how to promote your TikTok Video – as always related to you as a creative artist, your producer and your music!
TikTok, TikTok Videos and New Followers
TikTok is a social media app and above all a short video platform where music plays an important role. The numerous dance challenges, memory trends, and lip-synch clips would hardly be possible without music – they need the background music and music snippets to be effective. TikTok was launched in China in 2016, followed by the takeover of competitor Musical.ly, which pursued a very similar concept and repositioning under the name TikTok in 2017.
The fact that TikTok plays a decisive role in the music business is demonstrated by this year’s official summer hit in Germany announced by GfK Entertainment: “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” by Jawsh 685 & Jason Derulo (Sony Music). This example shows that the track is not only good, reaches the target group and simply hits the time, but also the power of social media. The song has not only gained a lot of popularity through social media, but TikTok was also the basis without which the song would not have been possible at all: Jason Derulo discovered the Jawsh 865 through a dance video challenge at TikTok, which made the new song possible in the first place. Creative, right?
The Advantages of TikTok
The advantage of TikTok is that your music is given a context. Or more precisely, not just one, but a new one with every video. Music is an expression of emotions and this works even better when combined with visuals – no matter if the video is funny, deep or sad. And the best thing is: You don’t have to create this context, the creative community comes up with it all by itself. Catchy and original texts with lively melodies and a good beat work best here, of course. There are plenty of those, though. That’s why TikToker sometimes need a little push and need to be made aware of your music. Especially as a newcomer, TikTok users might not have your brand in mind. That’s where TikTok promo comes into play.
How to promote your TikTok Video
To promote your TikTok video successfully you don’t just need good visual productions, you also need the right music. Based on a hook or audio snippet, TikTok artists create videos with really low production costs and a lot of hard work. But what makes TikTok videos unique?
- Brevity is the spice: The videos last about 15 seconds.
- Mix and Match: Different videos can be cut together or combined with other videos – so-called duets.
- Music is the key: An audio snippet runs in the background of each video.
- TikTok lives from community: Challenges strengthen the sense of community. In addition, authenticity, naturalness, originality and group participation are more important than being presented as an unattainable influencer.
- Algorithm & For You: Via the For You Page, the analyzing algorithm and hashtags, videos are made available to a wider audience – depending on their popularity.
Central Elements of TikTok
Central elements are the TikTok For You Page and the algorithms. These create feeds tailored to the users. The more users interact with TikTok and, for example, like, participate in challenges or react to certain hashtags, the more data is generated. The algorithm can process this data and promote certain videos. The feed is becoming more and more personalized and the algorithm is becoming smarter and smarter at picking the best content. For example, if a song snippet from a song production of influencers or artists like Cashmo, Jiggo or you is used in a new video, it will be placed on the For You Page of various users. The users might find the ideas original and create their own videos. For the music this brings reach and new followers.
In the TikTok app, it’s really easy to find out which song users are using and integrate it creatively into your own video. If the algorithm now notices that your production is used again and again, it shares the song with more users in different contexts. This all increases the potential to go viral.
Promote your TikTok Video now!
So, after the first part of the blog you now know how the background processes of the app work. This is super important! Many users don’t even bother about it. But how can you promote your own music now? You don’t have to rely on users creating content and playing it to their audience. Of course there are more ways: create your own videos, filters, hashtags, in-feed ads or real promotional videos. All this is possible at tiktok and can be part of your promo. Many artists use this app to create social interactions with their audience and create an authentic feeling. Followers love diverse, new and creative ideas and views. So, how do you encourage them to share exactly your music and how can you tie them to your music beyond tiktok to increase your audience?
Stand out from the Crowd:
The important thing is: you have to stand out from the TikTok crowd. Of course, there is no secret recipe for this, there are a number of factors that play together and sometimes a bit of luck is required. But we have collected a few creative tips and tricks for you, if you want to post on tiktok yourself.
Hashtags
You already know these basic things from instagram and Co. Well used hashtags extend the reach. More TikTokers and potential fans outside the actual audience are reached. You should make sure to do research on current topics and trendy hashtags beforehand. Maybe you can even come up with your own creative hashtag?
Challenges
For musicians, challenges are totally worth it to increase your popularity – if your song is used over and over again, e.g. for certain dance videos or lip-sync videos. Of course you need a creative idea. A winner could also be chosen, e.g. with merchandise, concert tickets etc. This can increase your visibility even more.
Extra tip
Uniqueness. You can tie followers to your account or music if you can offer them something exclusive. Besides original content you could reward your followers with exclusive promotions that other people don’t get. Again: Be creative! Of course, this only works after a while, if you are already present on TikTok and have already built up your brand a bit. Don’t forget the matching hashtags and of course use your other social media channels as well.
Promote your TikTok Video with BEFORE EIGHT
Maybe your head is spinning now and you’re wondering what you should do all this for? This presence on TikTok will also affect your performance on other platforms such as Spotify, which will allow you to earn your fixed fee again. That sounds great! But we also understand that artists and producers want to focus on their music and not dance at thousands of weddings. That’s exactly why we at BEFORE EIGHT have created an influencer network. This way you don’t have to take care of your TikTok promo yourself, but the influencers already know how to promote your TikTok video. If you contact us via the contact form, we can discuss the TikTok strategy for 2020 to become your year.
This is our farewell – but if you found that exciting, you can look forward to new blogs!
See you soon,
Your BEFORE EIGHT Team.
