ABM in the 'Dotlight'

TikTok TikTok: The B2B clock is ticking

TikTok TikTok: The B2B clock is ticking

With over one billion active users worldwide, TikTok is revolutionizing the world of social media and, of course, marketing.

Who hasn’t seen TikTok’s short, snappy video content – quite addictive, right?

But what started as little more than a video-sharing app for teens to showcase their dancing and lip-syncing skills, has quickly become so much more – and holds a lot of potential for marketers.

TikTok’s rise in popularity has triggered a shift in the ways we consume content.

And its influence as a video platform has had an unprecedented impact on other social and content-sharing platforms.

Take Instagram. What was once a photography-based app, has deep-dived into the world of reels and video to keep pace. So too has Facebook.

We’re now equally seeing LinkedIn content – both organic and paid – change. Is this because of TikTok? Partly yes. Partly because what we want to consume has changed.

TikTok advertising: A B2B gamechanger?

What does all these mean from a marketing perspective?

Well, similar to LinkedIn and other social platforms, TikTok has its own ads manager site. It has the second highest consumer spend through ads, directly through the platform.

Unlike LinkedIn or Meta, TikTok ads are predominantly videos, but can appear in various formats: such as in feeds, top view, or brand takeovers.

The app also makes use of more interactive features and versatile creatives, such as brand filters. These can be created in ad manager, in turn delivering higher engagement rates.

But just how much higher is the engagement on TikTok compared to other platforms?

So are TikTok videos the future of B2B advertising?

Success in the channel depends on a few things. Another important factor for online advertising is your targeting.

LinkedIn is 100% B2B and allows you to target by company, job title, etc.

But TikTok is less equipped for such finely tuned targeting. TikTok ad manager only allows you to target by demographics such as age, gender and interests.

In TikTok, trends and key terms can be used to build communities or interactions within a subject matter. And as a result, that generates broader audiences, using hashtags or TikTok’s infamous algorithm.

So whilst you may be unable to target by job sector or industry in TikTok, you can easily hone in on the audiences and communities that matter through more creative ad management.

Focusing your targeting – and building your communities – will be your best friend as a B2B TikToker.

Ways to apply TikTok learning to your marketing

Attitudes to content consumption across all channels are changing.

While we don’t have a Magic 8 Ball…we can (roughly!) predict the influence that TikTok-type content will have on other platforms like LinkedIn.

It’s not an exact science. But take a look – and you’ll start to notice trends and patterns in how TikTok’s content is starting to cause shifts in the world of LinkedIn.

How can you take that mindset and win in B2B?

Help your audience feel seen

A report from Applied Marketing Science found that consumers who receive responses to their tweets are willing to spend 3-20% more on average-priced items (Crisp, 2022).

To gain higher engagement, focus on your attention to detail and show your audience you know them, to prevent them skipping.

Respond to comments, engage with your network, and focus on relatability, familiarity and educational content that speaks to your audience’s needs.

Add value or don’t bother

Educational campaigns, rather than sales campaigns, add value for the viewer.

Share relatable videos, free content, podcasts, ebooks, educational newsletters etc. This is a long term approach, but it pays off and helps develop life-long customers.

Today's audiences are much more sceptical of being obviously marketed to. They don’t want to be sold to, they want to better themselves (or at least be entertained!)

Leverage the experts

Trending products aren’t trending due to excessive marketing.

They’re becoming must-haves because trusted influencers are raving about them and showing ‘genuine’ results or feedback.

89% of consumers prefer product recommendations to product advertising, but still only 49% of companies use it.

Influencer marketing is very real, and whilst enlisting celebrities to endorse your B2B services may not be within budget, making use of in-house experts and thought leaders certainly is.

Influencer marketing is very real, and whilst enlisting celebrities to endorse your B2B services may not be within budget, making use of in-house experts and thought leaders certainly is.

Brevity is bliss

Your audience is busy. They have jobs to do, families and households to run, people to see.

Consuming your content shouldn’t feel like a chore – it should be quick and enjoyable.

Focus on video or audio content, preferably in snippets that are less than a minute in length, and add subtitles to keep it accessible.

You can use these as teasers to drive viewers to the full piece of content with a trackable link. But in-app, brevity is your best friend.

Lead with authenticity

We’re all humans. Let’s not forget that. Go in too flashy and sales-y, and you risk losing that authentic human touch that helps you form emotional connections with your audience.

After all, 88% of consumers say brand authenticity is most important to them.

(Stackla, 2021)

So show your audience you care with honest, authentic content that puts the ‘real you’ in the spotlight – not the professional persona you create to try and impress prospective buyers.

Create relatable content

Just because it’s B2B, doesn’t mean it has to be boring! Aim to share content that speaks to the individual as opposed to the professional.

Platforms like TikTok are driving a shift towards eradicating the brand vs people dynamic, and instead encouraging content creators to find a middle ground, highlighting the people behind the brand.

Show your authentic self, be humorous, and build more meaningful connections by showing your humanity.

Ride the trend waves

The key to staying ahead on any social media platform is to have your finger on the pulse.

Keep your ear to the ground to know what’s currently trending, and make sure to respond quickly before the topic explodes and your voice is drowned out.

It’s also worth keeping an eye on algorithm changes to make sure you’re exploiting content that the algorithm favors eg. carousel ads, video, single image, copy only etc.

Timing is everything

Since the pandemic, people’s daily routines have changed.

With less frequent commuting times and more remote or hybrid setups, your audiences are active on LinkedIn more often. And as building your self brand becomes more important, being active on LinkedIn is built into many job roles.

Keep an eye on high engagement times to help boost your content – current high engagement times are Wednesdays after 3pm, or daily between 11am-4pm.

Preparing for change

There’s no question that times are changing.

As consumer habits evolve and new social media platforms enter the scene, businesses have to adapt.

Much like the rise of Instagram triggered a shift towards influencer marketing, selling an ‘image’ or ‘aesthetic’ and leveraging more visual content, TikTok is similarly sparking a new revolution.

The market is competitive, and LinkedIn is not the platform it once was. Where there used to be a clear divide between personal and business life, the line has been blurred.

As businesses navigate the rise of platforms like TikTok, we must be prepared to adapt to subsequent changes in the platforms we know and love.

Expectations are changing – it’s time to ensure you can keep up.