Why marketers should consider TikTok for B2B

By Michael Brito

The rise of TikTok has been nothing short of revolutionary. Since its launch in 2016, the platform has multiplied and boasts over one billion monthly active users worldwide. With an engaged and diverse user base, it’s no wonder marketers are looking for ways to leverage TikTok to reach their target audiences.

53% of marketers expect TikTok to deliver the biggest growth in 2023, according to Reuters’ State of Marketing 2023 report. 

TikTok is a storytelling engine

Data suggests marketers invested more in video content creation in 2022.    Creating videos that effectively tell a story keeps consumers engaged and entertained while providing valuable brand messaging. TikTok is a video-first platform built for mobile, giving it huge advantages over other networks. Legacy platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter struggle with attracting younger audiences who crave video.

TikTok makes content discoverability easy

While many still use Google as their gateway into the web, young people are turning to TikTok. Just last year, a Google exec cited an internal report that 40% of young people use TikTok when looking for a place for lunch.  TikTok recognizes this and is building additional functionality to make content discovery easier. Last summer, they expanded the video descriptions from 300 to 2,200 characters.

TikTok isn’t just for young people

About 60% of TikTok users in the U.S. are under 30, accounting for Gen Z and younger millennials. The other 40% are older: 16% between 30-39 years old, 13.9% are between 40-49 years old, and 7.1% are 50 and up. As older millennials are in their mid-30s and almost 40, they have also been promoted to managers and directors, and are leading teams. Many are responsible for buying decisions at large companies. A 2015 Google report (yes, eight years ago) showed that nearly half of all B2B buyers are millennials. That number has undoubtedly gone up.

Technology and B2B content already exist in the platform. For example, a quick search for the #DigitalTransformation hashtag yielded 14.5 million views, and #WomenInTech with 572,000 views. And B2B brands like Adobe, Sage and Shopify are succeeding on the platform. The time is now for B2B and technology brands to integrate TikTok into their long-term marketing and digital strategy.

TikTok is ripe for B2B

One of the best things about brand marketing on TikTok is its creative freedom. Unlike other social media platforms, there aren’t strict rules or guidelines about creating ads or launching campaigns. You can be as creative as you want when creating videos or running ads on the platform, giving you plenty of creative expression to experiment and find what works best for your business.

Brands have creative freedom

TikTok’s influence on buying behavior is significantly higher than other social media channels, with 15% of users willing to take action after viewing an ad on TikTok. Also, 49% of users say they use TikTok as a source for discovering something new.  

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