Reaching Young People: Your TikTok Success for Increased Revenue

TikTok: How to Reach Young People with Viral Campaigns and Boost Your Revenue

In a very short time, TikTok has evolved from an entertaining app into a global platform, immensely popular, especially among young people. For businesses, this presents a unique opportunity to reach a dynamic and engaged target audience often difficult to access through traditional marketing channels. This article will detail how TikTok works, the advantages it offers your business, who the young target audience is in detail, and how you can successfully start with TikTok to significantly and sustainably increase your revenue through viral campaigns.

How TikTok Works: The Heart of the “For You” Page

TikTok’s functionality is based on a highly sophisticated algorithm that presents users with personalized content on the so-called “For You” page. This algorithm continuously analyzes user signals such as interactions (likes, shares, comments), videos watched, accounts followed, as well as video information (captions, hashtags, sounds) and device/profile settings. This analysis creates an individual feed tailored precisely to each user’s interests. This means that even new and less-known content can achieve high reach if it resonates with users’ interests. Unlike other social media, where chronological order or follower count often play a significant role, TikTok thus offers the chance to go viral even without a large existing community.

The Advantages of TikTok for Your Business: Reach, Creativity, and Authenticity

TikTok offers businesses a variety of advantages that extend far beyond mere entertainment.

Enormous Reach and Young Target Audience

With millions of active users in Germany and worldwide, a large proportion of whom are young people between 16 and 24, TikTok provides businesses with immense reach. This target group is particularly active and engaged on the platform, spending a lot of time daily consuming and creating content. Especially for businesses looking to reach this hard-to-access generation, TikTok is therefore an indispensable channel.

Creativity and Authenticity at the Forefront

TikTok thrives on creative and authentic content. Users value originality and humor more than polished, high-production videos. Businesses that manage to present their brand in a human and approachable way have great opportunities here to build a deep connection with their target audience. The motto is: “Don’t make Ads, make TikToks.”

Viral Potential and Word-of-Mouth Marketing

TikTok’s algorithm promotes content with high interaction rates and shows it to a broader audience on the “For You” page. This means that even small businesses or unknown brands have the chance to go viral and achieve enormous reach without large advertising budgets. Successful viral campaigns can lead to strong word-of-mouth marketing and significantly increase brand awareness.

Innovative Ad Formats and Direct Interaction

TikTok offers a variety of innovative advertising formats specifically designed to promote brand awareness and increase conversions. These include In-Feed Ads, Branded Hashtag Challenges, and TopView Ads, which allow businesses to engage their target audience in diverse ways. Additionally, the platform enables direct interaction with the target audience through comments, duets, and reaction videos, which can provide valuable feedback and insights.

The Young Target Audience in Detail: Who are TikTok Users?

TikTok’s main target audience is young people, particularly Generation Z (approximately 13- to 25-year-olds) and Millennials. In Germany, the percentage of users between 18 and 24 is over 60%. However, the number of older users is also steadily growing. Users spend an average of about 50 minutes daily on the app and open it multiple times a day. They are creative, trend-conscious, and value authenticity and entertainment. For businesses, this means they must adapt their marketing messages to the preferences and viewing habits of this target group to be successful.

Getting Started with TikTok: The First Steps for Your Business

1. Starting on TikTok for businesses is straightforward and offers diverse possibilities.
2. Setting up a TikTok Business Account: A Detailed Guide
3. Download the App and Create a Personal Account: Download the TikTok app from the Apple App Store or Google Play and register with your email address or phone number.
4. Switch to a Business Account: In the app, tap on your profile, go to the menu (three dots in the top right corner), and select “Settings and Privacy” -> “Account” -> “Switch to Business Account.”
5. Select a Category: Choose the category that best describes your business to receive more relevant content and tools.
6. Optimize Your Profile: Add a clear profile picture (ideally your logo), a short and informative bio with a link to your website (only possible after registration), and links to other social media channels.
7. Business Registration for Advanced Features: For features like lead generation, landing page links, and app download links, business registration is required, which you can apply for manually through the Business Suite under “Settings” -> “Business Center” -> “Business Registration.”

Switching to a Business Account gives you access to detailed analytics on your content and audience performance, the commercial music library for royalty-free music usage in your videos, and the ability to run TikTok Ads.

The World of the TikTok Ads Manager: An Overview for Businesses

What is the TikTok Ads Manager?
The TikTok Ads Manager is the central platform where you can create and manage advertisements on TikTok.

Create an Account
Register via the TikTok for Business page and click “Get Started” or go directly to the TikTok advertising registration page.

Provide Business Information
Enter details about your business, such as country, industry, company name, time zone, phone number, and currency.

Set up Billing and Payment Information
Enter your billing address and select a suitable payment method.

The TikTok Ads Manager is similar in user-friendliness to the Facebook Ads Manager, making it easier for advertisers who already have experience with that platform to get started.

Developing a Content Strategy: Ideas and Inspirations

1. Identify Your Target Audience: Understand your target audience on TikTok precisely: Who are they, what are their interests, and what types of content do they prefer to consume?
2. Competitor Analysis: Analyze your competitors’ TikTok presence. What content performs well? What strategies are they pursuing?
3. Define Goals: Set clear goals you want to achieve with TikTok, e.g., increasing brand awareness, boosting engagement, driving website traffic, or direct product sales.
4. Plan a Content Calendar: Create a content calendar to plan your publications and ensure a regular presence.
5. Experiment with Video Formats: Try out different video formats (e.g., short clips, challenges, tutorials, behind-the-scenes) and observe which ones resonate best with your audience.
6. Leverage Trends: Capitalize on current trends, challenges, and popular sounds to increase your reach.
7. Create Authentic and Creative Content: Produce content that is authentic, reflects your brand personality, and entertains, informs, or inspires your target audience.
8. Community Interaction: Actively interact with your community, reply to comments, and encourage participation in your content.

SEO on TikTok: How Your Content Gets Found

As with any search engine, search engine optimization (SEO) on TikTok is important to make your content visible to relevant users.

1. Use Keywords: Integrate relevant keywords into your video titles, descriptions, hashtags, and the on-screen text of your videos.
2. Hashtag Research: Research popular and relevant hashtags in your niche and use a mix of general and specific hashtags to improve the discoverability of your content.
3. Avoid Keyword Stuffing: Be careful not to overload your video descriptions with too many keywords, as this can look spammy.
4. Use TikTok Search: Use the TikTok search itself to find out what terms your target audience is searching for and what content is popular in your niche.

Interacting with the Community and the Role of Influencers

Interaction with the TikTok community is crucial for success.

1. Show Engagement: Interact with other users by commenting on and liking videos. This can increase the visibility of your own content.
2. Enter into Collaborations: Work with other TikTok users or influencers to expand your audience and reach new target groups.
3. Leverage Micro-Influencers: Micro-influencers, especially those with a smaller but often highly engaged following in a specific niche, can be valuable for your Business.
4. Authentic Partnerships: When selecting influencers, ensure their values and target audience align with your brand to ensure authentic and effective campaigns.

TikTok Advertising: The Various Ad Formats

TikTok offers a wide range of advertising formats to achieve different marketing goals.

• In-Feed Ads: These ads are seamlessly integrated into the user’s “For You” feed and can be up to 60 seconds long. They allow for interactions such as liking, commenting, and sharing, and include a call-to-action button. Spark Ads are particularly effective, allowing you to promote successful organic content from your own or other accounts (with consent) to increase reach.
• TopView Ads: These full-screen ads appear directly when opening the TikTok app for 5 to 60 seconds and achieve maximum attention, ideal for increasing brand awareness.
• Branded Hashtag Challenges: Businesses challenge users to create videos around a specific hashtag, which can generate viral effects and promote engagement.

Other Advertising Options:

• Brand Takeover Ads: Short, dynamic or static full-screen ads displayed upon app launch.
• Branded Effects (Branded Lenses): Brand-owned filters, stickers, and special effects that users can apply to their videos.
• Carousel Ads: Ads with multiple swipeable images, ad text, and a CTA button.
• Playable Ads: Interactive mini-games to increase engagement.
• Shopping Ads: Various formats for e-commerce enabling in-app purchases.
• Lead Ads: Enable lead generation directly within the app via instant forms.
• Collection Ads: Combine product images with an instant gallery for an improved shopping experience.

Measuring Success and Optimizing Your TikTok Strategy

To measure and optimize the success of your TikTok activities, you should keep an eye on the following metrics:

• Reach: The number of individual users who have seen your content.
• Impressions: How many times your videos were shown in total.
• Engagement Rate: The ratio of interactions (likes, comments, shares, saves) to the number of views or reach.
• Video Views and Watch Time: How often and how long your videos were watched.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): How often users clicked on links or call-to-action buttons in your videos.
• Conversion Rate: The percentage of users who completed a desired action after viewing your content (e.g., purchase, lead generation, app installation).
• Follower Growth: The increase in your follower count over a specific period.
• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): The profit generated by your advertising campaigns relative to advertising costs.

TikTok provides integrated analytics tools for Business Accounts and the Ads Manager, allowing you to track the performance of your organic content and advertising campaigns in detail.

The Creative Center also gives you an overview of current trends and successful content. Analyze your data regularly to understand which content and campaigns work best and adjust your strategy accordingly. Experiment with different content, formats, hashtags, and posting times to continuously optimize your results and stay updated on current trends and algorithm changes.

Conclusion: TikTok as the Key to the Young Target Audience and Sustainable Revenue Growth

For businesses looking to reach young people and increase their revenue, TikTok has become an indispensable marketing channel. The platform offers enormous reach, promotes creativity and authenticity, and enables effective engagement with the target audience through viral campaigns and innovative ad formats. By understanding how TikTok works, leveraging its advantages for your business, and developing a well-thought-out content and advertising strategy, you can successfully dive into the world of TikTok and generate sustainable growth for your company.

Seize the opportunity, be creative, and reach the buyers of tomorrow on TikTok today! Learn more about TikTok for Business here