Webware.io Blog | Digital Marketing Company in Toronto

How To Use the TikTok Algorithm to Help Increase Exposure For Your Business.

You may be asking yourself, What is the “For You Page” or FYP on TikTok and how does it help my business?

The For You page, is the first page that TikTok takes you to when you open the app. It is a feed of videos that has been selected for you to view because TikTok’s algorithm believes that you will like them. The algorithm uses the interests that you first choose when setting up your account, as well as any interactions that you have on videos that you have watched or looked up.

TikTok states:

“On TikTok, the For You feed reflects preferences unique to each user. The system recommends content by ranking videos based on a combination of factors – starting from interests you express as a new user and adjusting for things you indicate you’re not interested in, too – to form your personalized For You feed.”

To be successful on TikTok, from a marketing perspective, you want your videos to appear in your target audience’s “For You Page” or #fyp. If your video lands on a TikTok FYP then that could mean increased followers while reaching a broader audience to grow your brand awareness and sales. As well, once you grow a TikTok following you can direct them to other social media platforms or to your website to increase traffic. If you can consistently get 100 views per TikTok, a feature on FYP can push that to over 10000 views without spending any money on advertising.

So How Do You Use the Algorithm to Your Advantage?

Here are a few tips about how the “For You Page” works:

Interactions: The more people react and interact with your videos the more likely the algorithm will pick it up. This means the more shares, likes, and comments your video gets, the better.
Information: Using hashtags, sounds and captions can help you get onto the FYP. If you use a trending hashtag or song it is more likely to get picked up by the algorithm. So if your content follows a trend or a trending song, you are more likely to get noticed. You can also participate in hashtag challenges to increase your exposure.
Keywords: Using keywords that relate to your business or product helps get your video noticed by the right audience.
Completion: The more people watch your video to the end, the more likely TikTok will push it out for further distribution. This is why the majority of TikTok videos are short and to the point. The time limit is 60 seconds but the shorter your video is the greater the probability will be of people watching it to the end. Make sure your video has a hook within the first 10 seconds - this will attract the attention of your viewer and then you need to make sure that you hold their interest, make them want or desire what you are selling and then convert that desire into action.
Captions: Again here, less is more. You only have 150 characters for your caption including any hashtags that you may want to use. So your caption needs to be short, include any related hashtags and be engaging. Many TikTok posters use the caption “Watch to the End”, ask a question or tease their audience in the caption. “Watch to the End” increases video completion and as stated before, this helps you to get on the coveted FYP. Asking questions encourages viewers to make comments about your video, which again increases your chances of getting picked up by the algorithm. Teasing your audience in your caption entices the viewer to watch your video to see what you are trying to tell them.
Sounds: You can use trending songs or sounds to gain exposure to your videos. When you create a video, you can tap the “Sounds” button at the top of the screen. A new page will appear where you can tap “Discover”. You can also look through the “Trending” page to see what is trending for certain categories. You can save these songs or clips into your favourites folder for you to use in your video.

Now that we have explained what TikTok is all about, how to set up an account and why and how it is useful to your business, we hope that you will get started promoting your business using the TikTok app yourself!

If you have any questions, or need more guidance, feel free to reach out to melissa@webware.io

How To Set Up a TikTok Account as a Digital Marketing Tool for Your Business.

At Webware we believe educating our clients with the knowledge to help you reach your goals is paramount!

On October 21st we began our first blog post helping you to understand the social media platform: TikTok! Today, we continue this series with step-by-step instructions on how to set up a TikTok account for your business. As well, we will provide you with some tips and tricks for creating engaging content to help you digitally market your business.

How to Set Up A TikTok Account For Business

The Signup

Download the TikTok app. For Android users go to Google Play Stores. For iPhone users go to APP Create your own profile using an email or phone number linked to your business. If it’s easier, you can use your Facebook account (if you have one) and use the same Login information.
TikTok will then ask you to enter a birthday. Feel free to use your personal one or your business start date. Then create a password; this will be important to write down as you need it to log into your account.
Create a username for yourself; this will be your business name. Once you choose your username, you’ll be taken to your home page where you can edit your profile.

*** TikTok also has a separate platform called TikTok for Business. This platform allows you to launch a targeted ad campaign for an additional cost. If you are new to TikTok, start with a free account and once you build your following you can always switch your account to the business platform.

Editing your profile

Click ‘edit profile’ to access a page that contains your profile information and picture. Here, you can change your name, username, add a bio (biography) that describes your small business, and you can link your Instagram account or YouTube account if you have one linked to your business. This page is the person icon to the far right on the bottom of your screen.

Navigating the app

Click on the ‘plus’ icon in bottom centre of your screen to upload content or create a new video
The ‘discover’ magnifying glass icon to the left is where you can search other users, challenges, and trending sounds to use in the search bar. Here, there are suggested categories of content curated based on the content you like.
The ‘home’ button is where you can access the ‘For You Page” (#fyp) where you can watch content and the ‘Following Page’ where you can access content made by the people you follow.
To the right of the ‘plus’ icon, there is an ‘Inbox’ where you can message and receive messages from other users as well as track your likes, comments, and mentions.

Specific tips and tricks for keeping content engaging

Consumers like to see the product or service in action… showcase people utilizing your brand casually in everyday lives. It lets your clients get to know you, your brand, and what it stands for. Create posts that feature behind the scenes or candid content to help people interact with your brand. Showing people the realities of business can help to create stronger connections between the viewer and the business.

● Showcase your services on the livestream feature or create a Q&A that’s interactive with consumers and followers

● Create landing pages or a lead capture page where you can offer resources and information for the consumers contact information. This can produce leads and help to build business connections or clientele.

● Create an unboxing or step by step video to show off and promote your brand, while tagging the link to your website

● Start your own Tik Tok campaign encouraging creators or influencers to post videos on their accounts using your services

● Make a #HashtagChallenge in order to expand your following

Stay tuned for next week’s blog going into greater depth about TikTok’s “For You Page”. That blog will help you utilize TikTok’s algorithm to your advantage to increase your exposure and audience. We will provide you with some additional tips discussing how to use viewers’ interactions, video information, keywords, completion, captions and sounds to further the likelihood of your video gaining traction.

If you have any questions, or need more guidance, feel free to reach out to melissa@webware.io

Utilizing & Navigating Tik Tok as a Digital Marketing Tool

Are you a Gen X confused by social media platforms and how you can use them in the digital market? Or a Millennial trying to start up your first small business with no knowledge of where to start with digital marketing?

At Webware we believe in educating our clients, to provide you with the knowledge to reach your goals, because our goal is helping you achieve yours! Starting this week, we are going to provide you with a weekly series of blog posts to help you understand various social media platforms and how you can use them to digitally market your business.

So, let’s chat about the controversial yet effective app that has taken charge of 2021: Tik Tok!

What is Tik Tok?

Whether you're 25 or 55, Tik Tok is a social media platform you’ve probably heard of that’s taking the world by storm with over 800 million users reaching over 150 markets, making it the perfect platform to promote small businesses. The objective is to share 15-60 second videos, however, once you become a Tik Tok user there are inevitable descents down the rabbit hole. You can begin watching a short video about the latest dance craze and forty-five minutes later it evolves into, "Honey I know what we're having for dinner!"

One of the many features Tik Tok has to offer are its effects! Fall into a colourful trance with Tunnel Lights. There are tons of other filters as well that can improve not only the quality of your videos, but the virality of it as well. The social media’s algorithm works to connect users based on their video’s content and target audience, which makes it a great tool for digital marketing.

Here are the Top 3 ways of using Tik Tok to promote your business:

1. Create a channel where you can upload videos that advertise your product or services that will reach your target audience’s “for you page” (also known as #fyp) Content can be created with a low budget. Save your money on paying for ads and stick to trending hashtags that apply to your business i.e., if you’re a hairstylist starting up a new business try approaching a challenge that’s hair related. Also, having a continuous, positive, brand image never hurts! Differentiate yourself from the competition.

2. Utilize hashtags in your video descriptions that competitors are using to build a following that is interested in your niche content. There is no shame in checking out your competitors' strategies. In fact, master their successful digital strategy and make it your own! The best way to be successful is beating your competition at their own game.

3. Influencer marketing is huge on Tik Tok. Try to reach out to micro influencers and utilize them and their ‘clout’ to market your content to a wider audience. Don’t feel discouraged if you get no responses, continue to message and duet their content; persistence is key. Influencers understand Tik Tok’s tools and trends inside and out. Use that to your advantage and approach influencers to collaborate with you. Tik Tok also has a Creator Marketplace designed to match brands with creators based on common interests and content.

Stay tuned for next week’s blog giving you step-by-step instructions on how to create a small business profile on Tik Tok, how to edit your profile and how to navigate the app. As well, we will provide you with some specific tips and tricks to help keep your content engaging so you can attract more customers!

If you have any questions, or need more guidance, feel free to reach out to melissa@webware.io

15 Tips to Win the Small Business Talent and Staffing Battle

The last 18 months have been challenging for everyone, especially small business owners.

Unpredictable health guidelines, supply chain issues, changing consumer behavior, and much more, have wreaked havoc on our lives and businesses.

You’ve weathered the storm and are ready to get back to what you do best -- providing amazing products and services to your customers.

However, most small businesses are now seeing a new, unexpected challenge: Recruiting and keeping the necessary staff to keep your business running.

With the right strategy, you can win this battle too.

Here are our top tips to hiring:

Transparency and clarity is key to your job posting.

Keep the job posting simple, descriptive, and relevant.
Avoid using lofty jargon and run-on sentences when clear statements will do.

Wrong: “Candidates will use excellent customer communication skills including active listening to assess, respond to, and meet the desired needs of customers.”

Right: “Our teammates are great listeners and act quickly to provide amazing customer service.”

List the compensation in the job posting.
Don’t be afraid to list the difficult things which will be expected of the job. If nights and weekends are required for some employees, make that clear in the job description.

Once the job posting is live, be prepared to act quickly.

Before you post a job opening, ensure you are fully prepared to act quickly on any applications. If you don’t have the time to call applicants quickly, hold off on placing the job posting until you do.
Set up notifications to let you know when you have received a new application.
Call viable applicants within the same business day, if at all possible. The sooner you put a human voice to the process, the more likely you are to stand out among the other options applicants have.
Schedule interviews within 24 hours, and same-day if possible.

Be prepared and consistent in interviews.

Have a defined set of topics to cover with all applicants.
Have a list of 10 questions, and a scorecard to determine how well the candidates answer the questions.

Don’t be afraid to make real-time offers.

Too often we see small businesses lose terrific talent because they wait too long after an interview to make an offer. Sometimes it is an oversight. Other times it is a lack of preparation. Many times you force yourself to keep interviewing “just to see who else is available” when the perfect candidate was right in front of you. If you are prepared and are consistent with your process you will know the right candidate when you meet them and should not hesitate.
Be prepared to make firm offers within 24 hours, and even at the time of the interview.

You’ve hired the perfect candidate -- now make sure to perfectly onboard them.

Set start dates as soon as reasonable. Many entry-level workers are in a hurry for their next paycheck. Don’t lose a perfect candidate because you put their start date too far out and they choose another job which starts sooner.
Make sure their first day is amazing. Have anything they need for their job ready for them at their desk. Show them you cared enough to be prepared.
Have a casual 1:1 with them at the end of the first day. Sure, talk about how the work went, but mostly just get to know them as a person and show they are not just a number to you. That personal connection can keep many new hires invested during what can be a stressful new time for them.

Recruiting and keeping those new recruits is more challenging than ever.

These tips can help you set yourself apart from the competition and make your company the go-to place to work.

If you have any questions, or need some more guidance, feel free to reach out to mark@webware.io.