What it is
What TikTok marketing is.
TikTok marketing is using the platform to put a brand in front of people who have never heard of it, and to give them a reason to look again. It has three parts: organic content from your own account, influencer marketing with creators, and TikTok advertising.
What makes it different from every other social media platform is how videos travel. TikTok shows a video to people based on what they watch, not on who they follow. A new account with a good video can reach strangers from its first post, because the follower count is not the gate.
That is an opening for small brands, and it sets the terms of the work. Polish matters less than the idea. The first two seconds, the clarity of the idea and the rhythm of posting matter more.
Our guide to what TikTok marketing is covers the basics in full. This page covers what we do.
TikTok is not Instagram with a different logo.
Most brand accounts on TikTok are Instagram content reposted. These are the differences that change how the work is done.
DifferenceOn TikTokWhat it means for the work
How videos travelBy interest. The For You feed tests each video on strangers first.Every video has to make sense to someone who has never seen the brand.
What followers are forLess than anywhere else. They are a result, not the source of reach.We judge videos by watch time and shares, and the account by what buyers do next.
SearchPeople type questions into TikTok the way they do into a search engine.Each video is built around a phrase a buyer would search.
Look and feelA phone, a person and a clear idea beat a polished advert.Filming stays light enough for your team to do every week.
VolumeAccounts that post often learn faster what their audience wants.We build TikTok formats that can be repeated, not one hero video a month.
CommentsThey are content. A reply can be a new video.The best questions become next week's videos.
What a TikTok video is made of.
This is the creative side of TikTok marketing. We plan each of these before anyone picks up a phone. Editing cannot rescue a video that was filmed without them.
PartIts jobHow we handle it
The openingStop a stranger's thumb.First line and first frame written in advance. The product or the result is on screen at once.
One ideaBe finishable and repeatable.If a video needs "and also", it becomes two videos.
The payoffKeep the promise the opening made.It arrives early. The rest of the video supports it.
On screen text and captionsServe people watching without sound, and tell TikTok what the video is about.Large, short, clear of the interface at the edges.
SoundSet the pace, sometimes help a video get shown.A voice first. Music from the library cleared for business use.
The coverMake the profile readable as a catalog of answers.A plain title on every cover, so a visitor can find the video they need.
The askTurn a viewer into a conversation.One question people want to answer, never "like and follow".
A separate note goes deeper on the first of these: nine ways to open a short video, and when each one works.
TikTok formats a small team can repeat.
Creative ideas for TikTok content are not the hard part. Keeping it up is. We pick three or four of these per account and make them a routine.
Answer a commentEasiest
- A real question on screen, answered in under thirty seconds.
- The audience writes the content plan for you.
- It shows there is a person behind the brand.
Watch it get madeProcess
- Hands, tools, the product taking shape.
- Needs no script, works with or without sound.
- Best for makers, food, repair, beauty, anything physical.
The product in useProof
- One product, one use, one result.
- Filmed by staff or customers, with permission.
- The detail a product page cannot show.
Pack an orderDTC classic
- A real order, packed on camera, with the customer's first name if they agree.
- Shows care, stock and scale in one take.
- Works best for small shops.
Myth and mistakeTeaching
- The common wrong way, then the right way.
- Built around a phrase people search.
- Gets saved and shared.
A day in the placeLocal
- Opening up, the rush, the regulars, closing.
- The room as it is, not as a brochure shows it.
- Answers "what is it like there" before a first visit.
TikTok search: being the answer.
Many people use TikTok search the way they use a search engine: how to clean suede, best ramen near me, is this serum worth it. A video that answers the question can keep being found long after the feed has moved on.
SignalWhat we doWhy
Spoken wordsThe search phrase is said out loud in the first seconds.TikTok can caption speech automatically, and viewers confirm they are in the right place.
On screen textThe same phrase appears as a title on the video.It is read by the app and by people watching on mute.
CaptionA full sentence with the phrase and the specifics: product, place, price range.A caption is text the app can read. A row of emojis tells it nothing.
HashtagsA few that name the topic and the category.They label the video. Thirty broad tags label nothing.
Cover and playlistA readable title, grouped with related videos.Searchers land on the profile next, and look for more of the same.
More on this in the guide to SEO for TikTok.
The first thirty TikTok videos.
A new TikTok account has no data, so a TikTok marketing strategy written on day one is a guess. The first stretch of work is designed to get some, quickly and cheaply.
- 01Audit or setup.An existing account gets the social media audit. A new one gets a business account, profile and access through TikTok Business Center. We never ask for a password.
- 02Six formats, five videos each.We test more formats than we will keep. Each gets enough videos to be judged fairly.
- 03Read the retention curves.Which formats people finish, which openings hold, which topics get searched, saved and shared.
- 04Keep three, drop three.The account's routine is built from the formats that earned it.
- 05Then add one new test a month.So the account keeps learning without losing its shape.
What we read in TikTok analytics.
Views are the number every TikTok marketing report quotes, and the one that says least.
NumberWhat it tells usWhat we do with it
Average watch time and completionWhether the idea and the edit held attention.Recut or retire formats that people leave early.
The retention curveThe exact second viewers leave.Fix that second in the next video of the same format.
Traffic sourceHow much came from For You, search, profile and following.Search share growing means videos keep working after the first days.
Shares and savesContent people vouch for or plan to use.Make more of exactly that.
Profile views and link tapsCuriosity turning into intent.Check that the profile and the link answer what the video promised.
Comments, read by handWhat buyers want to know, and how they talk about the product.Turn them into videos, captions and product page copy.
Three kinds of TikTok marketing agency.
They are sold under one name and they are not the same business. Knowing which one you are talking to is most of the decision.
The kindWhat it sellsWhat it is good atWhere it struggles
Influencer agencyAccess to creators, and campaigns run through them.Reach in weeks, and borrowed credibility from an audience that already trusts someone.The audience belongs to the creator. When the campaign ends the attention leaves with them, and your own account is where it was.
Advertising agencyPaid media: TikTok ads, budget management, creative made for the ad account.Turning something that already works into more of it, with the result measured in the ad account.Advertising amplifies what you have. Point it at an account with nothing worth amplifying and it spends the budget teaching you that.
Content agencyThe account itself: what gets made, what goes out, what comes back.Building something that keeps working after the invoice stops, because the videos and the search visibility stay yours.Slower. There is no week one number, and the first thirty videos are a cost before they are a return.
We are the third kind. We make the videos, run the account and read what comes back, and our paid social work starts from posts that already earned their reach rather than from a fresh creative brief.
If what you need is fifty creators live by the end of the month, an influencer agency will serve you better than we will, and we will say so on the audit rather than after the contract. If you already have an account that works and a budget waiting, an advertising specialist may get more out of that budget than we would.
What the three cost, roughly
Influencer work is priced per campaign and the creator fees sit on top, which makes the invoice hard to compare with anything else. Advertising is often priced as a percentage of spend, so the agency earns more the more you spend; check how it is priced before you sign. Content work is a monthly fee for a written scope, which is the only one of the three where both sides want the same thing.
Our own numbers are on the pricing page rather than behind a call, and the social media management plan that covers TikTok is $1,500 a month with Instagram included.
How to choose a TikTok marketing agency.
Use these on us as well. An agency that is good at this will answer all seven without a slide deck.
AskWhat a good answer sounds like
Which part of TikTok marketing do you actually do?Organic content, influencer campaigns and advertising are three skills. Few agencies are strong at all of them, and the good ones say which is theirs.
Who makes the creative?Names and roles: who writes, who edits, who is on camera. "Our creative team" is not an answer.
Can I see accounts you run?Live TikTok accounts, not a reel of highlights. A new agency should show its own account and its public work instead of invented clients.
How do you decide what to post?From the audience: comments, search phrases, retention data. Not from a list of this week's trends.
What do you report?Watch time, shares, search traffic, profile actions and sales where you share them. Views alone mean the agency is grading itself.
Who owns the account, the videos and the ad account?You do, always, with access granted through TikTok Business Center.
What happens if it is not working?A review date, agreed in advance, and a contract that lets you leave.