If Barbie is on TikTok should B2B brands be there too?

Well, the short answer is yes. Yes, your brand (B2B or otherwise) should be joining the billion plus users on 2020’s most downloaded app. Don’t let Barbie, or any other consumer brand for that matter, throw you off your game when it comes to showcasing vibrant content on the TikTok stage to bring your B2B brand to life. TikTok is all about fun, but there are also some serious business benefits to being active on the platform. We’re not just talking cleaning hacks and lunchtime-changing. One-minute recipes, read on for five reasons why TikTok is where B2B needs to be.

The human touch

Let’s face it, B2B brands run the risk of becoming faceless and corporate. With reactive, trend-driven content on TikTok, your brand can show its human side, put a face to the name and grow a community that shares your interests and values. It doesn’t have to be a dancing CEO, although that would be pretty brilliant, employee or team takeovers on the platform work to demonstrate the culture of your business, encourage employee advocacy and build a sense of community. Which leads us nicely to our next point.

Quality not quantity

You don’t need an enormous following on TikTok to be successful. Barbie herself only has 5,416 followers (figure correct at the time of writing). TikTok’s algorithm isn’t swayed by fan-base when selecting content to share on its For You and Discover pages. These pages showcase trending videos, topics and hashtags, and the key to featuring on these pages doesn’t lie in fan-base, it comes down to quality content.

What is quality content? In the eyes of TikTok, quality content is authentic, in keeping with existing content, but still unique. And above all, not overtly promotional. Your TikTok content will need a strategy of its own; rolling out the same kind of content seen on LinkedIn for example, simply isn’t going to cut it. Your business needs to think smart but have fun with its content, TikTok isn’t the home of hard and fast leads, it’s about brand awareness and community. So experiment to see what works for your brand and once you find it, run with it.

Get educational

There are some great examples out there of everyday brands, and everyday people, killing it on TikTok as they share knowledge and educate their community in interesting and creative ways. Scientists, doctors, dentists, lawyers - probably not the kind of the clientele you expect to find on TikTok. But there they are, sharing content related to what they do, in a way which makes it accessible and interesting to a whole new audience. In the world of B2B, it can be tricky to explain exactly what you do or what your product is. So show us, and educate a captive audience as to why it’s so awesome.

Multiplatform magic

If there’s a content type worth investing your time in right now it’s short-form video. From TikTok, Instagram Reels and even YouTube Shorts, there’s bags of multiplatform magic to be made. Video is undoubtedly the king of content (sorry whitepapers), and featuring effective snappy video means your content can reach an even wider audience, growing and feeding your visibility on multiple platforms.

#Collab

Social media is meant to be social. As much as TikTok is great for brand awareness, it also creates opportunity to reach out and connect with others. By collaborating with other brands and influencers, your business can tap into their audiences and thereby increase your reach and grow yet more awareness. As mentioned previously, community is a key aspect of TikTok, so it’s time to put those B2B buzzwords into action and communicate, innovate and collaborate, even if that means creeping out of your comfort zone a little.

If Barbie can do it, so can you.

TikTok is your stage to bring your brand to life, create authentic content which can be fun as well as educational. Use this content across channels to gain as much value from it a possible and strive to reach new audiences through collaboration and interaction with other brands and influencers.

Now, go forth and TikTok B2B friends.

Written by Milly Bell, digital expert at integrated B2B tech marketing agency Fox Agency