5 Mistakes Commonly Made on TikTok

Want a viral video? Or a semi-viral one, at least?

TikTok is a great platform to get your brand out there. Why? Have a read of our blog 7 Reasons You Should Care About TikTok.

Except, you may be struggling, especially if you’re wanting more than your last video reaching 200 views and gaining 5 likes.

Whilst there are lots of things we could tell you that you should do – let’s get started with what you absolutely shouldn’t do.

1. Missing Your Target When you’re considering putting content out there that you want to be received well, then you need to consider who you would like to respond to the video. This is essential: putting the wrong hashtags or sound can land your video in the FYP (home page!) of people who have no interest in your brand. Start by mapping out the core elements of your brand (Entertainment? Fashion?) and then think about the demographics of people they would appeal to. From there, many sites offer detailed psychographics for the group/s you have identified, including YouGov and Experian.
   

2. Low-quality production Blurry camera lens? Blips in the audio? Unfortunately, in 2022, these can be seen as a negative in the quality of your content production. Regardless of the quality of the message you’re putting out there, the quality of the production will overshadow this, leading users to scroll away before they’ve finished the video. Take the time to get it right.
   

3. No going back. Or: not being able to make edits once posted. Unlike on other platforms such as YouTube, once you’ve put that TikTok out there, you won’t be able to change the caption, the sound, or anything else. That means if you forgot to put hashtags or used a sound that has since been removed from the platform, you’re left with a silent video on your page which doesn’t attract any attention. Of course, you can write and pin a comment to add any text you missed (or an apology for missing out anything else) – but you run the risk of your audience not clicking onto the comments and seeing this.
   

4. Not making the most out of TikTok’s accessibility features. Since TikTok released a new automated captioning tool in 2022, giving creators the flexibility to make edits to the captions as needed, there really is no excuse to miss this inclusion-must. We recommend browsing websites such as Disability:IN to pick up further cues on making your content accessible, or even better, TikTok has its own page on Accessibility here. Warning: just like all edits, once you’ve posted a TikTok without captions, you will be unable to add captions later.
   

5. Whatever happens on TikTok – doesn’t stay on TikTok. Also known as the ‘digital footprint’. Violating community guidelines: is this one so much of a mistake as a please-never-do-this? Well according to Statista, between October 2020 and June 2022, a whopping 113 million videos have been wiped from the platform. The reasons are varied; anything from obscene content to a lack of ‘integrity and authenticity’ can result in content removal, and potentially a ban on your account. Yet even if the video meets the moderators’ standards – you also need to consider if it will meet those of anyone else encountering the video. I think we all remember the scandal around Kendall Jenner’s infamous Pepsi advertisement in 2017. Understanding EDI (Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion) is key to avoiding this; we recommend looking through this fantastic collection of Diversity in Marketing resources by Campaign Monitor.
   

For more advice on avoiding mistakes when launching your social media campaign, our founder Kizzie Nicholson will be presenting a free talk on this very subject, announced here.

Make sure to grab free tickets for the event at https://www.greatbritishbusinessshow.co.uk/