Why You Need a TikTok Business Account & How to Create One

What Is a TikTok Business Account?

A TikTok Business Account is a specialized profile designed for companies, brands, and organizations. With a TikTok Business account, you can tap into advanced features and analytics to create a cohesive marketing strategy and gain visibility on the platform.

TikTok Business Account Features

With a business account on TikTok, you gain access to these valuable features:

1. Commercial Music Library (CML) access: Use a wide range of songs and sounds in your videos without having to pay for copyright fees. These tracks are pre-approved for commercial use on TikTok and can be used for organic and branded content alike.
2. Post scheduler: Plan and schedule your posts up to 10 days in advance to maintain a consistent posting schedule and save plenty of time.
3. Business website link: Display a link to your business website on your TikTok profile to prompt users to learn more about what your business has to offer.
4. Business email address: Include your business email address in your TikTok bio to enable customers or collaborators to contact you via email.
5. Exclusive analytics page: View metrics that show your account’s growth, audience demographics, and other valuable data that can help you understand the efectiveness of your content strategy.
6. Business Creative Hub: Gather content ideas and inspiration to define your TikTok marketing strategy. The hub offers valuable content ideas, learning resources, community-driven tips, and more.
7. TikTok Business Center: Initiate and manage collaborations with creators through this feature. Additionally, with the TikTok Creator Marketplace, you can find influencers who will help you grow your online presence.

Pros of a TikTok Business Account

Let’s discuss the advantages you’ll experience once you start using TikTok for Business:

• Access to TikTok’s Business Suite, which offers several valuable features, including TikTok analytics, TikTok ads, Commercial Music Library, and Business Creative Hub. These features allow you to effectively manage your TikTok presence and maximize your brand’s impact.
• TikTok Shop: Take advantage of the rising trend of social shopping by showcasing and selling your products directly through the app. 

Cons of a TikTok Business Account

While there are numerous advantages to having a Business Account on TikTok, it’s important to acknowledge that there are some limitations as well.

Here are the cons of running a TikTok Business account:

• TikTok’s General Music Library (GML) is not available for business accounts. The music found in the GML is meant for personal entertainment use only, which is why it can only be used by personal accounts. This means that the range of sounds that businesses can utilize in their videos is somewhat limited. 
• Business accounts also have limitations when it comes to duetting or stitching videos. Only videos with non-commercial audio can be stitched or duetted by a brand, so you may not be able to take part in certain TikTok trends or collaborations that involve copyrighted or commercial audio. 
• Transitioning to a Business Account means losing out on certain features that are exclusive to Creator Accounts:
  • The Creator Next program 
  • Access to monetization through the TikTok Creator Fund
  • Account privacy settings 
  • Access to popular songs
  • Account privacy settings
  • More Duet and Stitching options

How to Use TikTok for Business

Here’s how to use TikTok for business in seven steps:

1. Create a TikTok account for business
2. Craft a TikTok content strategy
3. Optimize your TikTok profile
4. Create content that will captivate your audience
5. Get your SEO ducks in a row
6. Dig into analytics
7. Check out TikTok’s ad platform

Step 1: Create a TikTok Account for Business

To transition from a personal TikTok account to a business one, you need to:

1. Go to the ‘Settings and Privacy’ page on the TikTok App
2. Change your account settings
3. Set up your client’s business account

1. Go to the Settings and Privacy Page on the TikTok App

To access your client’s profile settings on the TikTok app, launch the app and tap on the hamburger settings icon. This will prompt a pop-up menu at the bottom of the screen. From that menu, choose ‘Settings and privacy’ to access the desired settings.

2. Change Your Account Settings

In the ‘Account’ section, tap on ‘Switch to Business Account.’ This will start the account type conversion process.

3. Set Up Your Client’s Business Account

To get started with Business Accounts, you’ll find a summary of their benefits on the initial start page. Go ahead and browse through the list, and when you’re ready, tap ‘Next’ to continue. 

On the following page, select the category that best represents your client’s business. Choose the appropriate industry from the provided list, and then tap ‘Next’ to proceed.

To enable customers to easily get in touch with your client, enter their business email address and tap ‘Add.’ If you prefer to complete this step later, you can select ‘Skip.’

Once you have completed all the necessary steps, simply tap ‘Create now’ to finalize the setup process and start creating your TikTok video right away.

Step 2: Craft a TikTok Content Strategy

Even if you excel at promoting your brand on other platforms like Instagram or Facebook, it’s crucial to realize that TikTok is a uniquely dynamic and unpredictable platform that demands a cohesive marketing strategy. 

To successfully create one, spend some time scrolling through the videos on the For You Page. Immerse yourself in the app to gain a better understanding of the platform’s culture and trends.

This is how to craft a TikTok content strategy:

1. Learn about your target audience and the TikTok community
2. Study your competitors
3. Understand the TikTok algorithm
4. Establish goals and objectives
5. Post at the right time 
6. Utilize a content calendar to diversify your TikTok content strategy

A. Learn About Your Target Audience and the TikTok Community

Before you jump into creating your first TikTok video, develop a clear understanding of your target audience. 

While TikTok is mainly popular among teenagers and Gen Z, it has also gained popularity among a wide range of demographics. 

Distribution of TikTok users worldwide as of July 2023, by age and gender

Here is the breakdown of the distribution of TikTok users from the statistic above:

Consider where your target market overlaps with TikTok users and whether there might be a new or unexpected audience to tap into. Only afterward can you begin planning your content accordingly. This means creating videos that resonate with your target market and addressing their interests, needs, and preferences. 

B. Study Your Competitors

Are your competitors already present on TikTok? Study their TikTok accounts to assess what strategies are effective and which aren’t. Even those who represent a threat could be valuable sources of knowledge and inspiration.

C. Understand the TikTok Algorithm

TikTok’s algorithm is ever-changing, but you’ll eventually learn to work with it. 

Nikita Cheldiev, a content creator who uses his knowledge of social media to grow multiple TikTok and Instagram accounts, shares his insights on how TikTok determines the ranking and distribution of videos.

Here are some key takeaways about TikTok’s algorithm to help you get started:

• The TikTok algorithm uses a point system to measure the success of videos. This means that the algorithm assigns a certain number of points to each video based on how well it performs in terms of user engagement.
• Negative actions, such as getting reported or viewers clicking “not interested,” can damage your video’s chances of going viral.
• The algorithm values watch time, both in terms of seconds watched and the percentage of the video viewed.
• Follows, profile visits, shares, comments, and saves are positive actions that can boost your video’s chances of going viral.
• Videos that receive positive reactions from a target audience are promoted to a larger group, while videos that receive negative reactions are targeted to a smaller group or not promoted at all.
• The key components to focus on for viral success on TikTok are watch time and profile visits.

Overall, creating videos that encourage users to visit your profile, watch your other videos, and engage with your content allows you to build a loyal audience and increase your chances of going viral.

D. Establish Goals and Objectives

To set some goals for your TikTok strategy, consider what you want to accomplish on the platform and align it with your overall business objectives. For better results, ensure that your objectives are consistent with the S.M.A.R.T Framework.

E. Post at the Right Time

If you want to reach more people with your content, it’s not enough for it to be good — it needs to be posted at the right time. The optimal timing may vary depending on your audience, the day of the week, and other factors. Check out our article about TikTok posting times to find out what are the best time frames to share videos, Monday through Sunday.

But what if you’re unable to post at that specific time? That’s where a scheduling tool comes to the rescue. TikTok allows you to plan your content beforehand, but you can only schedule up to 10 days in advance, and you need to use a desktop computer. 

Fortunately, with SocialBee, you can schedule your TikToks weeks or even months ahead, and you can do it from your computer or your phone. 

F. Utilize a Content Calendar to Diversify Your TikTok Content Strategy

For a busy social media marketer, it’s generally a smart move to plan your content in advance, despite the thrill of posting spontaneously whenever inspiration strikes.

Keep an eye out for opportunities to leverage holidays and events, or even develop specific themes or series that can guide your creativity. By establishing content pillars — topics or themes that align with your overall brand goals — you can stay focused during brainstorming sessions and ensure that your posts consistently represent your brand.

Using a social media content calendar is key to ensuring that you don’t miss any important dates and gives you ample time to create engaging content. You can even use a scheduler like SocialBee to preload your content, so it goes live on TikTok at the perfect time.

Just like for any other social media platform, TikTok strategies are not a one-size-fits-all, so you’ll need to go through some trial and error to learn what truly works. 

To streamline your efforts, showcase your brand’s personality, and create content that resonates with your target audience, you must use a centralized platform like SocialBee to simplify the planning, creation, and scheduling of TikTok content. 

Effortlessly plan, create, and schedule your TikTok content with SocialBee

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Here’s how you can seamlessly integrate SocialBee into your TikTok marketing strategy:

• AI content generation: Overcome creative blocks by having content ideas tailored specifically for your niche and target audience. SocialBee’s AI generator can help with anything from captions and scripts to entire video concepts.
• Hashtag generator: Automatically generate relevant hashtags to tag your TikToks appropriately and boost your discoverability.
• Content categories: Organize your posts according to your content pillars or any other criteria to prevent chaos.
• Customized video thumbnails: Make your profile stand out by taking advantage of SocialBee’s Canva integration and turn your profile into a cohesive and inviting space. 
• Visual content calendar: Having the content for all your social media platforms laid out in a visual manner can ensure you’re evenly distributing your marketing efforts.
• Planning and scheduling: Schedule your posts in advance to ensure consistency in content distribution and free up time for actual content creation.
• Analytics: Understanding your audience is all about having access to insights into post engagement, audience demographics, optimal posting times, and more.