4 questions to answer before jumping on TikTok

Welcome to another edition of PROse, the B2B marketer's no BS guide to creating standout content.

ICYMI, there’s a hot conversation happening on social about B2B brands getting on TikTok.

Some well-respected marketers say do, others say don’t.

I’m not here to tell you what to do, but hopefully I can help you think about it critically before making a move.

So let’s dive into some questions to help you decide.

1. What is your goal?

You can’t know which route to take if you don’t know the end destination.

It may seem obvious, but a lot of teams skip this l before they jump headfirst into a new platform, campaign, or [insert cool idea here].

But if you don’t know where you’re going, you can’t define whether you’re headed in the right direction, or if the results you’re seeing are good or bad. It's like treading water.

So the first step is defining the end goal.

Don’t just think about the goal from a social perspective. Think about it from an overall marketing and business perspective.

How does this channel help us accomplish our current goals as a team and company?

That doesn’t have to be just the traditional answer (e.g. drive leads), either.

Some non-obvious goals to consider:

• Source job candidates

• Promote the brand podcast

• Build awareness and mindshare around a new POV

2. Is this the right platform?

You might think because you want to be on a certain platform it inherently means it’s the right one. But that’s not always the case.

The right platform should have unique features and behaviors that help you achieve your goal.

If your goal is to drive leads & demos, TikTok may not be the right platform for you.

Why? Because people aren’t scrolling TikTok looking for software products or B2B services. Of course there are exceptions to the rule but they probably don't apply to most of the readers here.

So you either need to change your goal or consider a more appropriate channel.

(*cough* LinkedIn *cough*)

The right platform doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it’s contextual to the goal.

3. Do you have bandwidth to manage it?

The copy & paste, or set it & forget it, strategy doesn’t work.

It’s a waste of time and resources because you can’t build an engaged audience just posting content alone.

You need to engage with the people you want to care about your content. And you need to find ways to tastefully promote yourself to get started.

That means setting aside time to respond to comments & DMs, as well as scouring the platform for relevant content and creators to engage with.

You can’t do that when you’re already trying to do the same thing on 3 other platforms as a solo social team and only have time to auto-schedule content before moving on to the next task.

When it comes to social, if it can’t be done well, it’s not worth doing.

4. Do you have the resources to consistently publish high-quality content?

Building on my last point: the average TikTok user spends more than 90 mins per day watching videos… just on TikTok.

That’s a ton of content. You’re not going to stand out by phoning it in.

You need to consistently publish good content, no matter what your goal is.

Now, that content doesn’t have to come out of thin air… and it doesn’t have to be videos of you dancing or doing weird things around the office in a green bird costume.

A good place to start might be short clips from your company’s podcast. But it needs to actually be good. A title and caption box alone isn’t going to cut it.

Here’s an example is what I mean when I say “good”:

This clip took off for a few reasons:

• Mr. Beast is relevant in culture right now… and always

• The idea is actually pretty crazy (imagine having a personal courier 24/7!)

• The edits keep you engaged instead of staring at a split-screen camera shot

That likely means you need budget to hire a freelance video editor.

And if you can't get budget but still decide it's worth doing, start small with a few stock images, videos, and/or animations to keep the content feeling fresh.

That’s it! To sum it up, ask yourself these questions:

1. What is my goal?

2. Is this the right platform for that goal?

3. Do I have bandwidth to manage this platform?

4. Do I have the resources to consistently publish high-quality content?

My biggest piece of advice, in general is: don’t let the debates and all the posts you see on Twitter and LinkedIn sway you to jump in the river before you’re ready to swim.

Take assessment of where the company is and make a decision based on what you think will help you move the needle forward.

So what do you think... should B2B brands be hopping on TikTok?