The Best TikTok Marketing Strategies for Lawyers and Professionals
If your business is struggling with social media marketing, it might be time to try something new.
TikTok is one of the newest social media apps out there. Imagine if Instagram, Twitter, and the now-extinct Vine merged into one – you’ve got TikTok.
With over 500 million monthly users, TikTok managed to pass the total download record for Instagram shortly after its release. It now boasts an international audience of 795 million.
That’s a lot of untapped potential, especially once you realize a lot of businesses aren’t taking advantage of this powerful platform.
What does this all mean for lawyers and professionals? Aren’t there enough social media platforms already? Why should you worry about this one?
TikTok is worth your attention because its potential to go viral and reach thousands – even millions of people – is impossible to ignore.
Unlike other social media apps, the TikTok platform is actually designed to give everyone the chance to shine and grow their following – especially new users.
What Is TikTok and How Are Professionals Using It?
TikTok is a short video sharing platform. The best videos are authentic, relatable, shareable, and sometimes funny – at 15 seconds or less.
TikTok’s algorithm rewards original content and engagement. That means it’s important not just to post videos but to interact with other users. You can tap into a much larger audience on a daily basis by following and contributing to trending hashtags.
Not a lot of professionals or lawyers have taken advantage of TikTok digital marketing. The platform has fresh opportunities for businesses and professionals to find their audiences and grow – without much competition.
Why Should I Consider Marketing My Business on TikTok?
TikTok is valuable because everyone on the platform can get their 15 minutes of fame. It’s much easier to go viral on TikTok right now than any other social network.
Whenever a TikTok user opens the app, they see videos from people they follow and featured videos on the #foryou page.
When you first sign up, TikTok automatically features your videos on the #foryou page a few times. Your first posts can go mini-viral and you can get major exposure around the world.
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of posting a video, refreshing your app, and seeing your views jump from 100 to 300 to 500, 1000, and higher.
You can take this burst of momentum and run with it.
Plus, TikTok allows you to link your YouTube and Instagram accounts from your profile. So your TikTok views can translate to a lot of traffic to your other channels.
Get Started on Your TikTok Marketing Now
The best time to put together a TikTok marketing strategy and build your audience is now – before your market is saturated.
Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter can be hard to gain traction when you’re competing with so many other lawyers and professionals. Imagine how many people you could reach if you were competing with only a handful of others in your niche.
So what’s the best way to a successful TikTok marketing campaign?
The Best TikTok Marketing Strategies From a Viral TikTok Star
Recently I was lucky to speak with a viral influencer and creator with over 150k followers. They generously took the time to give me their absolute best tips for TikTok marketing.
I was able to use these strategies to go viral on my own post, which you can see in this screenshot.
1. Be Your Authentic Self and Create Original Content
Figure out something that’s unique to you, your practice, or your business. I’m a lawyer by profession so some of my videos have legal tips. But if you visit my TikTok profile you’ll see that many of my videos aren’t about the law or my business.
Sometimes I talk about how the skills I learned in my career translate to other areas of my life. I’ve also posted about my workout routine, my healthy habit goals, my gratitudes, and other positivity and mindset practices I do in my everyday life.
Think about what makes you unique, even in your own industry or niche. What are you passionate about? Believe it or not, this attorney went viral through dancing, lip-syncing songs, and funny sketches. Talk about what you love and you’ll find other people who love it too. This is a great way to build your audience on and off the app.
A Little Bit of Effort Can Go a Long Way
You don’t have to do much, but a little bit of video editing can help your videos perform better on the TikTok algorithm.
• The TikTok algorithm likes to see writing on the video. You can add text to your videos in the TikTok app’s video editor like on Instagram.
• Change your video backgrounds or the algorithm can mark your videos as repetitive. If this happens, your videos won’t get as many plays.
• Good lighting is key! The algorithm’s computer has to “see clearly” to make sure none of your videos have harmful content.
2. Post Every Day While You Grow
The most crucial time is when you first sign up for your Tik Tok account.
During this time you should post a few times a day, ideally 5. Start posting in the afternoon, around 3:00 pm local time. Continue posting until 6-7 pm, then again close to midnight.
If this is too much for you, aim for at least once a day. You don’t have to keep up this pace forever – just for the first week or so. Remember, during this time the TikTok algorithm wants to highlight your new account. It’s crucial to take advantage of this boost when you can.
3. Participate in at Least One Trend per Day
TikTok is all about connecting to others so make sure to participate in trending hashtags and hashtag challenges.
→ TikTok trending hashtags and hashtag challenges can lead to runaway success. TikTok loves user participation and hashtags are a great way to connect organically with others on the platform. In one case, a restaurant chain encouraged users to order custom-made meals through videos on TikTok. More than 15,000 people joined in, with 2000 videos shared on the app and 50 million total views.
A trend is something you see everyone copy on the app. Influencers and advertisers create trends to “sounds” or music. Record labels, musicians, artists, and promo teams pay to create trends to their sounds. This is one way to get their sound heard repeatedly by many people.
→ Remember the 2019 success of Lil Naz X’s “Old Town Road”? That song went viral because of the TikTok app.
So keep an eye on trending #hashtags that change all the time. Watch for the trends that appeal to you then make your own video and share!
4. Avoid Hashtag Clutter
You might be tempted to add a bunch of hashtags like you do on Instagram. But beware – TikTok is different. You want to keep your caption clean.
You should use hashtags when:
• A sound is paying you to use the hashtag, or
• You’re doing a trend on your own.
Otherwise, hashtags just clutter your content.
A Note on #ForYou and #ForYouPage Hashtags
Some people use the #ForYou and #ForYouPage hashtags to try to get their posts on the TikTok main page.
Pro tip: these hashtags only clutter your caption. Instead of using these hashtags, find hashtags that are relevant to your content. They will give you much better exposure.
5. Ask Engaging Questions in Your Caption
The Tik Tok algorithm looks for and rewards the best user engagement. So it’s important to be as engaging as possible. Ask real questions that people might take the time to answer.
6. Respond to Comments!
After every post you publish, you must set aside 30 minutes to respond to comments. This is crucial to the success of your post. So many people just post and then walk away.
Comments are a part of the TikTok algorithm. If you respond to as many comments as you can during this time, you can get back on the “for you” page.
If you don’t have the time to respond to comments, make sure an assistant or someone has this responsibility. Prepare a few standard answers to make the process easier and faster.
7. Hide “Easter Eggs” in Your TikTok Videos
Finally, repeat viewings are especially valuable to the TikTok algorithm.
It makes sense, right? If people watch something twice, three times, or more – that’s a good sign to a computer that the video is interesting.
If your video is 15 seconds long but people play it for 25-30 seconds, that means they took time out of their busy and distracted day to watch the same thing twice.
That type of attention is very valuable in the fast-paced online marketing world.
On the flip side, fewer people are likely to finish a 60-second video, much less watch it twice.
So keep your videos short and repeat-watch friendly. Add details that catch people’s eyes and inspire them to take another look.
Final TikTok Marketing Tips
As a final tip, I recommend recording or saving every post you make before you publish it. Sometimes, you post something at the wrong time and it doesn’t get much engagement. No problem – this way you can delete and repost later.
Remember, the app is always changing. Trial-and-error works best. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t go viral right at once. Keep posting and keep engaged.
Get Started with TikTok Marketing
Tik Tok is available on all mobile devices, including Apple and Android. Download the free app, create your account, and spend some time browsing before you post your first video. See how people use the platform and communicate with each other.
Get creative. Explore. TikTok can be challenging at first but also rewarding and fun.
After all, with its massive user base, it doesn’t look like TikTok is going away anytime soon.
