14 TikTok marketing tips from successful accounts [2025]

Decade-ago me would have laughed if I heard myself say this, but TikTok is a solid bet for almost any marketer. Case in point: as a business owner, I grew my new TikTok account to over 1,200 followers and 150K views in a matter of months. The algorithm and snappy content style means I’ve found it much easier to get views and build an audience there. (For context: my Instagram account has only attracted ~300 followers in the same period.)

Whether you’re a B2B marketer or content creator ready to turn TikTok into a revenue machine, you need to understand how to get the most out of your TikTok marketing strategy. So let’s dive in.

Table of contents:

Benefits of TikTok marketing

If you’re not totally convinced TikTok marketing is for you—or your boss needs a little nudge—let’s take a quick walk through the Why TikTok Is Worth It forest. 

• Reach Gen Z audiences. TikTok has a massive hold on Gen Z market—that’s a massive market you can reach.

• Capture search traffic. Social media platforms like TikTok are becoming the first port of call for product discovery. Instead of heading to Google, lots of people start their searches on TikTok.

• Convert followers into buyers with TikTok Shop. Instead of creating a social media strategy that drives users off the app and onto your website (which most platforms penalize brands for), TikTok lets brands upload their product catalog and tag products in their posts. TikTok Shop was the fastest growing online retailer last year. 

TikTok marketing tips to grow your business

Ready to turn TikTok into a high-performing marketing channel? I talked to folks who’ve been successful with TikTok marketing—from across industries and businesses—and these are the tips that came up the most. (I’ve also added a few myself.)

1. Choose the right TikTok account type

When registering for a TikTok account, you get two options: a personal account (formerly known as a “Creator” account) and a business profile. 

A personal account is the most popular option. It lets you access monetization features such as the Creator Rewards Program and Subscriptions. You also get access to the music library, basic analytics, TikTok Live, and the option to promote your content through TikTok ads.

A business account, on the other hand, gives you access to the TikTok Business Suite—a place to track detailed analytics and access the commercial music library.  

To help you decide between the two:

• Personal is best for individual creators because it gives access to creator monetization tools and a wider audio library.

• Business is best for brands that want more detailed analytics, clickable links in bio, and access to the commercial music library only.

2. Nail the hook

Traditional TV and even YouTube meant most video content was long-form—sometimes edging toward the one-hour mark. But on TikTok, videos are short—users decide whether to watch your video within the first few seconds.

A good hook convinces people to continue watching. And higher retention increases engagement metrics—something the TikTok algorithm considers when deciding how much to push your content on your audience’s For You page. 

Here are some hook ideas I’ve tried and seen results from:

• “You won’t believe that ___”

• “Here’s how I did ___ in ___”

• “Nobody’s told you about ___”

• “Why’s no one talking about ___?”

• “This one mistake is ruining your ___”

They’re a little clickbaity, yes, but they work—as long as you deliver on that expectation in the video. 

Remember that hooks should also be visual. Do something unique that your audience wouldn’t expect. I personally love Duolingo’s mascot—the giant green owl gets me every time.

3. Add automated captions

Except for people who think sound on is acceptable on public transportation, most folks don’t open TikTok ready to watch videos with the volume up. Captions, which transcribe what you’re saying with on-screen text, cater to sound-off viewers. They also improve video accessibility and help TikTok contextualize your content. 

There are two ways to add automated captions to your TikTok videos:

• Default subtitles. TikTok automatically adds captions to your videos, which users can choose whether to turn on or off—but they’re not entirely accurate, and you can’t edit the captions TikTok has added.

• Free video editors. Apps like CapCut, Descript (one of my favorites), or TikTok’s built-in video editor use artificial intelligence (AI) to transcribe your video and overlay subtitles on screen. 

Granted, “burning in” TikTok captions using a video editor adds another step to your content workflow, but it’s worth it. You can proofread the subtitles before you post them and match the style with your brand guidelines for consistency.

Here’s a great example from QuickBooks.

4. Go for authenticity, not uber-polished productions

TikTok might be the perfect place for your business to reach actual human people—but only if you act like an actual human person while using it.

The most-viewed TikTok videos have one thing in common: they’re not super-polished productions you’d typically see from brands on social media. Authenticity sells on TikTok; there’s no need for fancy video production equipment when a DIY video shot on your smartphone will do. Get in front of the camera, and showcase your personality to establish a connection with the viewer. 

B2B media brand Morning Brew, for example, shot the hook for this video using the forward-facing camera. It looked more like a FaceTime with a friend—not the typical intro you’d expect for a professional interview.

“The biggest win for me has been creating ‘behind-the-scenes’ content at Tampa restaurants,” says Jasmine Charbonier, TikTok creator at @YourTampaBestie. “My most successful video ($2K in direct bookings) was a 15-second clip showing the chef at a local spot flame-cooking a dessert. Raw, unfiltered content performs way better than polished stuff—and I learned this the hard way after my first few over-edited posts flopped.”

You still need to make your points and do it clearly. But you can make those points in a way that makes sense on TikTok. 

5. Go live

Speaking of authenticity: what better way to connect with your audience and showcase your personality than through an unfiltered live stream?

TikTok LIVE is available to anyone with over 1,000 followers. Your stream appears in the Live tab of the mobile app—and in some cases, the For You page. This gives you the chance of reaching people looking for live content even if they don’t follow you. 

Key ingredients of a great TikTok live stream include:

• Promoting your stream in advance to get people excited

• Choosing the right time to go live (look at your TikTok Analytics to find out when your audience is online)

• Having talking points ready to fall back on if you get stuck

• Pinning a featured product to turn live stream viewers into customers

• Engaging with viewers in real-time by answering their questions, asking for opinions, and using countdowns 

Feeling nervous at the thought of going live? Consider this: Half of TikTok’s users have bought something after watching a TikTok LIVE. Beauty brand Made By Mitchell, for example, made $2 million in a single week through a series of TikTok live streams.

6. Lean into TikTok trends

You don’t have to find fancy trend analysis tools to figure out what TikTok users are currently interested in—the platform shares that insight for you. 

Head to the TikTok Creative Center and pay attention to what’s trending:

• Hashtags: Not all of these will be relevant to your business. (For example, as I’m writing this, #squidgame is the most popular TikTok hashtag.) But a longer reporting period—such as the last 120 days—can highlight more generic hashtags that have a sustained interest.

• Songs: The TikTok algorithm is more likely to surface your video if it includes a sound that’s currently spreading on the platform. Just keep in mind that some of these sounds might not be available to you if you’re using a Business account. 

• Creators: TikTok creators have mastered their craft and know what makes a great video. Find who’s popular and analyze their recent posts. Can you replicate their style or content ideas with your own spin? 

B2B software company Canva takes a meta approach to these trends. It calls out a particular trend—the newspaper style visual hook—and tells people they can replicate it themselves using its own graphic design tool. Take a look.

7. Create shoppable videos

TikTok Shop lets users browse your product catalog and buy things without leaving the app. Instead of hoping people will visit your profile and click the Shop tab (named Showcase if you’re a creator), tag products from your TikTok Shop in organic videos to spread the word.

A great product video has a few things going for it:

• It has a strong hook 

• It showcases the product in action

• It communicates the product’s USP 

• It demonstrates any special features

• It ends with a CTA to buy through TikTok Shop 

You can also invite other TikTok creators to promote your content as an affiliate. Creators can upload their own videos, tag your products, and earn commission when they make a TikTok sale. That means you don’t have to pay upfront for a sponsored post. Here’s what that looks like for Biomel.

​​8. Turn TikTok comments into content

TikTok rewards videos with high engagement as a way to keep users on the platform. It signals that your content is interesting and that other users would find it entertaining, too. Sticking around to watch it keeps them on the app for longer. 

Instead of initiating one-way conversations with your audience (or just typing something back), turn comments into videos that reference the original post. This can quickly fill up your content calendar if you’re short on inspiration. 

For example, you could:

Bambi Does Beauty’s ad with Charlotte Tilbury demonstrates what this looks like in practice.

9. Tag your location

TikTok has evolved from being just a social media app to the go-to place for product discovery. This is especially true for local searches: a massive slice of Gen Z rely on TikTok to search for local businesses to shop in person, beating traditional search engines like Google. 

Tagging your location helps boost the chances of your videos appearing in local searches. When people search for a place (like “London cafes” or “best hikes near Denver”), TikTok surfaces videos tagged with those locations.

But potential customers don’t have to be actively searching for a particular location to discover your videos. TikTok relies on a user’s location data to show content within the same region. 

This presents a major opportunity for businesses in tourist locations. If you’re tagging NYC in your restaurant’s content, for example, you could reach people in the city without them having to actively search for related videos. 

10. Post TikTok Stories

TikTok Stories work similarly to Instagram Stories. They’re photos or videos that are visible when someone clicks your profile photo, and they last for 24 hours. Followers can also see your Stories in the Inbox tab (home to their own notifications). 

The short-term nature often means marketers write off Stories as a content format. But they’re the ideal place to build relationships with your audience:

• Ask for feedback with polls or quizzes

• Show behind-the-scenes clips

• Promote upcoming live streams with the countdown timer 

• Launch flash sales 

• Repost user-generated content shared by creators 

You can even repost a regular TikTok video to your Story to maximize its reach. Followers can view your Story—and subsequently, your video—from their Inbox tab, even if the video didn’t appear in their feed. 

11. Create a series or playlist

Unlike other social media platforms, follower count isn’t everything on TikTok. The For You page can drive viewers back to your content even if they don’t follow your account.

Encourage people to watch multiple videos (and come back) by creating a mini-series or playlist. It creates a bingeable viewing experience that can significantly bump up your view count.

The most effective playlists tie closely to your product or service. For example, Zapier has TikTok playlists for:

• AI news, a weekly roundup of news stories in the AI industry.

• Productivity tips, designed to help people make the most out of their time.

• “Steal this workflow,” a video series that shows Zapier use cases.

12. Partner with TikTok creators and influencers

While you might not want to share the ins and outs of your life on TikTok, you can partner with influencers who do—and convince their followers to buy what you’re selling. Find creators whose audience overlaps with your own, and then you have a few options:

Repost the influencer’s video to your account (with permission) to leverage their recognition and add an extra layer of social proof to the products you’re promoting. 

Here’s a great example from children’s skincare brand Nala’s Baby.

13. Consider AI to speed up production

Planning, scripting, editing, uploading, promoting—there’s a lot that goes into creating a single video. If you’re sticking to a consistent schedule (for example, one video a day), managing your TikTok account can quickly become overwhelming if you’re doing everything manually. 

AI can speed up every part of the process. For example, you could use:

When you combine AI with automation, you can speed things up even more. For example, you can automatically create video scripts from blog posts with ChatGPT.

14. Try TikTok Ads

If organic reach isn’t working for you, it’s time to consider TikTok Ads. They can be especially useful when you’re trying to scale quickly, launch a new product, or re-engage folks who’ve interacted with your brand before.

TikTok’s ad platform offers several formats, but for most small businesses, In-Feed Ads (videos that appear in users’ For You feed) are the sweet spot. They look just like regular TikToks, which means users are more likely to engage—if your content doesn’t feel like a generic ad. Just like you would with a regular video, focus on authenticity, keep it short and snappy, and open with a strong hook to stop the scroll.

Some tips to make TikTok Ads work harder for you:

• Use Spark Ads to boost content you’ve already posted organically. It adds a little fuel to a fire that’s already burning.

• Target warm audiences by retargeting users who’ve viewed or engaged with your videos or visited your TikTok Shop.

• Test multiple creatives with different hooks, lengths, or styles to see what resonates. TikTok’s built-in A/B testing makes this easy.

• Optimize for conversions, not just views—especially if you’re linking to TikTok Shop or your product page. The platform offers event tracking and pixel tools to help you do this.

You don’t need a crazy budget, either. Some advertisers start with as little as $20/day and still see results. Just be sure to check your analytics regularly and tweak based on performance. 

To get even more out of your TikTok Ads, connect TikTok to Zapier, so you can automatically send emails and texts to new leads or add new TikTok leads to your email marketing app, among other possibilities. You can even track offline conversions and automatically send CRM events and other ad clicks as conversions. Learn more about how to automate TikTok Lead Generation and Tik Tok Conversions, or get started with one of these pre-made templates.

TikTok marketing FAQ

How is TikTok used in marketing?

TikTok marketing uses the social media app to promote a brand, product, or service. Popular strategies include influencer partnerships, leaning into TikTok trends, creating shoppable videos, and creating a mini-series to encourage viewer retention. If organic reach isn’t working for you, you can try TikTok Ads.

Is TikTok still good for marketing?

TikTok is great for marketing because it has a sophisticated algorithm that connects your videos with potential customers. Focus on being authentic, creating a scroll-stopping hook, and using a variety of content formats—including carousels, live streams, and shoppable videos.

Why is TikTok the best marketing platform?

TikTok is considered one of the best marketing platforms because it has a huge organic reach and an algorithm that prioritizes quality over follower count. This means even small accounts can go viral and reach millions, then convert viewers into customers through TikTok Shop. 

Is TikTok better than Instagram for marketing?

Generally speaking, TikTok is better than Instagram if you’re marketing a product or service tailored to Gen Z. The platform has a wider range of users in this demographic, alongside a smart algorithm and advanced advertising options to reach your target audience. 

How do you go viral on TikTok?

There’s no proven formula to go viral on TikTok—if there was, I’d be doing it over and over instead of writing this article. But you can increase your chances by participating in trends, experimenting with different video formats, perfecting your hook, and monitoring your TikTok analytics. 

Related reading:

This article was originally published in March 2021 by Justin Pot. The most recent update was in July 2025.