TikTok content goes beyond viral dance videos, and the platform has shown that with its LearnOnTikTok initiative. As a nod to the role that diverse educational content increasingly plays in user engagement, TikTok is collaborating with more than 800 educators and experts to prompt users to create more how-tos and videos featuring tips and tricks.

Although this initiative is new, we know that the TikTok algorithm favors and nurtures informative content. Tutorials are growing in popularity across all social media platforms, and TikTok recognizes the opportunity — and need — to capture market share.

Avoiding BrandingMistakes With Educational Content

Because of this push, brands have the opportunity to work with TikTok creators to promote their own educational content. However, some must overcome the misconception that they aren’t the right fit for this kind of marketing. Too often, brands think they can’t create educational content or that what they do isn’t interesting enough to use as part of their marketing efforts.

A florist, for example, might think educational content is out of reach, uninteresting, or irrelevant — but that isn’t true. They could share home decor tips and ideas built around floral and greenery trends, or they could easily work with influencers to create how-to videos on the art of floral arrangement. The TikTok algorithm would nurture this bite-sized, engaging, and relevant educational content, and the brand’s messages would gain traction with each subsequent post.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter whether brands are in the business of test prep, gaming, skincare, or home maintenance. They all have a way to work with creator sand share content that is educational — and engaging.

Creating Educational Content That Goes Viral

Although there’s not a concrete answer about how to create educational content for TikTok, observing a few best practices can help guide you as you get started:

1. Forget selling.

When creating educational content for TikTok, consider how it will add value to your audience in a fun and creative way. Sunscreen brand HABIT uses the platform to share content that educates users about common myths related to sunscreen, how much sunscreen to apply, and causes of skin aging that sunscreen can prevent. This content isn’t making a sales pitch; it’s building the brand and promoting the product by educating users on the value of SPF.

2. Be specific.

One of the biggest branding mistakes you can make on TikTok is not being specific enough with your educational content. If, for example, you want to target people looking to learn yoga poses, titling a video “How to Master Downward Dog” is a better option than the broad and bland “How to Learn Yoga. ”The more specific and targeted your content, the better your engagement and ability to create even better-performing content in the future.

3. Review comments.

Good social media content sparks user engagement. That said, avoid “setting and forgetting ”the educational content you create. It’s a common branding mistake, but it can hurt your ability to see marketing success. Review comments regularly to analyze user feedback and get additional ideas for subsequent posts. Spike ball has only been in the marketplace for a few years now, but its TikTok videos have hundreds of thousands of views — some even in the millions. Why? Because the brand has engaged with its audience and uses what it learns from that engagement to create strong content every time.

4. Create content based on feedback.

While post frequency might not play a direct role in TikTok’s algorithm, user interaction does. When users watch full videos, those videos are more likely to be seen on other feeds. Influencers understand this and will post with greater frequency to increase the chances that a video will gain traction. For brands serious about marketing on TikTok and getting their educational content in front of users, posting one to three times a day can improve performance and increase engagement.

Marketing on TikTok is still a relatively new idea for many brands. You may find yourself taking a “trial and error” strategy in the beginning as you learn what works and what doesn’t. As you perfect your approach to creating educational content, you’ll find your rhythm and see greater engagement and marketing success.

To maximize your success in marketing on TikTok, contact us today.

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