TikTok Advertising Update: New Capabilities to Promote Your Local Business

TikTok’s massive popularity among U.S. consumers has prompted many small businesses to test-drive this relatively new social media platform—even when the best practices for business promotion have been murky at best.

With its video-centric app and unique algorithm for delivering content, TikTok offers stark differences from Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms when it comes to driving brand exposure and audience engagement through the app. Although this divergent social experience offers new approaches to engaging an audience, it has also meant that TikTok advertising requires a more specialized approach—which isn’t always easy for small businesses to prioritize.

As the platform matures, though, new advertising capabilities are helping local businesses on TikTok improve their audience engagement while targeting consumers in their local market. These new advertising tools are making it more valuable than ever to advertise your small business on TikTok.

Here’s a look at the exciting new benefits of using TikTok for business.

Increased Traffic to Your TikTok Business Profile

TikTok’s platform rewards high-quality content by amplifying its reach, rewarding engaging brands with exposure among a relevant audience. But it’s been harder for great content to attract TikTok users to your business page where they can view other videos and learn more about your business.

That’s no longer the case. With TikTok’s recent update to Promote, businesses on TikTok can create a call-to-action button that brings viewers directly to your business profile page. This simple update facilitates a more seamless marketing funnel within TikTok, turning a single video view into an opportunity for deeper engagement and increased brand trust.

For businesses that offer a wider range of products and services—as well as brands that simply want to showcase more sides of their company through their social media presence—profile CTAs can reward your business for diversifying your video content and messaging in the TikTok app.

Direct Messaging With Engaged Customers and Prospects

Similar to the new profile page CTA, TikTok Promote now allows small businesses to encourage direct messaging through a new “more messages” feature.

Direct messaging is one of the most powerful forms of engagement on social media, and the “more messages” tool will give video viewers a one-touch option for opening a box to compose a direct message to your business.

TikTok is positioning this feature as a powerful new way to generate quality leads through the app. The “more messages” feature can be utilized in many different ways depending on your business goals: while B2B businesses may want to use it for sales engagement and lead qualification, retail businesses may find the messaging tool most useful in communicating with customers and leads about inventory availability, custom ordering, store hours, and other information.

Hair salons, makeup artists and similar businesses may choose to use the tool for appointment bookings.

ZIP Code Targeting to Reach Your Local Audience

Location-based targeting has been a long overdue capability for TikTok, especially where small businesses are concerned. But this tool is finally available on the platform: local businesses on TikTok can now target campaigns to audiences based on ZIP code and other location-based data.

The introduction of location-based targeting gives small businesses the ability to plan cost-effective TikTok advertising campaigns focused strictly on their local service area. By accounting for your brick-and-mortar location in TikTok ad campaigns—along with other audience targeting criteria such as gender, age and interests—businesses have greater control in making sure their campaigns are reaching a relevant, engaged audience.

Location-based targeting and other new Promote capabilities will be available to all TikTok accounts in the fall, but Cox Media partners can start taking advantage of these new tools today! Get a head start on your local competition while discovering how TikTok’s new advertising tools can boost the ROI of your campaigns.

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to start using these new tools months before the general public—contact us today to get started.