The start of the pandemic saw TikTok explode onto the social media scene—and this significant rise in popularity shows no signs of stopping.

In fact, the China-owned video app is set to top 1.2 billion monthly active users in 2021, according to TechCrunch. And 41% of these users are aged 16-24, which means brands that primarily target this age group are likely to experience increased exposure and awareness if they step up their TikTok game.

That said, here’s how to make a TikTok promo video for businesses who aren’t well-versed in the wonder that is this social media platform.

1. Come Up With a Relevant Concept for Your TikTok Video

Unlike Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, TikTok videos focus solely on entertainment.

From dance challenges to comedy films, there’s a lot of competition. However, the fact that TikTok is only four years old and brands are only just realizing its full potential means that you can easily go viral if you put some thought into your content.

Whether you choose to shoot an in-feed video or Brand Takeover ad, think about what your audience will be able to relate to and find interesting. For instance:

• Makeup businesses could provide expert makeup tutorials
• Fitness businesses could provide fun workouts
• Travel businesses could talk about things to see and do in a particular place

Still struggling for ideas? You can find which hashtags are trending in the “Discover” section of the app to increase your brand’s virality potential.

Keep in mind that your videos will need to be upfront and authentic to gain trust with younger audiences. After all, they have become experts in spotting opportunistic or disingenuous content.

2. Shoot Your TikTok Promo Video

One of the best things about TikTok is how the app allows you to point your phone camera and shoot content directly in the app. You don’t have to edit a video extensively for it to do well, which reduces the time, effort, and skill-level required.

You can also take advantage of TikTok’s various video features, including:

• Speed
• Filters
• Enhance (smooth skin, increase eye size, reduce jaw size)
• Timer
• Effects

However, videos that are higher in quality and look more polished are likely to represent brands better, especially if they align with your visual branding.

Consider shooting all (or some) of your content in a social media video creation app that offers professional-looking templates and stock imagery. Boosted by Lightricks displays all their templates by industry.

You can also amend a template frame by frame if you want to include some of your own footage—for product showcases and customer testimonials, for example.

3. Add Sound and Final Finishing Touches

Lastly, TikTok is known for its short and snappy content that gets to the point and provides a bit of fun before the user swipes up to the next video on their For You page.

Try to keep your promo video simple. Don’t overcomplicate things with extensive edits and lengthy content that will make the user swipe up pronto.

Having said that, unlike with other social media platforms, TikTok users tend to watch videos with the sound on.

Why? Well, music is a big part of the app. You can use the sound from other users’ videos in your video and it will be displayed in the bottom left-hand corner for all to see. The more popular the sound, the more likely that other users will want to use it.

Alternatively, you can upload a video with original sound. As well as using a third-party social media video creation app like Boosted to piece together your content, you can use their free music library to convey a mood.

Either way, we recommend adding final finishing touches to your TikTok promo video directly in the app according to what’s trending.

The Takeaway

TikTok promo videos are a great way to engage younger audiences and increase brand recognition.

No-one expects you to be an expert at creating videos for this platform when it’s still relatively new. However, ensure that they are honest, entertaining, and uncomplicated to boost your success rate.