9 of the Best TikTok Ideas for Businesses [Updated]

TikTok has seen massive growth since its launch, with 2021 being no different. In fact, TikTok.com became the most popular domain, replacing Google.com. The platform also boasts more than 1 billion active monthly users, making it the 7th most popular social media platform.

While it’s known for its dances challenges, viral videos, and memes, more and more businesses, both big and small, are starting to use the platform and experimenting with TikToks.

If you don’t have a TikTok account and have wondered how to use it for your business or have been struggling with inspiration for your next TikTok video, we’re here to help. We’ve put together a list of 9 TikTok ideas that you can use to market your business on the platform.

1. Show the Human Element

While this social media platform has its fair share of high-quality TikToks, a lot of content on TikTok features people simply talking to the camera and sharing things about themselves. This means that you don’t need to have influencer levels of confidence in front of the camera to create TikToks that’ll resonate with your target audience.

People love to know there’s a real person behind the brand, and sharing things about yourself is a lot more engaging than a constant stream of products.

While you might find this uncomfortable at first, the more TikTok videos you make, the more comfortable you’ll get in front of the camera.

To get started, you could share a story about how you got the idea for your first product or what it took to start your business.

You also don’t always have to talk about yourself for your audience to get to know you. If you appear in your other TikTok videos, such as when you showcase a product or go behind the scenes, your audience will also start seeing the human side of your brand.

In the example below, Maisie, the owner of the custom tote shop TOTESFORYOUU, describes how she accidentally ordered thread much bigger than she’d anticipated. Not only does the video give insight into how she creates her products and which are her most popular products, but it also shows that she’s a human who makes little mistakes like everyone else.

@totesforyouu Deliveries that arrived for my small business – part 4 #smallbusiness #shopify #businesstiktok #chinup #foryou #fyp ? Steven Universe – L.Dre

Top Tip: Finding the best time to post on TikTok makes sure your content is seen by more people. This will help your TikTok posts gain more traction and become more popular.

2. Give Behind the Scenes Access

A look into what goes on behind the scenes is one of the most popular types of TikTok videos among small business owners.

These types of videos give your customers an idea of what it takes to keep your business running and to get their products out the door.

While you don’t have to go into detail about all the things you do for your business, lifting the veil on how you run your business shows your audience that there’s an actual human behind your brand and gives an insight into its inner workings.

No matter what stage your business is in, there is something you can talk about. This can include the likes of:

How you celebrate sales milestones or anniversaries
How you create new products
How you organize your office or workspace
How you prepare for pop events

To give her audience an idea of what goes into creating her hand-made wigs, Hogaychy created a TikTok video that breaks down the exact process, giving viewers an insight into the care she puts into her products.

@hogaychy Reply to @myzz_bndt part 2!!!! Link in my bio for affordable wigs, bundles & accessories #shopify #wigmaker #f #bundles #bundles #hogaychy ? U Are My High – DJ Snake

3. Pack an Order

A particular form of behind-the-scenes posts showing how you pack an order gives your potential customers an idea of what they can expect when they order from you and see the personal touch you add to each order.

People love to see how business owners go the extra mile with orders, so if you include the likes of thank you notes, free items, or unique packaging, your video will resonate more.

If a customer has agreed to it, you could even create a video of you packing their specific order as a bonus for them. Just be sure to keep your customer’s personal information like their address, credit card details, or full name out of the video!

As you can see in the example below, the creator of eco-friendly, reusable, fun & stylish drinking straws, Mermaid Straw, did just that, by showing what went into a specific customer’s order, how she packages things, plus a thank you to the customer at the end, adding a personal touch.

@mermaidstraw Packing an order for Tiffany! #packingorders #packagingorders #tiktokmademebuyit #smallbusinesscheck #asmr #shopify #orderpacking #smallbusiness ? original sound – Mermaid Straw

4. Share Tips and Advice

Sharing business tips and advice is a great way to grow your following on TikTok.

TikTok is full of other small business owners and people aspiring to become entrepreneurs that would love to learn more about running a small business successfully.

Your advice is the hook that draws them in, increasing the chances of them following you, possibly even becoming customers, or at the very least, increasing the reach of your TikToks.

Of course, you don’t need to give away any trade secrets, but because TikTok rewards authenticity, you should try to be as transparent as possible. This will help establish you as a leader in your field of business.

Since this is TikTok, even with educational videos, you should also try to keep them entertained at the same time, so have fun with them! You can vary between longer TikToks with more tips or short, punchy ones with catchy music and a snippet of advice.

To share a tip they received from another TikTok user, the owner of For Me Candles created a video that shared what the tip is (offering new customers a discount if they share their order on TikTok and tag the business), while also showing how they implemented this tip, helping others get an idea of how to do so themselves.

@forme.candles Would you? ?? #smallbusiness #strategy #tips #support ? Say So (Instrumental Version) [Originally Performed by Doja Cat] – Elliot Van Coup

5. Create a Duet or Stitch

There are a couple of ways you can engage with your customers’ TikTok videos.

The first is by using TikTok’s duet feature. This option lets you create a TikTok that includes someone else’s TikTok next to it. As a small business owner, you can use this feature to react to your customers reviewing your products or showing off what they ordered from you. You can also incentivize customers to post these kinds of TikToks by offering them a discount.

The second is by using TikTok’s stitch feature. This option lets you take an existing TikTok video and append your reply to it. If you come across a TikTok looking for a product or service that you offer, or a problem that your business can solve, you can use the stitch to inform the original creator as well as other viewers about how your business can help.

Both of these features are a great way to reach a new audience, while also helping them to get to know you better.

Decade Studio, creator of “the world’s best fitting jeans,” used the stitch feature to reply to a TikTok user that complained about never being able to find fitting jeans. In the stitched video, the owner of Decade Studio explains that she created her company for exactly this reason, and why the user struggles to find fitting jeans. Not only is this educational, but it creates awareness of her brand as well.

@decade_studio #stitch with @chhandee2 #tiktokfashion #smallbusiness #decadestudio #fyp #design #denim #jeans #curvyjeans #viral #slowfashion ? Spongebob Tomfoolery – Dante9k Remix – David Snell

6. Use the Q&A Feature

TikTok has always allowed you to reply to a comment or question with a video that includes the comment as an overlay. However, more recently has rolled out its Q&A feature that, when enabled, lets your audience mark their comment as a question that makes it quick and easy for you to reply in a video or comment.

Answering questions in the form of a TikTok video is a great way to interact with your audience and create content that’s relevant to your followers.

Cosmetics Brand, Adore Money Minks, used the Q&A feature to reply to a customer who wanted to know if they could return lipgloss if they were unsatisfied with it, explaining that, due to sanitary reasons, all sales are final.

@adoremoneyminks Answer to @levi.stans #fyp #smallbusiness #qanda #lipscrub #viral #trend ? original sound – Ships Worldwide?Only Account

7. Hype New Product Launches

TikTok is a great place for you to build hype around your products before you launch them. Doings so gives your followers a chance to get ready to buy it when it’s for sale and shows them that you’re running a growing business.

You can tease your products over several posts ahead of the launch, slowly showing off what makes them special and how they reflect your customers’ demands, in turn, building demand for them.

If you want to build awareness around an upcoming product launch and create excitement around it, giving your customers a sneak peek via TikTok is perfect.

True Alignment, which sells stickers, stationery, and art prints, created a TikTok to tease the launch of upcoming stickers, giving viewers a sneak peek of what they can expect plus information about when they’ll be available.

@truealignment New Product launch Friday 6pm pst!!! #launch #productlaunch #smallbusinesscheck #smallbuisnessowner #business #fyp ? Ba Ba La La ! – meja

8. Show Your Products In Use

While you shouldn’t only be posting TikToks about your products or services, it’s important to showcase them occasionally.

The easiest way to do so is to show how your product is used. Of course, what you sell will determine what you can do with it, but ideas include:

How to incorporate your skincare products into a daily routine
How to brew the perfect cup of coffee with your beans
How to style different outfits with your clothes
How to take care of your leather products

People want an idea of what using your products would be like for them, so showcasing them in action is the perfect way to let them know.

To prove the durability of their stickers, Oakley Lane created a video of putting one of them through a stress test involving water and tearing, proving to any doubters that it really is the ultimate sticker.

@oakleylaneco Reply to @onecoronet The ultimate sticker test #stickers #smallbusiness #etsy #aethetic #shopify #waterproof #scratchproof #testing ? Overwhelmed – Royal & the Serpent

Top Tip: A great way to create product videos is to go live on TikTok. Using a live stream lets you engage deeper and provide more realistic insights into your products.

9. Identify Trends

If you’re really not sure what to post on TikTok, be sure to check out the trending sounds, challenges, and other memes for inspiration.

For this strategy to work you’ll need to dedicate some time each day to scrolling through TikTok in order to discover TikTok trends. If you get the time right and create a video around the start of a trend, your video is more likely to gain traction as users search for the trending sound or challenge.

Creator of basketball handbags, it’s by willa, used the “expectation vs. reality: small business edition” trend to showcase products in a fun way, such as comparing what she thought would be her best-seller versus what actually is, a product that started as a good idea but didn’t turn so great, and slow-moving products versus the fastest sellers.

@itsbywilla truth telling ??? #smallbusiness ? original sound – Doohickle Designs

Wrapping Up

There you have it! 9 TikTok ideas for your business. From showing the human element of your brand to going behind the scenes, and even going as far as showing how you pack your orders, there are a multitude of videos you can create to give your audience deeper insight into your business.

You can also engage with your audience by sharing tips and advice, creating duet or stitch with them, or answering questions. You can also create awareness around your products by showing them in use or hyping up a new product launch. Finally, if you’re really out of ideas, looking at what’s trending and giving it your own spin is a great way to reach a wider audience.

And the great thing about this platform is that the unique TikTok algorithm can help anyone go viral by posting the right content.

What do you think of using TikTok to market your business? Do you use the platform? What are some ideas we’ve missed that you think should be included in this list? Let us know in the comments below.

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9 of the Best TikTok Ideas for Businesses