With so many awesome creators and viral trends on TikTok, it's not uncommon to feel a little nervous about getting noticed. With its over 1.2 billion monthly active users and an average engagement rate of 5.95% ( © SocialPilot, 2024), the competition to capture attention is fierce.
The good news is, TikTok is pretty fair about showing all sorts of content on their For You Page (FYP), no matter how big or small your account is. This means even your small business has a shot at going viral!
More than just entertainment, TikTok's become a hub for inspiration, connection, and even information (don't be surprised, it's sort of becoming a search engine too). TikTok has empowered businesses to tell their stories through short videos and fostered the rise of individual creators, leading to a boom in influencer marketing.
© E! News, Pinterest
Don't worry, figuring out how to grow on TikTok is totally possible! With some smart tools that can help you create awesome content, understand what's working, and connect with your audience, you'll be a TikTok pro in no time!
Essential Tools for Growing Your TikTok Content
Video Editing
CapCut is a free, all-in-one video editing tool that's particularly well-suited for beginners. It's available as a mobile app, a desktop application, and even a web-based tool. Here are some of its key features:
Easy to use: CapCut is known for its user-friendly interface, making it a great option for those with no prior editing experience.
Rich editing tools: Despite its simplicity, CapCut offers a surprising amount of editing features. You can cut, trim, and merge clips, adjust video speed, add music and sound effects, and incorporate text, stickers, and other visual elements.
Advanced options: CapCut also boasts some more advanced features like keyframe animation, smooth slow-motion, chroma key (green screen effect), and video stabilization.
Templates and effects: The app provides access to a library of trendy templates and effects, which can help you quickly create professional-looking videos.
Social media friendly: CapCut allows you to easily customize the format of your video for sharing on various social media platforms, including TikTok (which is owned by the same company as CapCut).
Overall, CapCut is a versatile video editing tool that caters to a wide range of users, from beginners creating social media content to more experienced editors looking for a user-friendly option.
iMovie is a free video editing application specifically designed by Apple for their Mac computers, iPhones, and iPads. It emphasizes an easy-to-use interface, making it a great choice for beginners who want to create polished videos without needing a ton of editing experience. Here's a breakdown of iMovie's strengths:
Beginner-friendly: iMovie boasts a streamlined interface with intuitive touch controls on mobile devices and drag-and-drop editing on Macs. This makes it simple to learn the ropes and jump right into creating your project.
Feature-rich for casual editing: Despite its user-friendly approach, iMovie offers a good range of tools for basic and intermediate video editing. You can:
Cut, trim, and split video clips
Adjust video speed (slow motion, fast forward)
Add music and sound effects
Apply video filters and color correction
Incorporate text overlays, titles, and stickers
Hollywood-style touches: iMovie even lets you create movie trailers with pre-designed templates and royalty-free soundtracks, adding a bit of professional flair to your projects.
Seamless Apple integration: Since it's an Apple product, iMovie integrates well with other Apple devices and services. You can start editing a project on your iPhone, continue on your iPad, and then polish it on your Mac. Projects and media can be wirelessly transferred between devices using AirDrop or iCloud Drive.
Advanced options (iPad and Mac): While the mobile app focuses on simplicity, iMovie on iPad and Mac offer some more advanced features, including green screen effects (chroma key), picture-in-picture editing, and the ability to work with higher resolution video formats like 4K.
Keep in mind: iMovie might not be the best choice for professional video editors who need extensive control and high-end effects. But for casual users and beginners who want to create polished home videos, social media content, or presentations, iMovie is a great free option.
Wondershare Filmora is a video editing software that caters to a broad range of users, from beginners to more experienced creators. It is a great option for both beginners and more experienced creators. It's easy to use, offers a good range of features, and has a free version to try. If you decide you need more advanced features, you can upgrade to Filmora Pro.
Easy to Learn: Filmora boasts an intuitive interface that's beginner-friendly, with drag-and-drop editing and a clean layout.
Free to Try: A free version (Filmora 9) lets you experiment with basic editing tools. There are limitations though, like watermarks on exported videos.
Rich Editing Features: Filmora offers a comprehensive toolkit for both basic (cutting, trimming) and advanced editing (color correction, motion tracking).
Lots of Effects & Text Options: Add pizzazz to your videos with transitions, filters, titles, captions, and more.
Audio Editing: Edit your video's sound with background music, sound effects, and noise removal.
Flexible Platform: Works on both Windows and macOS computers.
Social Media Friendly: Easily export videos for sharing on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook.
AI-powered Tools (Paid Version): Filmora Pro offers fancy features like scene detection and smart trimming to streamline editing (paid upgrade required).
Movavi Video Editor is a user-friendly program with core editing features and some additional functionalities. The free version allows you to try it out, while paid plans offer more tools and AI-assistance. It caters primarily to beginners and casual editors.
Beginner Friendly: Movavi Video Editor is known for its user-friendly interface, making it a good option for those new to video editing.
Editing Essentials: It offers the core video editing tools you'd expect, like cutting, trimming, and splicing clips. You can also add titles, transitions, and effects to your videos.
AI Assistant (Paid Plans): Higher tiers of Movavi offer AI-powered features for background removal, noise reduction, and automatic video creation, though these require upgrading.
Quick Creation Mode: Movavi provides a simplified mode with pre-made themes and templates to quickly create polished videos, if you're short on time.
Screen Recording: An additional feature of Movavi is the ability to record your computer screen, which can be useful for creating tutorials or presentations.
Free & Paid Versions: Movavi offers a free version with limited features, but you'll need to upgrade to a paid plan to access all the editing tools and remove watermarks.
Trend Discovery
TikTok Trends
Imagine a cheat sheet for all things trending on TikTok! That's basically what the Trends page is. It helps you discover what's hot on TikTok right now. Also, the TikTok Ads Creative Center is a treasure trove of resources for anyone who wants to create engaging content for TikTok, including ads. The Trends page within this Creative Center is designed to help you stay on top of what's hot on TikTok.
Find Trending Hashtags, Sounds, & Creators: See what hashtags people are using the most, what songs are popping in videos, and which creators are going viral.
Watch Trending Videos: Get a glimpse of the hottest content on TikTok right now, all in one place.
Understand Why Things Trend: It's not just about what's popular, but why. The Trends page might give you some insights into what's making certain trends blow up.
Global or Local Focus: Look at trends specific to your area or explore what's hot worldwide.
TrendTok is an app designed to help creators leverage trending content on TikTok. This app uses smarts (AI) to find trending hashtags, sounds, challenges, and video styles on TikTok. It can be a goldmine for creators looking for inspiration and ways to get their content seen!
More than just trending: TrendTok isn't just a megaphone for what's popular. It considers what you like and who you follow to suggest trends that fit your vibe. You can even see what's trending in your local area!
Be a trendsetter (almost): The free version keeps you in the loop on current trends. Want a sneak peek at what might blow up next? Upgraded plans can try to predict upcoming trends, giving you a chance to get ahead of the game.
Bonus points for following your faves: Follow your favorite creators on TrendTok and get notified when they jump on a hot trend.
Scheduling
Loomly is a social media management platform designed to simplify the way you handle multiple social media accounts.
Centralized Management: Manage various social media channels like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, etc.
Content Scheduling: Create social media content in advance and schedule it for automatic publishing at preferred times.
Visual Calendar: Organize your social media strategy with a visual calendar to plan and track upcoming posts.
Team Collaboration: Facilitate collaboration on social media content creation, editing, and approval among team members.
Content Library: Store all social media content (images, videos, etc.) in a central location for easy access and reuse in future posts.
Post Previews: Preview how your post will appear on different social media platforms before publishing.
Performance Analytics: Track the performance of social media posts and gain insights into audience engagement through reports provided by Loomly.
Pricing Options: Loomly offers various pricing plans to suit the needs of individual creators, small businesses, and larger agencies.
Planoly is a user-friendly platform that caters to both individual creators and small businesses looking to visually plan, manage, and analyze their social media content across multiple platforms.
Visual Planning: Planoly's strength lies in its visual planning interface. You can drag and drop photos and videos to create a visual grid representing your social media feed (think Instagram!). This allows you to see how your content will look overall and plan a cohesive aesthetic.
Multi-Channel Support: Planoly goes beyond just Instagram. It allows you to manage content for Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, YouTube (including Shorts!), and LinkedIn, all from a single platform.
Content Scheduling: Schedule your posts in advance for automatic publishing at the most opportune times to reach your audience when they're most active.
Hashtag Management: Planoly includes a hashtag management tool to help you research and discover relevant hashtags for your content, potentially increasing its reach.
Content Inspiration: Get inspired with access to curated content ideas and trending topics to keep your social media strategy fresh.
Analytics and Reporting: Track the performance of your social media posts with built-in analytics. See metrics like engagement, reach, and impressions to understand what content resonates with your audience.
Collaboration Features: Planoly offers collaboration features for teams, allowing team members to work together on content creation, scheduling, and approval processes.
Analytics & Engagement
Socialinsider is an analytics tool that dives deeper than TikTok's own features. It tracks key metrics like views, engagement, and follower growth, but the real power lies in analyzing trends over longer periods. This lets you see what works and what doesn't in the long run. Socialinsider even lets you analyze your competitor's content for inspiration! Keep in mind though, this tool might be expensive for smaller businesses and may not be as effective for accounts with few followers.
TikTok offers built-in analytics right within the app, although it doesn't go as deep as some third-party tools like Socialinsider. TikTok's analytics is a good starting point to get a basic understanding of your content's performance.
Metrics: Tracks basic video performance metrics like views, likes, comments, shares, and completion rate. You can also see overall profile views and follower growth.
Data Range: Limited data history, typically up to 7 or 28 days. This makes it harder to see long-term trends.
Focus: Provides a general idea of how your videos are performing but lacks in-depth analysis.
© Home Sweet Pink, Pinterest
Now, armed with this knowledge, you might be itching to pick up the best tools and dive into creating viral content. The key lies in choosing tools that cater to your specific needs and budget.
Start by identifying your goals: Are you aiming to increase brand awareness, drive sales, or build a loyal community? Once you have this clarity, explore the available free and paid options. While free tools offer a good starting point, paid options often come with additional features and functionalities that can significantly enhance your experience.
Don't be afraid to experiment! Many tools offer free trials, allowing you to test them out and discover which ones best suit your workflow and budget.
Remember, the best approach is to iterate and adapt based on your findings.
If navigating the world of TikTok marketing feels overwhelming, consider partnering with an experienced agency like us, Lenu. 😊 We take the hassle out of managing your TikTok presence, allowing you to focus on what truly matters - scaling your business to new heights.
Let our expertise guide your path to TikTok success, while you free up your time to pursue your entrepreneurial dreams!
Let’s reinvent your marketing strategy ✨
Look no further!
Lenu Agency is a full-service creative marketing agency located in sunny California and we go beyond just managing your brand's social media channels. Our experienced marketers will develop tailored marketing strategies to ensure your content reaches the right audience, maximizes engagement, and achieves your business objectives.
We're excited to collaborate with ambitious businesses like yours! As we only accept a selected few clients per season, please get in touch with us by filling out our inquiry form on our website or email us at hello@lenuagency.com!
Remember, spots are limited, so don't hesitate to get in touch.
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