TikTok Starter Pack: Business Basics and Pro Tricks

You asked, we listened! In this month’s Social Savvy with Kristy, we’re diving into TikTok—the app everyone’s talking about, but not everyone gets. If you’ve ever wondered:

• How do I keep my favorite TikToks organized like a pro?
• Can my friends see all the weird stuff I’ve commented on?
• Why does TikTok think I’d like this random video?

We’ve got you covered! This episode is perfect for TikTok newbies, hesitant brands, or anyone who’s avoided downloading the app thinking it’s “just for Gen Z.” Kristy shares helpful tips, funny insights, and even a few personal TikTok quirks to keep things interesting.

It’s part TikTok crash course, part lighthearted confessional—you won’t want to miss it!

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Chapters

• 0:27 Some Updates
• 2:40 Feedback on TikTok
• 6:56 Why TikTok is Big for Business
• 8:19 TikTok Reach
• 10:32 Setting Up Your Profile
• 11:29 Algorithm Overview
• 13:24 Content That Works on TikTok
• 16:37 Boost Your Engagement
• 19:22 Use Analytics to Your Advantage
• 22:30 TikTok Ads
• 24:00 Opening Your TikTok on Silent
• 24:56 Favorites vs Likes
• 28:00 Privacy - What People Can See
• 30:48 Why is the FYP Being Weird?
• 32:54 More Privacy Settings to Check
• 36:02 What Should We Do Next?

Transcript

hello and welcome back to another episode of the free dive podcast By Request I'm here with your episode on Tik Tok and you may notice I'm doing something new again today are you surprised me neither here's the thing um like always we're just experimenting with new stuff all the time um we have a lot of changes a lot of changes going on in the company in my life uh with the podcast um I did some analytics I wrote up an analytical report as you should uh over the past week and it was interesting and encouraging uh and the the numbers were better than I thought and just kind of this is why this is why you do it is because it's just like you you find weird growth in areas that you weren't expecting um so anyway there was that and also um we've got all this equipment and I'm thinking to myself why am I recording on a crappy webcam at my computer when I have very expensive microphones and cameras and all this lighting and Studio setup feels really stupid so it's harder is the answer it's cuz it's a lot harder and it takes more effort and thought and um to monitor myself is annoying so that's why we're doing it so anyway here we are and um you requested Tik Tok and uh I'm going to do my best to give you some insight on Tik Tok I really I can't lie to you I wasn't feeling like sitting down and doing an episode today I just like I'm not I have not been feeling like myself have not been feeling like putting on a face for the internet and being charismatic but um we're just that's that's Show Business Baby like you just that's that is that's what comes with the territory so I am like powering through for you I want you guys to know Tik Tok I want you to love it so here I am for you okay um the funny thing about Tik Tok is my feedback almost universally has been people being like either I don't get it or um I don't belong there or like not taking it seriously or it's for like the younger generation or it's not for business and it's funny because I went to a conference recently and I was sitting behind two girls probably around my age and during the break time they were like I I wasn't listen I wasn't intentionally spying on their conversation but they're sitting right in front of me talking and I could hear them and I could overhear one of them saying to the other one something like um something like I real like I just learned that like you should have your business on Tik Tock like that it's important to have your like marketing agency like on Tik Tok is that really a thing and like my head spun cuz I was like these girls are my age in in in marketing like like zero shade to them zero shade to them I was just like I had this like moment of like oh there's people that like really don't know because I'm always afraid my fear with these social media episodes is coming on here and like like like talking down to you guys and being like so here's how to use it and you being like thanks Christie um I actually knew how to do that like do you think I'm stupid when I don't think you're stupid I just like the abilities of what people know how to do are from so like like here to here and when I heard that I was like okay that's actually really validating to me because like she obviously like so so far behind and so there's people from all spectrums uh another friend of mine recently was just like this feels so like childish immature when I forced him to get on Tik Tok so I could send him stupid stuff and it's not it's not um from the years of being on Tik Tok I have learned so much from like how like cooking cooking tactics to cleaning tactics to marketing tactics to like therapy tactics to just then all of the silly comedy stuff like everything in between there is the dumb silly immature entertaining stuff but there is real content on there and then way over here is the sales trap that I will be the first to admit oh I have fallen deep into a hole of the Tik Tock shop I'm not even sorry like I could make a whole episode on everything I've bought on Tik Tok um and I would say probably 90% of it was a good choice it's just true um but anyway so that's kind of my little pitch to you on why Tik tok's not dumb and why it's not for babies and why anyone of any age any age um I'm going to say I I I don't want to get into a whole political thing about whether teenagers should be on the Internet or not adults adults and like grandparents can and should be on Tik Tok okay you make your own decisions for your teenagers I don't want to do that so anyway we're going to talk a little bit about a mix of both between Tik Tok for your business Tik Tok for yourself and a little bit about how to use it and I'm going to try to keep it all kind of like a basic level intro to Tik Tok if I can stay to the end because I have a few uh tricks tips stuff you should know Okie doie so uh starting why Tik Tok is big for business so just a few quick facts that I have gathered so Tik Tok is one of the fastest growing social media platforms with over 1 billion active users worldwide what that means for you as a business that is a whole big gigantic audience for you whole big gigantic audience and if you um if you are um making Sales Online that's important that's very important for you um what makes Tik Tok different is that it prioritizes Discovery it's designed for people to to discover new content Brands creators rather than engaging with friends and family so um this is not a place like Instagram where you are connecting and catching up with your friends in fact very often like people don't even want to be friends with their friends on Tik Tok it's like a little bit like the ongoing joke that like you keep your friends separate from your Tik Tok account I don't want my friends Finding Me on Tik Tok um and I'm going to get into why later that's the save till the end content because what you do can be found by your friends and family um the platform's content is fun engaging and authentic which is why it resonates so well with younger audiences particularly gen Z and Millennial I mean again I can go into that forever it's fun uh so why it's great for a business organic reach Tik tok's algorithm can push even small accounts to millions of viewers if the content is engaging and following certain Trends so if you even just like small little you who doesn't have a big business you're not an influencer even with one video you can make it big you can be discovered that's something that in the past in the internet was not really possible um you'd have to do paid ads you'd have to work your way up to to being discovered Tik Tok has changed that in that um with one simple post you can blow up overnight For Better or For Worse short form content and Tik Tok videos are quick with a maximum length of 10 minutes though 50 to 60 15 to 16 seconds is most common making it easier for viewers to watch and interact so again this works really well because of how human brains have just landed in this time we just want to swipe swipe swipe swipe we just like quick we want fast entertainment fast we want a quick fact and we want to move on on um you know the days of YouTube and watching uh long form content that's for almost like certain people now but the majority of all of us with our burnt out brains and very busy lives and being exhausted we want quick um entertainment and education and that's why Tik Tok has done so well Community engagement Tik Tok users appreciate authentic authenticity and humor so Brands can connect with audiences in a way that feels less formal and more genuine and so this is another difference between um Facebook or Instagram and Tik Tok this is a place where you don't have to set up a professional photo um where you look really professional you just it's it's more of a throw a camera in front of your face and do whatever say whatever people expect you to be way less formal so um the basics of setting up your presence your profile um and here's a few tips for that your profile picture in BIO use a high quality photo not surprising that represents your brand uh in your bio clearly describe what you do and try adding a fun line that captures your personality or brand Vibe if you have a website at it here um for ours I just put something like we like waffles this is not the place for me to be all like we C Point Deuce SEO and we'll change your life with PPC nope people don't care they don't care on TI Tok they we like waffles here that's that's what it is um business account switch to a business account under settings this gives access to Tik Tok analytics and tools it helps you track your performance over time basic if you're a business be on the business side uh now into the algorithm Tik tok's algorithm is unique because it prioritizes content relevance over followers this means anyone can go viral like we talked about regardless of their follower account so this again is what makes it kind of special and different from um all of the other platforms and you're more likely to see um you do see uh videos from people that you don't follow even more than people that you follow more than your friends um and this is what makes it possible if you have a public page um for your videos to make it big if you make smart content so the the for you page which is what fyp stands for if you never knew that is where most users discover new content so the algorithm decides what shows up on each person's fyp based on what they watch like and engage with so the more you can tailor your content to Tik Tok Trends and keep viewers engaged the more likely you'll land on the fyp so if you are brand new to Tik Tok that's how it works uh in the beginning you're going to start using Tik Tok and your fyp is going to be all kinds of random stuff that you don't like and do like and as soon as you start liking things that you like Tik tok's going to go okay send that person more of this okay you like like sports related things here's more you know here's more sports related posts okay you swiped on past all of these cooking videos not going to send you as many of those um you liked these humorous dumb ones going to send you more of those um and I'm going to get into more of what it sends you again straight to the end so content that works well on Tik Tok for business popular content types so howtos and tutorials uh these are great for building trust and educating your audience even just simple How It's Made videos or three tips to these perform well so if you're not sure it can be so hard to figure out like what to post I still struggle with that sometimes and partially because I have to Wrangle my team to be like make a Tik Tok and it's our it's so um again it's like it's such a like tainted thing in everyone's mind that making Tik toks is dumb and that it's not real content and so even even within our own company sometimes I have to be like it's a worthwhile thing for you people to join me in making a Tik Tok um because we have to get past that stigma that it's just playtime uh behind the scenes viewers love seeing The Human Side of businesses a peak behind the curtain like packing orders making projects or A Day in the Life adds a personal touch um as soon as I started making really quick like 60-sec Day in the Life videos those those ones did really well here just following me around making coffee turning on my lights it's it's surprising but it it makes sense cuz those are the kind of videos that I personally like myself like I don't know why like following the corporate girlies like making their coffee in the morning why do I watch that I don't know but it's just something so like romant like romanticizing your life like as I lay in my bed I don't know it's just it's all like we just all love a little Peak into other people's realities and daily lives we get this like we get to just hide privately behind our screens and peek into other people's um lives um and people love that and so it works as content uh trending challenges and hashtags I find this to be slightly harder participating in challenges and using trending sounds can boost your visibility keep an eye on the Discover tab to see what it's trending so um anytime you see the same sound and people are making videos to the same sound that's your ticket that you've got to use that save that sound do the trend um those ones those ones are trending and doing well for a reason you're more likely to get a like on it just cuz that's what's trending user generated content encourage your customers to create content with your product and reshare it on your account user generated content add social proof feels authentic so yeah if you are in any kind of sales um this is what influencers do so well just showing off a product and being like you should buy it too um it works it's just think about how marketing works this is why this is why all the influencers do so well and those videos do great even if it's just um because people want to hop in the comments and be trolls and say no it doesn't people will engage and then those con those videos do even better so they do well for a reason okay tips and tricks to boost your engagement some Tri tricks to try add trending sounds so this is similar to doing Trends it's just instead of using that sound and then doing the same Trend you're just using the sound doing whatever you want with it so uh sounds play a huge role on Tik Tok look for trending audio clips incorporate them into videos even if your video doesn't follow the trend exactly using a trending sound can help boost its reach uh sometimes what I do is just turn the volume almost all the way down on a trending sound um because it still shows up in that Discover it still categorizes it under that sound does that make sense uh I don't know that if that's annoying but that's what I do hook the viewer in the first 3 seconds this is important uh think about how you consume content if you swipe to a video and someone's just like hey everyone so I'm here today to tell you're like bye don't care it's that initial hook in the first 3 seconds that you makes you stay or not that makes you swipe or not you got to grab them quick you got to be fast with it like it's just just how it is uh the first few seconds are crucial start with a question question an intriguing statement or a funny scene to make people stop scrolling got to get their attention really fast do something bold experiment with text overlays use text overlays to emphasize key points if you're sharing tips list them out on the screen as they appear in the video which also helps keep people engaged longer um so again think about how you consume your content if it's if if if your um tips are being listed as bulleted you stay through the video because you want to know what the next one is like five tips to whatever well now you're going to you're going to be like well what's I need to know what the fifth one is so you stay even if you're like well these first two were stupid maybe the third or fourth or fifth will not be Stu you know what I mean it's just it's all psychology uh use hashtags wisely use both General and Niche has hash tags example # small bus tips # Tik Tok for business this helps Tik Tok categorize your content for Relevant audiences that's again we've talked about that 100 times seems pretty simple part of what you need to do can do do it analytics and consistency so Tik tok's analytics can help you see what's working and what's not so just basics of analytics keep an eye on view count average watch time and engagement likes comment shares for each video If a certain type of content is getting more attention try to recreate that style or format seems pretty basic so um if you're doing howto videos and those ones are doing best make more how-to videos if you're doing Day in the Life videos and those ones do really well make more of those if the ones you're doing where you're following the trends do well because you're just particularly funny that's that's your that's your whole deal babe stick with it uh stick to what you know stick to what works timing matters experiment with posting at different times to see what works best for your audience typically late afternoon and evenings are peak times but Tik Tok audiences are diverse so it's worth testing this is what I have found to be the most difficult for us because again our audience that we're trying to post to are other marketing people um generally and they're all working um during working hours and you know so it's like either scheduling them if that helps like you just have to test it out and it's annoying it's just it's it is it's irritating um but trial and error don't give up don't be like me and get frustrated um just see what works don't just stick with it you've got this um and post consistently so consistency is the key to Tik Tok try to post a few times a week to build momentum and keep your followers engaged this I know to be true um in the beginning when we just had a Tik Tok account and we just would post a trend once a month maybe uh we would get no traction on it but now that we've been posting more frequently even if our certain um post doesn't do super well um the next one might because we're our profiles more active and so the algorithm sends out our stuff more like okay this is an active account like these people are actually using Tik Tok um they're engaging um and and we're getting more uh um views more watch time um and then occasionally more likes so the more you can post the better so if you could make content in batches and then um either schedule them or save them to just post kind of periodically throughout the week that might be a good way for you to get um higher engagement okay so Tik Tok ads just this is a quick overview so ads are where it starts to get a little bit funny um but just so you kind of know the very basic of basics of how you could use them there's infeed ads so these appear um on other users fyps and they're integrated uh just kind of like regular videos they're just kind of pushed out more like regular videos um and you can kind of pick like the demographic and the you know the the meaning the areas the ages and all of that then there's branded hashtag challenges so these are big for campaigns Brands can create a hashtag invite users to participate or spark ads these allow Brands to boost organic content including their own videos or user generated content related to their brand so um all of that to say you have some options um if you are just getting started um I I guess I would recommend um infeed ads personally um just to kind of get your face out there um I have found that those at least will boost your content a little bit and then maybe experiment with with other ones that's that's just my take on the matter okay so so stuff you should know um if you have a Tik Tok and you're not driving or doing anything scary um pull it up and I will show you um I'll show you some things and I'm going to make sure mine is silenced by the way did you know that you can um set a setting so that when you open your Tik Tok it is silent when it opens so that if something obnoxious happens to be the first video on your feed it's not blasting something inappropriate or crazy and you're in the middle of public like what could have just happened to me I'm going to just go through these things and again I'm trying I'm trying to not like patronize or Pander or like talk down to you if you already know these things so just go ahead and either like just enjoy me talking enjoy my voice or sign off or just learn some things that you might not have known so there's a difference between favorites and likes so if you want to like a video that's this little heart and if you want to favorite it that's the little little Banner favor and what I like about favorites is if this is a video that I definitely want to find again I think of it almost as a Pinterest board um in Pinterest I like that you can kind of categorize and like I'm very much an organized person and I want to come back and I don't want my my clothing related things to be with my recipe related things they need to be separate and that's kind of how I feel about my Tik toks and so sometimes you just like a Tik talk it's like yep ha funny liked that you have earned my like and then there's ones where you're like I would I need to make sure I get back to this one again um an example of that for me things something I favorite a lot is um things to watch I like my algorithm just super feeds me like like um people who post documentaries that you should watch um and so I all the time I'm like oh that's one that I'm definitely never going to go back and watch later because I don't have the time but if I do if I ever get the time to go to go like sit down and watch a documentary or a new TV series or I want to sit down with my friends and watch a movie and I don't I'm like H what what do I want to watch Tik Tok has me so I um you click on the favorite and then I walk myself through this you hit manage added to favorites manage and then you can either create a new collection or add to a collection that you already have um I do this too for just the same way I would use Pinterest um ones that I find exceptionally funny that I want to be able to find again um I do one for like hair and makeup again ones I will never go back into and look at why I save them I don't know I do them for um social media tips and video tips I have one saved under car things don't know what that is um food um places I want to travel I don't know who I think I am just things for the house um Health stuff uh gifts for people stuff like that so that's a really great way if you want to be smart like me and organize them and then this annoying thing will happen where um occasionally Tik toks will get taken down and they'll get removed and then you'll be like what is it that I saved that was a precious Tik Tok to me that I favored and now it's just mysteriously missing from my favorites and then you just feel sad not knowing what it is that you lost but that such as life so anyway now I'd like to teach you about what other people can see that you're doing this is important this is important for you to know so your comments things that you comment uh your your friends can see so um save yourself embarrassment uh from uh commenting anything embarrassing or spicy or stupid uh because what Tik Tok does is it says even if you didn't like make the video even if you didn't send this video to your friends Tik tock goes oh you commented on this video so I'm going to put this video on the for you page of your friends because maybe they'll like it too and I definitely want them to see what you commented cause Tik Tok is Shady like that and so um that I if if your friends happen to click comments on that video that you commented on your comment will come all the way up at the top regardless of how many likes are on it regard no regardless of everything it could be this could be a a video that has 1 million likes on it your vid your comment will come to the top because Tik tok's like don't don't you want your friends to see what you commented no I don't I'm I'm hiding and being weird on the internet for a reason let me have my privacy Tik Tok this is this is one of the reasons that there's just always that joke like you don't want to be friends with your friends on Tik Tok but you have to be if you want to be able to send each other stuff so um you can't at least the last I knew you can't DM each you can't DM people unless you're both friends like following each other um things that you repost so so if you're like wow this video was just so good I think everyone in the world I want to boost it so that more people see it because this one was just they nailed it you hit the share button and then on the left there's a yellow repost button you can repost stuff when you do that that 100% definitely sends it to all your friends and is like Kristy Billingslea reposted this video and it will show up to your friends so just know that and then anything that you post um well obviously just like Instagram Facebook whatever it will show up in the feeds of your friends so just know that um so the other weird thing that Tik Tok does is part of the way that it creates your for you page is it builds it on what your friend friends like and are doing which feels very stupid to me and confusing and because of that um sometimes it'll send you things that you're like this is unhinged and has nothing to do with my Niche or things that I like or like why is it sending me this and it's because you know your best friend Bob uh is super into the that stuff and liking a lot of it so Tik tok's like I don't know maybe you'll like it so realize this years ago because there was what example can I give public we'll go with this one um in my friend group uh we were all getting a certain kind of video and we were like which one of you which one of you is doing this someone here is liking these types of videos and um we'll just say the example was ADHD videos because I don't have I'm not on ADHD Tik Tok I'm not on that side of Tik Tok I don't like those kinds of Tik toks I have no reason to watch them but I have friends I have a couple one friend in particular who does and so because she's always liking them it shoots some to me um and there's been other examples of that if you're watching certain kinds of Tik toks it's like oh let's make sure Christy gets those too so the the again another permanent statement I'm always going to get to you is be careful what you're doing on the internet because people know okay protect yourself now things to check uh is your profile private uh do you want it to be private if you're posting stuff that um like Instagram that you don't want people to see make sure it's private um I just sometimes post my little drone videos that I don't care if anyone on Earth sees so mine's public um are your likes private so there is a way I think it automatically sets them up to be private so I don't think you need to panic but videos that you like can be set to public so that if I go to your page I can see every video you've ever liked if you want seems weird I don't know why people do that same with um videos that you have favorited um so check that out and then are your reposts private so my reposts for instance are not private um so you can go I mean I don't need you to I'm just saying like go you can go on my page and see I don't know the 20 or so videos that I have reposted which makes sense to me because if I've reposted them I've done that publicly you know what I mean like if I've reposted a video it's I it puts my name on it that I have reposted that to everyone so that to me is like whatever but um you'll know whether or not when you go to your page and there you know the on on your profile there's the heart and if it has like a line through it that means private and your little favorite button if it's got a line through it private my repost does not have a line through it so I know that that means public um and then the lock the lock option is just any of your own videos that you have turned private go in there and then your feed now interesting thing about the feed which is the like six little lines on the left if you're on someone's page um generally it lists all of their videos in chronological order so from the time they've posted them unless they've pinned some to the Top If You click that six button you can change it from their latest videos to their more popular videos that's just something I learned recently um I I don't know why I what circumstances you would care maybe un certain people I don't know that exists and I want you to know that so you can switch from latest to most popular videos on a person's profile so um those are some of the basics of Tik Tok and I feel like I've given you some little secret treats in there um and I don't know what else would be helpful for you to know no uh since I'm just kind of skimming the top there I think the headline I want you to take away with is um number one I'm going to give you a couple number one do what makes you feel comfortable on the internet protect your peace that's another one of my favorite I'm going to put that on the wall protect your peace um but also underline um just get on Tik Tok like um because you can completely have a private profile and friend no one um but also I want to send you stuff because it's funny um but for your business it's a good place to be but again if you're not sure go back to previous episodes where I've talked about where your business belongs we've talked about this already and I have touched on Tik Tok a bit and the tone of it and what kind of businesses should be wearing so um I don't remember what episode number that was but I believe in your ability to go back and find it um and if you can't you can DM or message me and I will help you I'm here to help um but if this was not helpful if you like learned nothing and you were like you were right in fact like all you did was explain things that I already knew then I'm sorry um I'm in a I'm in a situation here where I'm kind of just like I I don't know I'm like educating an audience of like people who know nothing to everything so um wherever you fall in that I tried so um that's all I have for you today and um I hope you did learn something I would love it if you could comment and tell me if you learned something that would make this feel super validating to me this whole podcast production is um taking kind of a turn so that's a little secret for you and um I'm scared and excited for where that's heading we'll we'll we'll end with that that's ominous and a little bit of a cliffhanger yeah um if you're here every week I appreciate you so if you're here for the first time I appreciate you so much please tell me how you found me um and make sure to rate I'm not afraid of being rated I love it go like just do what you got to do I love it um come back again come and see us again we're going to have a holiday break in December but we should be here for a few more weeks anyway so let us know what social media platform you want me to talk about next explain to you next cuz as you can see I'm very good at it so I appreciate you I love you all and we'll see you next time