Tik-Dealer-Tok - How To Utilize Tik-Tok To Generate Brand Awareness For Your Store!

Oh boy. TikTok, where to start.... wait - before we dive in - We want to give a HUGE shoutout to Bakersfield Hyundai for not only being awesome people - but creating incredible content and being on the leading front of dealerships charging the Social Media Frontlines. Make sure to go check them out and keep them in mind when you're looking to get into a new Hyundai, they'll make sure you're taken care of!

Think back to 2016, Instagram and Facebook was popping, and snapchat was lighting up every phone on the block with silly snap strings with friends and family included. Twitter was on fire with the election just having finished, controversy was everywhere but the attention these social media companies were garnering was near unstoppable, and untoppable. Then TikTok happened. 

Founded in 2016 by a Chinese startup company named ByteDance, it sat quietly in the background for nearly a year. Then 2017 rolled around. The absolutely stratospheric growth propelled the app into the spotlight like a missile. By 2021 the app had 1.1 Billion active global users, and has been downloaded in the US at least 200 million times, and has been reported that TikTok is worth roughly $50 Billion, making it the most valuable startup of all time. It came out of nowhere and took over so quickly that most people are still unsure as to what it is, but don’t worry, we’ll cover what it is and how you can utilize it to generate brand awareness and ultimately drive sales to your doorstep. So, let's get to tokking….is that a thing? 

Tik-tok-tik-tok

So we’ve covered the rise of TikTok, so let's cover what it is and what it does. TikTok, also known as Douyin in China, is a Chinese firm ByteDance's short-form video hosting service. It features a wide range of short-form user movies, ranging in length from 15 seconds to ten minutes, in categories such as pranks, stunts, tricks, jokes, dancing, and entertainment. Users create short clips and post it to their profile, and depending on how they hashtag it, will appear in different feeds. If the content ends up being popular, its algorithm picks it up and pushes it to the top of the list thus boosting exposure. It’s extremely easy to go viral on TikTok, it happens every day to hundreds and thousands of users. Pretty cool right? We’ve established where TikTok came from, and how it works, so let's cover some relevant strategies on how you can use it to generate brand awareness.

How to tik-tok

You’re a dealer. You have cars in inventory people are most likely interested in. Why not show them off? Tik-tok allows you to show off your products and inform people about cool features they may not have known about or something that they’ve been interested in learning about. This is where your sales staff comes in. With their personable skills this should be a breeze, they basically get to show off cars to the world and have fun with it. List ideas of content types you guys want to make and jump on it, it's fun and easy and if done well, will generate a lot of attention.

Tag-Tok

Just like most popular social media platforms, TikTok allows for Hashtagging to help sort content so it’s easily accessible to an audience that is looking for content like yours. Research relevant hashtags that your target audience is looking for and tag away! 

Brand-Tok

One thing you need to keep in mind with TikTok is that it’s a content platform for people to be entertained and enjoythemselves, and trying to sell products via your content is a bad idea all around. That's not why they’re there and they don’t want to see advertisements. What TikTok can do though, is generate brand awareness and that's huge. Keep this in mind when making your content and keep it light, entertaining and engaging while not overtly trying to push sales, capeesh?! Good!

Consistent-Tok

This should be a no-brainer but we’ll cover it anyway. You need to stay consistent with publishing your content. Try to at least post a few times a week, because if you’re publishing few-and-far between, it will be painfully slow and you won't have much traction. This is the rule for almost all social media, because if you’re out of sight, you’re out of mind. Keep this rule of thumb and try to have your content and publishing schedule set ahead of time so you can stay consistent and get the most out of your efforts.

How-to-Tok

A great idea for content is how to videos. There’s so many features in vehicles now a days, most people are either unsure how to use them, or not aware of them at all. Have your sales staff make quick how-to videos that show your audience how to use these features. It will also drive awareness to cool features your vehicles offer and may result in driving sales due to this. It will also generate awareness for your store!

Brand-Your-Tok

Always keep in mind that Tik-Tok is a Brand Awareness tool. It will generate a ridiculous amount of organic engagement if done right, so make sure you're using every opportunity to brand your content so people know who they're watching. I know we've covered this, but we wanted to reiterate it, and provide a client dealer we work with that's utilizing this platform to it's max potential! With out further adieu, here's Bakersfield Hyundai: