TikTok’s Role in Shaping Audio Marketing Strategies

The role that TikTok plays in influencing trends is undeniable. As the most downloaded app across the globe, TikTok’s stats are topping the charts — and marketers are taking notice. As of 2023, the majority of marketers are incorporating the app heavily into their strategies. Audio marketing is no exception. 

In fact, audio is a large part of why TikTok has become so popular. With its beginnings as the now-defunct app, Musical.ly, TikTok has a stronghold on music-based, short-form video. From dance trends to educational videos with trending sounds, the app has capitalized on its ability to streamline video and audio editing for the casual creator. Learn how to tap into TikTok’s massive influence on the audio industry to promote your products, services, and entire brand.  

Unique Features of TikTok That Shape Audio Trends

The immediacy that TikTok evokes in its users makes the platform stand out. It has the unique ability to prompt users to share snippets of their voice or use songs or other audio to enhance their videos and storytelling capabilities. This evolution of sound has placed audio first and changed how people interact with and create content. 

Popularity

With 1.7 billion people on TikTok, the reach potential is unmatched. While the app has been dominated by primarily Gen Z users, millennials and older generations are increasingly adopting the platform. Targeting this market can help get your audio product or service in front of the right eyes and ears, and TikTok’s unique algorithm can boost your view count faster than other platforms. 

Search Function

TikTok users receive a curated For You page that shows them videos related to their preferences and past behavior. This can place your audio on the home feeds of users who are already interested in audio production. Further, users can search through TikTok sounds when creating videos and save sounds when watching others’ content. Users can also click on the sound and find more information, such as the original creator and all videos created using that sound. This places emphasis on good audio as a community-building tool.

Audio-Focused Trends

With such an audio-forward interface, many of the trends on TikTok are shaped by music or sounds. Some of these trends include:

• Dances to music; 
• ASMR; 
• Storytime videos;
• Comedic soundbites.

Often, users take a popular sound and create a video with a twist on the original. This gives sound creators the possibility to go viral.

User-Friendliness

TikTok gives every user the power to make viral content or, at the very least, audio-visual content that they may not have been able to create before. With the intuitive editing features, TikTokers can add sounds, prerecorded audio, or voiceovers right in the app. This effectively makes everyone an audio artist — and opens up more audio marketing possibilities to a wide audience.

How To Leverage TikTok’s Audio Influence

For audio marketers to use TikTok effectively, you must have a solid understanding of the app’s interface. Start by creating engaging, short-form videos that feature your audio products and services in action. 

Organically Promote Audio Products and Services

You can use TikTok to showcase the unique features and benefits of your audio products and services in a visually appealing way, making sure the content aligns with current trends and challenges. Use TikTok’s search function to find trending sounds that you can apply to relevant videos on your offerings. Engage with your audience through comments, duets, and responses to foster a community around your brand. 

You can even collaborate with TikTok influencers who have a strong presence in the music or audio niche to show your products to their established audience. There is even a TikTok shop feature where users can buy products directly on the platform. You can use any combination of these features to see what works. For instance, you could promote software that cleans up audio by doing a before and after video showing the difference in audio quality it can make. Then, you can run an ad and link directly to your software purchasing page.

Run TikTok Ads

If you want to spend some of your budget on ads, running TikTok ads is a popular way to reach a wider audience and drive targeted social media traffic to your videos that include product offerings. Use the same videos that you created using trending or original sounds when running these ads. 

This way, they can be placed in front of an even more relevant audience since you can tailor the ads to target specific demographics, interests, and behaviors. TikTok's ad platform provides valuable analytics and performance insights, allowing you to fine-tune your campaigns for maximum impact.

Tap Into User-Generated Content

Reviews have always been important for sales, but TikTok has increased the amount of trust consumers place in other consumers when looking to make a purchase. They look for authenticity in product and service reviews, and they are more adept at spotting fake reviews. For this reason, it’s important to collaborate with influencers by allowing them to post their genuine thoughts about your offerings. Even better, simply inspire user-generated content by creating and showcasing a genuinely good product that creates TikTok buzz all on its own.

Go With the Flow

Regardless of the method you choose to promote your audio products and services on TikTok, it is extra effective to create and inspire authentic content. That is what the platform is built upon. Use your audio products to create the sounds in your posts. You may even create a trending sound by doing so. Keep up with fast-moving TikTok trends to get ahead of the curve. By leveraging TikTok's audio industry influence strategically, you can effectively promote your products to a highly engaged and creative user base. 

Featured image by Ron Lach