In the first article of this three-part series about bars and restaurants using TikTok, we outlined what to consider when deciding whether to launch a dedicated TikTok channel for your brand. If you’re ready to take the leap, read on for tips about how to create, build and grow your account.
Where Should You Begin?
Choose a handle and reserve it: You may need to get creative with your name if another brand or creator has already snagged your top choice. The benefit is that creating a fun, memorable TikTok handle can be another opportunity to brand yourself on the platform. Try to avoid using extraneous numbers (unless they’re part of your brand name) and special characters.
Determine your content niche on the platform: Bars and restaurants naturally fall into the food and beverage category, but how can you make it uniquely your own?
Practice cultivating a tone and voice that aligns with your brand identity: Is your brand quirky and alternative? Corporate and factual? Youthful and exuberant? It’s important to have an understanding of your brand’s persona, and utilize this to inform how you present your content in videos (think of it as bringing your brand to life through visual storytelling).
Consider where your content will be coming from, and lock in a steady flow: Identify who from your team will be responsible for creating the content, and expectations for frequency of posting.
How Often Should You Post?
A successful TikTok channel demands a higher posting frequency than any other social media platform. According to TikTok, “In order to captivate new audiences, the key is to continuously share fresh and diverse content. Aim to post one to four times per day to test how different types of content are received. While we recommend getting as close to that amount of content as possible, it’s not worth sharing videos that lack relevancy, information or quality just for the sake of posting.
Tips for Growing & Optimizing Your Account
TikTok is an “anything goes” app, but there are definitely key factors for account growth. TikTok uses a very effective algorithm to suggest new content to users based on previous viewing and engagement history. Videos are introduced through a feed called the “For You Page” (FYP) that populates upon opening the app, and continuously refreshes as the platform gathers new data and hones in on a given user’s preferences.
There are several ways brands can optimize their channel to improve the chance TikTok will favor your content on its FYP. Here are five suggestions and key areas to consider:
1. Leverage Trends
TikTok is a very searchable platform, allowing users to easily uncover what’s trending across accounts. Its capabilities let you search hashtags and keywords, as well as trending sounds and effects related to a keyword. You can also search through keywords on videos and within captions, sounds, effects and more. Incorporating trending hashtags, audio, filters, etc. into your content makes your account more favorable to the algorithm, giving you a higher likelihood of getting on the For You Page. We recommend using buckets of four to five hashtags at a time for each video.
2. Authenticity is Key
One of TikTok’s main differentiators is that it prioritizes content that is less “produced” or stylized. Rather than displaying glossy, high-quality, scripted and perfectly edited videos, the best performing content has the raw, unfiltered, off-the-cuff feel of a video diary. All someone needs to do is have an idea, hit record on their phone, and piece the content together directly in the app. What this does require is a distinct point of view, and often a “face” for your brand who can show behind-the-scenes looks or share personal takes. While it can be casual in tone and production value, the content still needs to be valuable and true to your brand category.
3. Post Consistently and at Optimal Times
Frequency and timing of posts are two factors that impact how likely TikTok is to favor a brand’s content on the For Your Page, which is key for getting your videos and channel discovered by new users.
As previously mentioned, TikTok requires a higher posting frequency than any other social media platform. While some accounts post upwards of five times per day, posting daily (or at least) several times per week is a good goal—as long as you’re continuing to provide content that’s on brand, engaging, and relevant to your target audience.
Hootsuite is a great resource to track the optimal recommended posting times by day, which varies from morning, to afternoon, to evening throughout the week:
- Monday – 10 p.m. PT
- Tuesday – 9 a.m. PT
- Wednesday – 7 a.m. PT
- Thursday – 7 p.m. PT
- Friday – 3 p.m. PT
- Saturday – 11 a.m. PT
- Sunday – 4 p.m. PT
While not hard-and-fast rules, it’s a best practice to use the times as a guideline for when to post.
4. Prioritize Shorter Videos
Part of the genius of TikTok is that it was designed for short-form content. Much like Vine before it (where creators posted six-second video loops), its distinct parameters force creators to stretch the bounds of how they approach content, cut out any fluff, and hone directly in on what makes something entertaining.
According to Hootsuite, seven to 15 seconds is the ideal length for a TikTok video. The platform recently extended the possible length of videos to 10 minutes, but don’t let this fool you – longer videos are not what the app’s consumer base is currently trained to view. We recommend sticking close to the 15 second mark and using this challenge as an opportunity to present your brand in a novel way.
5. Utilize Engaging “Calls to Action”
Another thing that differentiates TikTok from other social platforms is that “Calls to Action” (CTAs) within videos/posts are usually engagement-based. Instagram CTAs are often generic prompts such as “link in bio” or "tag a friend,” whereas TikTok users implement creative ways to engage with the content like “duet this video if you also can't dance” or “use this audio on a video of a recent memory.” Fun, quirky, trending CTAs are a great way to solicit interaction from users and followers and create a deeper connection to your brand.
In the forthcoming third and final article in this Bar & Restaurant TikTok series, we’ll outline how brands can leverage the platform’s marketing power without creating their own channel.
Cole Roberts is the director of social media at Carbonate, and Rachel Walensky is senior strategist at Carbonate. Roberts has a diverse background working with brands across entertainment, CPG, hospitality and food and beverage verticals. Walensky has more than a decade of experience working with, and building, award-winning brands in the food, beverage, travel, lifestyle and tech sectors. Carbonate is a brand communications and creative services agency specializing in food, beverage, hospitality, lifestyle, travel and food tech. To learn more about Carbonate and its services, visit CarbonateGroup.com.
Plan to Attend or Participate in
Bar & Restaurant Expo, March 27-29, 2023
To learn about the latest trends, issues and hot topics, and to experience and taste the best products within the bar, restaurant and hospitality industry, plan to attend Bar & Restaurant Expo, March 27-29, 2023 in Las Vegas. Visit BarandRestaurantExpo.com.
To book your sponsorship or exhibit space at Bar & Restaurant Expo, contact:
Veronica Gonnello
(for companies A to G)
e: [email protected]
p: 212-895-8244
Tim Schultz
(for companies H to Q)
e: [email protected]
p: (917) 258-8589
Fadi Alsayegh
(for companies R to Z)
e: [email protected]
p: 917-258-5174
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