TikTok has quickly become a cultural juggernaut. Expected to grow to 1.5 billion monthly active users by the end of 2022, it’s no wonder marketing teams are scratching their heads thinking, “How do we get in on this?”
Enter Will Aitken. As Head Sales Evangelist at Sales Feed, he’s contributing to a media network of music, parodies, short films, and memes that celebrate how awesome—and at times ridiculous—the world of sales can be. Within nine months, Will has grown his TikTok and the Sales Feed TikTok to a cumulative total of 80,000 followers. I sat down with Will to find out how he cracked the TikTok for B2B formula—and how you can too. We discuss how he got started, being the first on B2B TikTok, riding the wave of trends, and getting your business’ ROI in surprising ways.
It can be hard to know where to start—TikTok can feel a little intimidating. But fear not, with these handy tips from Will on creating binge-worthy content, you’ll be hitting For You pages in no time.
Getting Started: TikTok For B2B Businesses
Brands often underestimate the importance of fun. TikTok’s platform prioritizes quick hits of entertainment or education. If businesses—especially B2B SaaS businesses—want to be successful on the app, they have to create lighthearted, non-salesy videos.
“If businesses want to be successful on TikTok, they have to create lighthearted, non-salesy videos.”
Will AitkenSales FeedHead Sales Evangelist
First and foremost, your creators should absorb TikTok content regularly. To make good TikToks you have to watch good TikToks. Get on the app, scroll through videos, and find creators who are already making content in your niche.
Take a look at the hashtags and begin to analyze the common things that make those videos successful and engaging. What happened in the first five seconds that hooked your attention? What kept you watching till the end? What made you feel compelled to comment and continue the conversation?
Once you’ve gotten to know the platform, apply Will’s four principles to your TikTok content strategy:
Forget all the content you already have—Don’t try to directly repurpose your current B2B video for TikTok—that’s how you get boring, generic content. I know it’s scary, but trust me. Absorbing great TikTok content will help you discover what kinds of videos you want to create. Educational, workplace lifestyle, comedy—there’s bound to be something that works for your brand.
Time-to-value is everything—TikTok is primarily for short-form video, which means you need to hook your audience quickly. You only have a few seconds before users lose interest and keep scrolling. Ask a question or begin with the central idea of your video. “What does every single sales call need to include?” or “Here’s why every meeting will be in the Metaverse in five years …”
Know your voice—When building your brand’s TikTok or responding to comments, ensure you have a clearly defined brand voice. Is your brand voice sassy? Funny? Playfully rude? Make sure it’s consistent throughout your videos and comments.
Reduce, reuse, recycle—If you’re creating for TikTok, you should be reposting those videos on LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and even Pinterest. In fact, TikToks often perform just as well or even better on other social media sites. (What a relief!)
“You should be reposting your TikToks to LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, and even Pinterest.”
Will AitkenSales FeedHead Sales Evangelist
Put Your Videos to Work Create, host, manage, and share your videos.
Sign Up Free
Balancing Trends And Batching TikToks For B2B
It’s a delicate balance to both batch-create original content and ride the wave of TikTok trends. Will’s advice is to do trends while they’re still on the rise—you’re more likely to get eyes on your video if the trend is approaching its peak. He also follows hashtags like #trendwarning or #trendalert to keep updated on what’s coming.
The best way to figure out your rhythm is to create and schedule your planned content as early as possible—for Will, that’s Sales Help Desk episodes, interview footage, career advice, and spotlights on other creators. He plans and creates his video content in the month prior, so he can leave time for all the trendy, relatable videos that come up throughout the current month.
TikTok Is Your Ground Floor Moment
In 1995, a fresh-faced Bill Gates explained the early internet to David Letterman. It may come as a surprise that David and his late-night audience found the concept laughable. But the irony isn’t lost on us now. We watch videos of misguided people underestimating the internet with embarrassed awe. Don’t be a David—especially when it comes to TikTok for B2B.
The value of being early to a platform today is immeasurable, especially as a B2B brand. That’s what makes TikTok unique. Will launched the Sales Feed TikTok less than a year ago and it will continue to grow because it capitalized on being one of the firsts to the platform.
Get the Newsletter Get the best of Sales Feed, along with the latest sales resources, direct to your inbox every week. Subscribe Now
It’s even easier to join when you realize you can reuse that content everywhere. A short, 30-second video of a sales, marketing, or finance tip is still going to perform and provide value to your audience on any channel.
“Don’t be a David—especially when it comes to TikTok for B2B. The value of being early to a platform today is immeasurable.”
Will AitkenSales FeedHead Sales Evangelist
In fact, the true return on your investment is growing an audience that is engaged enough to trust and follow your advice. If they enjoy your videos, they’re likely to trust the resources and links you include in your bio. From November 2021 to March 2022, Sales Feed had 1,200 views on their bio links and 600 clicks on their YouTube channel and newsletter. Instead of thinking about converting your TikTok audience to customers, convert them to lifelong subscribers of your content.
Learn From the Pros
Proving that a simple, engaging TikTok can hook, provide value and educate with a CTA; Don’t underestimate the value of TikTok for your B2B marketing team.
Apply The 80/20 Rule To Your TikToks
The companies doing the best on any social media platform are rarely talking about themselves. When you start talking about yourself, people think, What’s in it for me? Will uses the 80/20 rule—providing 80% value and sprinkling in 20% product marketing or directing people to the Sales Feed newsletter.
If you do so occasionally, there are fun ways to talk about your brand while providing value. Entertaining content helps people remember your brand, so when they’re ready to evaluate a tool or read your sales pitch, they’ll be more open to you. When you can get people to think “Ah, you know what, I really like the Sales Feed TikTok. They’ve made me laugh a few times,” you’ve managed to cement yourself in your niche. Focus on growth and engagement first and the rest will come.
Fail, Reflect, Improve
Come at your strategy from a position of knowledge—watch TikToks, study TikTok best practices, and read the guides TikTok is releasing about how to be successful on the platform. If you’re doing all that and your videos are still not performing, there are usually three reasons:
Right content, wrong people—If you made a video about B2B sales and it gets shown to a 12-year-old gamer, they’re going to keep scrolling—in turn, the platform will think your content is performing poorly. If it happens over and over, your videos won’t be pushed to your audience’s For You page. Instead, use hashtag targeting. Research the hashtags in your niche—they may even be in the captions of TikToks that land on your For You page. If you’re a B2B brand, your hashtags will probably be quite specific, like #B2BSales, #SoftwareDemo, or #SalesTok. Use them to target the audience who is hungry for what you have to say.
Where’s the hook?—Your hook didn’t work (or it was nonexistent) and people kept scrolling. Even if the rest of the video got better, you’ve got the first five seconds to catch your audience’s attention. Go back and review the videos that didn’t perform. Look at those first few seconds. Did it really capture your audience? How can you grab their attention next time?
It was a bad video, sorry—This is the hardest one. It takes hindsight to look back on your old videos and realize they were not good. This is where your team comes in. Ensure you have people to brainstorm ideas or confirm punchlines. It helps to have others confirm whether a concept works outside your head or needs workshopping.
Finally, don’t give up. Even if your TikToks start out terrible, you can and will get better. Just like running, exercise, or sales—consistency is the key to seeing results.
Support Your TikTok Creators’ Wacky Ideas
One person or team needs to be empowered to run your TikTok account. Give them the freedom to pursue weird and strange ideas. A great example of this is the B2C brand Duolingo, which has amassed 3 million followers around its outrageous and funny mascot. Will has spoken to the manager of Duolingo’s account, Zaria Parvez, who was given the freedom to create something special. It’s a testament to how successful brands can get on TikTok if they take risks.
Set boundaries for your TikTok team, but also lean into non-traditional corporate content. Let it be quirky, let it be weird, let it be hilarious. If your creators are avid consumers of TikTok—as they should be—they’ll figure out how to engage with the platform and create memorable experiences for your audience.
“Set boundaries for your TikTok team, but also lean into non-traditional corporate content. Let it be quirky, let it be weird, let it be hilarious.”
Will AitkenSales FeedHead Sales Evangelist
Ride The TikTok for B2B Wave
Whether you’re just getting started on TikTok or expanding your B2B presence to new heights, TikTok is the most exciting place to be right now. Follow trends, be eccentric, and grow an audience. What are you waiting for?
Put Your Videos to Work Create, host, manage, and share your videos.
