If you aren’t a teenager right now, you may not know how huge the video-sharing social media platform, Tik Tok, has gotten over the past two years. Not only that, but it has grown exponentially during the pandemic and has been extremely influential in a multitude of ways. There are plenty of opportunities to utilize the app as a means of driving business big and small, no matter what industry you’re in. Here are four reasons to make that account and just go for it!

1. Tik Tok is a massive platform that continues to grow daily

In November of 2020, Tik Tok had 4 million downloads and was the second most downloaded app in the U.S. Today in the U.S. alone, there are over 80 million active users, 90% of which access the app multiple times a day. With numbers like these, there is no way that only teenagers use Tik Tok.  In fact, only about 60% of users are between the ages of 16-24. Even if your target audience doesn’t fall within that 60%, think about the other 40% of 25-44-year-olds that use the app just as frequently! There is a good chance that your business is overlooking the additional sales that Tik Tok could bring in.

Tik Tok is not only in the U.S.; it’s worldwide! The app is available in 154 countries, as well as 75 different languages. If you’re looking to reach an international audience Tik Tok might be the best way to do that.

2. Tik Tok has paid advertising opportunities

Tik Tok ads can be used to send users to your website, the app store, or even to promote branded AR lenses, filters, and stickers that others can use for their own content. The price range depends on what your business specifically wants, but ads can start off at as little as $50 a day. Another benefit of their advertising is that you have little to no commitment to continue running ads. So, if you find that it’s not working for your business, you can stop at any time. 

Have little to no budget for advertising on social media? That’s not an issue! Your business can always create organic content on Tik Tok to be shared with users. Organic reach actually may be more successful than promoting ads, if you can build a big enough following.

3. Your business has the opportunity to build its brand image and awareness

Creating organic content that gives users a behind-the-scenes look at your business has the potential to do extremely well on Tik Tok. If users see this content and like it, they are more inclined to purchase from your business because they enjoy knowing more about your brand and having that personal connection.

This is a great way to build your brand image and awareness! Unlike any other platforms, Tik Tok users actually prefer unpolished content. This could be something as simple as showing users around the workplace or the packaging and shipping of your product.  What’s the story behind your business? Why should Tik Tok users be interested in purchasing from you? If your business comes across as being genuine & has a backstory/behind the scenes look at what you do, chances are users will be interested in what you have to offer.

4. You might already have Tik Tok content at your disposal

Knowing now that there are a ton of different ways to create content for your business, you might be surprised to know that you might already have some on your hands! If you want to promote something like a podcast or a YouTube channel, you could easily take short clips from the existing content and move them to Tik Tok. This gives more people the opportunity to be exposed to what your business does in bite-sized pieces. In turn, this will help to bring more Tik Tok users over to your full-length podcast, YouTube channel, or whatever your business entails. In creating those short Tik Tok clips, you are giving users a glimpse into what your business does and getting new customers and or listeners! 

Given all of this information, and because Tik Tok is in its infancy, now is the perfect time to create an account for your business. The earlier that you create an account, the more established that your business will be on the platform as time passes. Also, Tik Tok has not been oversaturated with ads and branded content yet, like other social media platforms. So, the sooner you create an account, the better! What are you waiting for?

You started a podcast. Now you’re wondering how you’re supposed to promote it. How do you grow your podcast, gain more followers and become podcast famous? Well, I can’t guarantee you will be a famous podcaster right away, but including these tactics into your marketing strategy will help you get there.

I’m getting ahead of myself. Before you jump right into the idea of being “famous”, you need to create the building blocks of your foundation. In this case, your “building blocks” are the different ways that you should be promoting your platform. 

Let’s step back even further. Before you even begin marketing your podcast, you should first evaluate the product that you are trying to “sell” to your audience. The two most important things about a podcast are time and quality content. The quality of your podcast is so much more important than you think. Marketing a bad product will do nothing for you except waste your time. You need to make sure that your current product is something worth promoting! 

You will know that you have a good product when you are producing valuable, attention-grabbing, and unique content. The most important piece of this is value. You will have a much easier time promoting a podcast that provides value to your audience. This is because you will be giving your viewers an incentive to listen! While you are creating this content, keep in mind that it takes time and patience for a podcast to grow. A city isn’t built in a day, right? Don’t get discouraged if your podcast doesn’t grow as quickly as you hoped it would. Growing an audience takes time, work and dedication. Focus on creating valuable content. When you are creating the right content with added value, the audience will follow. Just give it some time! 

When you’re confident that you are producing high-quality content, then you can focus on the ways that you will market your podcast. While cruising the Internet for the perfect podcast marketing strategies, you may have noticed that there are tons of different websites offering their own version of advice. All of the options available may leave you wondering what you should do! Among the chaos of options, keep your eyes focused on your audience. Your podcast will not be for everyone. You have niched down your podcast enough to where your audience is a specific group of people. You should first learn about your audience and then cater your marketing strategies around those people. Don’t be afraid to experiment with different marketing strategies to test what will work! Again, this process will take time. Be patient with yourself and the process. 

Most podcasters use basic techniques to promote their podcast. Remember to pay attention to your audience and build your marketing strategy based on that. 

1. Encourage your listeners to take action

This should be a no-brainer, but you should be encouraging your audience to subscribe, share, and leave feedback on your content. If you are not asking your audience to do the very thing you need them to do to grow your podcast, then what are you doing? Use the spare time you have at the beginning and end of each episode to promote your podcast! Don’t be afraid to be genuine about it either. Explain that their feedback and support will give you the foundation to produce better content for them to enjoy.  

2. Strategize your publishing 

If you are a brand new podcaster, you may not know that it is crucial that you publish your podcast at the right time. If you already knew that, great! Start paying more attention to it! The time in which you post your content may decide your success. If you are not sure where to start, look at other podcasts similar to yours and see if there is a trend. Look at when they post their content and how much success they have had with posting at that time. If you notice a trend in posting, consider that for your own podcast. You may also consider experimenting when you post your episodes. From there, you will gain valuable analytics that will help you figure out the best time to post in the future. 

3. Submit your podcast 

You will want to make sure that you submit your podcast to apps that play podcasts, most commonly known as a podcatcher or an aggregator. Having your podcast listed on several different apps will expand your audience and help you become more visible! Create accounts in places like Google Play, Spotify, Tunein, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, Podbay, Podtail, and many more. Once you’ve created accounts, submit your RSS feed to every podcast directory so that your podcasts will automatically upload every week. 

4. Network with podcasters 

Another way that you can get your podcast out there is by joining a group of other podcasters. In addition to making some new friends, you may also find yourself learning a thing or two that will help grow your podcast. That community of podcasters may offer support, help you with podcast troubles, or give you new ideas for content. Joining a group of podcasters may be one of the best decisions you could make for the future of your podcast. If anything, it might be nice to just have a community who understands your challenges. 

5. Use the Word-of-Mouth Method 

What an old tactic, right? You may be surprised to hear that this old tactic can actually do some good for your podcast. It’s actually one of the most effective marketing strategies known today. The first step is spreading the word in the right place. Find conferences, local events, or a group that has an interest in the topic of your podcast and spread the word as much as you can! Don’t be afraid to really market yourself and your niche. If you find a group of people who are already interested in your podcast topic, it won’t be hard to reel them in. Networking will be a huge asset to your podcast. You could even encourage your friends and family to spread the word to their friends and family. 

While I’ve only provided five ways that you can promote your podcast, they are a great place to start. I previously mentioned that first focusing on the content that you’re creating is the most important thing that you can do. Focus on creating valuable content and pinpointing your audience so that you have a better idea of your marketing strategy. In the meantime, consider starting a website for your podcast!

Just because your website is on the Internet does not mean that people will see it, find it, or go to it. You are tossing your dollars down an empty wishing well if you believe otherwise. The truth is that you have to create strategies and implement them into your website in order to see any kind of growth or web traffic. Thinking that your website will grow on its own can cause a domino effect of mistakes. It’s an all-too-common blunder.

There are too many marketers out there that offer their own solutions to such predicament. Most of these solutions require forking over tons of money, just to be noticed by people who may or may not be interested in your product. This transforms into a fatal cycle of doubt and discouragement when you don’t see the results that you expect.

Sometimes there are tactics that just do not work, even if you pay for them. That may leave you questioning whether or not you need to spend your money, and if so, how you should spend it. Luckily, there are several ways that you can generate web traffic without spending a penny.

Take a look at your marketing budget. Does it look as dry as a dessert cactus on a hot summer day? Yes? Well, that’s okay. Whether you are tired of spending money or you just don’t have money to spend at all, this article is for you. Whatever the reason, we have come up with three ways that you can generate web traffic without spending a dime. 

1. Comment on Other Blogs/Articles 

An easy and surefire way to get noticed is to comment on other people’s blogs. This might seem odd and strangely close to spammy, but you would be surprised how many visitors will view your comment. If you comment on popular blogs and articles, you may have a better chance at being seen. Make sure that your comments are valuable and nothing close to spammy. Once you start commenting on different articles, you will notice an increase in your website referral traffic. This is because people are clicking on your name after reading your comment.

Most people do not realize the small, yet significant impact this simple tactic can have on your website. Keep in mind, when you post a comment is just as important as what you say. Try to be one of the first people to comment on a blog post. That way, your comment will stick at the top, making your profile more visible. When it comes to what you should comment, you can either keep it simple and straightforward or take the time to write out a thoughtful response. 

For example, commenting something short and sweet might look like this:

1. Nice article. Keep up the great work! 
2. I really enjoyed reading this article. I can’t wait to read more! 
3. Thanks for the information. This really helped! 

You may turn more heads if you choose to write a more thoughtful response. A thoughtful response may include something you liked about the article, what you wish the author would’ve included, and why that specific topic should’ve been included. But, in all reality, you can comment anything that you think may be valuable! Use that comment box to discuss what you took from the article, what it taught you, or maybe how you are applying it to everyday life. Be creative and remember that leaving a comment will put you on the grid, generating web traffic, for FREE! 

2. Utilize YouTube

Did you know that YouTube drives more traffic to websites than any other social media platform? That must be because YouTube is the second most visited site on the Internet. If you are not on YouTube, you need to be! There are so many different ways to utilize YouTube. In today’s world, it would not be crazy to assume that most people would rather watch something than read about it. One of the many things that you can do on YouTube is turn a few of your best written articles into videos. Creating videos allows you to be thrice as creative and more engaging with your audience. You can also add a website or article link, a video transcript, a description, or more advice in the video description box.

Once you create videos, you will be able to send your work to family and friends to increase your SEO. If you have never created videos before, then start small! Start by creating two videos a month. Over time, work to increase the number of videos you produce. Another thing that you could do to get yourself noticed is to comment on other people’s videos. Do not just comment on any random videos! Treat it like you are commenting on somebody’s article. Find videos and topics that relate to your expertise and comment something of value, whether it’s a compliment or a positive critique. By using YouTube, you will be on your way to generating web traffic like a pro!

3. Follow, Connect, Share, Like, Tweet

Not only should you use YouTube, but you should also utilize every other social media channel to generate more website leads. An August 2020 survey shows that over 3.81 billion people are using social media. It’s obvious that social media is a dominating force when it comes to driving more visitors to websites. The most beneficial part of social media is that it is completely free (besides what you spend on advertising). Many businesses use social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to engage with users and other businesses, share business tips and articles, and attempt to drive people back to their website. Joining social media has the potential to increase your following and brand awareness in a major way.

Every business on the planet should have a social media account, plainly because it’s free! The way that you use social media will either help you gain more followers or hurt your chances at growing. Before you go crazy, it is crucial that you create some type of social media strategy calendar. Creating a plan for your social media posting will relieve the stress of having to come up with ideas last minute. Once you create a plan, do some research and find out where your audience is. Keep in mind that some platforms may be more effective than others. But, it’s nothing to stress about; all it takes is a plan. When successful on social media, you will start generating leads in no time! 

As you can see, it’s not impossible to generate leads to your website without a marketing budget. All it takes is a little creativity. There are several different ways to initiate brand recognition and drive people to your website, but starting with these three things will guide you in the right direction.