5 Tips on How to Make TikToks Like an Influencer

If you’re on any kind of social media, chances are you are following an influencer. Influencers have the power to impact followers with their input on products, services, lifestyle and current events. Influencer marketing leverages this type of direct promotion, where individuals are paid to spread the word about goods or services to their followers. 

This is a unique type of marketing as it’s embedded in a flood of feed content. It’s often subtle and the effect for businesses can be impressive. With the increase in video production on social media, such as Tiktok, having an influencer aesthetic can draw viewers in and result in conversions for many businesses.

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                                                                  Photo courtesy of Laura Chouette

Influencer marketing is likely here to stay as social media evolves. Businesses who want to see an uptick in their conversion from social media may want to implement influencer-style videos and posts into their social media strategy to improve their overall outcomes.

With that said, brands should readily approach technological developments such as TikTok with an influencer mindset to enhance their viewership on social media. 

We know this can feel foreign if you’re new to marketing on social media, so we’ve drafted a few pointers to get you started.

                                                                  Photo courtesy of Patrick Tomasso

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Tip #1: Think about your branding

Examine your personal brand and what makes your material worth viewing before you even contemplate filming a Tiktok.

What specialty are you an expert in? What problems do your products or services solve? Identify your niche branding and stick to that. Research competitors, too, to get a sense of what they’re speaking to before you develop your videos. 

Influencing is all about building a following based not just on the branding, but the persona of your videos. Consider the artistic tone and messaging. We recommend starting with a series on a particular topic or connecting with a social media trend to get started. This can help build trust and credibility with your followers.

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A couple of great examples of this:

Chipotle, a notorious lifeline for many college students, taps into its claim of fresh ingredients with a Gen Z appeal. They feature the same members of their marketing team in different scenarios or participating in different trends. Here they are promoting a new beverage by participating in a fun social media trend.

Starbucks features employees of their stores showing how they prefer signature beverages to be made, calling them barista recommendations. Here’s one featuring their iced shaken espresso drink.

These examples embody the branding of the company alongside promotions they are marketing to viewers. They can be developed into longer-term series and appeal to a wide range of ages. The best part is they are relatively inexpensive, considering the footprint they’ll have on social media.

                                                                         Photo courtesy of Good Faces

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Tip #2: Be authentic

Sincerity and connecting directly with your followers is what makes influencer marketing successful. To establish connections with your audience, combine honest engagement with unique ideas.

Uncertain of what your audience wants to engage with? Directly ask your audience what they want to know about your story and what they have questions about.

Creating a connection with your audience will improve the attraction of your feed and make your creativity more approachable. Trust us, approachability is key to marketing like an influencer. 

You should be aware that even if your social media presence is public and intended for everyone, it will feel more natural if you make it personal and authentic.

Dunkin’ has an incredibly active TikTok where they feature merch drops, influencer cameos and more simple videos like “which snack would you pick?” seen below. Something as simple as posing this question to their page generated 16.5k views and 219 comments. 

                                                                      Photo courtesy of Malte Helmhold

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Tip #3: Utilize good equipment

If a post already looks incredible after you shoot it, it won't be as difficult to edit it to seem even better. Brands who use a DSLR usually have the best results. However, using an iPhone works just as well, if price is a concern.

For spontaneous photo opportunities, an iPhone or Android is the best choice. Just make sure yours has a good camera to prevent any grainy images. Make sure the camera has more pixels for a clearer image.

                                                                       Photo courtesy of Good Faces

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Tip #4: Use good lighting

A cloudy day may turn you back inside, but when it comes to shooting great pictures and videos, we recommend the diffused light of an overcast day. Clouds scatter light, simulating softbox lighting and producing the optimum lighting environment.

The period right after sunrise and before dusk is optimal, as well (they don’t call it golden hour for nothing!). Face a window when recording inside to avoid the unnatural glow of an overhead light.

                                                                    Photo courtesy of Andrew Neel

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Tip #5: Use high quality editing tools

Use InShot to combine your videos for TikTok. It’s free and very easy to use.

Final Cut Pro might be useful for longer-form content. This could become relevant as platforms alter their products to include longer videos.

iMovie works just as well on a MacBook, especially if you are new to it. Splice is great for editing, too, and the format can be adjusted for the social media platform you are editing to post on.

TikTok and even Instagram will let you shoot on the app, and edit there, as well. It’s very handy if you are just getting started and not yet ready to funnel a significant amount of resources to social media marketing.

                                                                     Photo courtesy of Christin Hume

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Tip #6: Get a social media marketing tool to make your life easier

Social media is an ever-changing landscape and multi-channel posting isn’t going anywhere. If you plan to take the time and resources to plan, draft, shoot, edit, post and analyze content performance, don’t waste any of your time on doing this inefficiently. Get a social media marketing tool (trust us, we just created one for the businesses we serve). Synup Social is a great tool to use, and there are many others on the market, too. We suggest looking them up and checking out our new tool while you research social media strategy.

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Ready to start posting videos? Synup is offering a free trial today to help your company reach more customers by uniting your social profiles on one platform. Start a conversation with us to find out how we’re making this process stress-free with maximized results.

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