It is 7 AM in the UK and, as I open my TikTok and the 150,000th video featuring Lizzo’s About Damn time song pops onto my overcrowded timeline, I wonder if the short-form video hosting service has made a deal with the American rapper and songwriter to push it as much as possible. Possibly the same commercial deal that is making British singer Kate Bush’s voice repeatedly echo in all sorts of videos recently posted on the platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance.

By 7:18, I have stumbled across over a dozen pieces of content featuring Lizzo and Kate’s songs and some of that content, I easily notice, has been posted by small businesses from all over the world.

Although 37 years separate both songs – Lizzo dropped her single last April, Bush released her Running up the hill in 1985 – the reason those businesses are posting content on TikTok wrapped in pop hits is clear: promote their products and services, while growing their following on the social media network. But are small businesses on TikTok getting any results with their efforts?

A recent study by Hello Alice, an organization dedicated to supporting small businesses, featuring approximately 7,000 responses collected between three surveys, shared insights into how SMBs are leveraging TikTok to find new audiences and build a community.

The  Small Business Digital Marketing Trends report revealed that a digital renaissance is underway: ‘Small business owners understand that digital platforms are no longer a nice-to-have, they are a critical tool for reaching customers and growing their business. Moreover, there’s a shift among those already leveraging digital platforms, with SMBs increasingly turning to emerging players, like TikTok, to follow their customers and accelerate their growth. In fact, 67% of SMBs surveyed indicated that they are most optimistic about their growth potential on the platform’ – says an official communication from TikTok.

“I recently posted a video on TikTok and gained over 300 email subscribers with just this video. In addition, almost 2,000 people saved the same content. That is significant considering the video was only seen by 27k individuals. I’ve found creating valuable, educational content that reflects the heart of my business leads to the highest conversions from viewer to follower to subscriber to customer. As an average of 3-5% of email subscribers convert to customers of my digital products and events, every TikTok video does matter and make a difference.” – says Orlando-based business coach Liana Danielle.

TikTok says that they have launched a number of education programs and a Small Business Resource Center, and announced that, in the coming weeks, the platform will also reveal a new initiative that will help small businesses leverage TikTok to grow.

However, over the past few months, as small businesses try to return to pre-pandemic trading levels, entrepreneurs are finding their own way through social media to expand their horizons and revenues.

“I began to focus on building a presence on TikTok and Instagram that was a reflection of my personality and the essence of our business. The fun, positive, and encouraging tone of my posts helped me craft my message and my niche. Most importantly, it grew my reach to a broader age and geographic range through a number of viral posts and helped to open many doors I didn’t think possible.” – celebrates Robin Brackbill from Fabby-Do Creativity Café, a small business based in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, specializing in creative experiences, classes, and events for children.

For Lexie Becker, a Brand Partnership Specialist at South Florida’s marketing agency Fifth & Cor, it is not only content carefully crafted by company owners that can land results on TikTok, as other strategies can have an impact on a brand’s awareness, reach and sales.

“A hair-care brand recently leveraged user-generated content on the app, and a video
made by one of its loyal customers was attributed to $15,000 in sales of the product used in the video in just 24 hours. The power of TikTok and UGC combined is to credit for this. Moving forward, the brand will use both organic and paid efforts to establish a dedicated community in order to generate more sales.” – explains Becker who also works with clients posting content on other social media platforms.

According to the report, 81% of small businesses say that TikTok is fun and 73% say it’s easy to use.

Certified eyelash artist Taylor Volk, who opened her business in 2018, is another entrepreneur making long term plans based on what she has learned from the performance of content posted on TikTok.

“We started posting tips and tricks for other lash and brow artists and it has helped us reach over 10k followers on TikTok. Our top three posts to date have all done over 500k views, with one reaching 1 million, and they all have received between 10-50k likes each”, says Volk, founder of eyelash and brow company Lashfx, who mastered her own formula for content that performs well for her business. “Our strategy moving forward is to continue posting helpful content while keeping the first 2-3 seconds of the video captivating enough for viewers to finish watching the rest of the video.”

For those businesses with extra budget and creativity to spare, exploring collaborations with influencers and content creators can pay dividends.

“We worked with TikTok creator Mary Burchill @soneedley to help her grow her small business through the popular social media platform and increase sales on her website. Mary uses our blank apparel options to embroider clothing and accessories to sell for her small business, titled So Needley. While currently still in law school, she was able to turn her hobby into a side hustle business, and in the process allow us to grow as a brand.” – says Kathryn Hutchison, Senior Director of U.S.-based online e-commerce company Threadsy, a retailer for small-quantity customizable apparel founded in Texas in 2021.

Zak, from Mad Rabbit: small businesses investing in TikTok content need bandwidth and patience to experiment

“Small businesses are thriving on TikTok if they’re willing to experiment to find what works in connecting with potential customers. Our company caters to those with tattoos, so we invested in content that we thought would be enjoyed by this niche and have built our following to almost 400K. We found that the videos that surpassed one million views were the ones that we teased a reveal in the opening seconds to grab our viewers’ attention.”, shares Oliver Zak, co-founder of Mad Rabbit, a company offering natural and organic tattoo skincare products formulated in Los Angeles, CA. “These results taught us exactly what tattoo lovers desire in their content, so we were then able to organically work our products into the content without interfering with what our viewers want to see. There is tremendous upside in small businesses investing in TikTok, so long as they have the bandwidth and patience to experiment.”, acknowledges Zak.

Consistency and alignment with other departments of your business may also be crucial for your content, and can make or break it when it comes to TikTok, as marketing expert Fulya Uygun, CEO & Head of Digital Strategy at Bowery Boost, points out:

“If you are planning to get on TikTok, get ready to post 2-3 times minimum each day. And if you plan to add money behind your TikTok strategy, let everyone on your marketing team participate in your content process. Brainstorm with anyone who is doing paid campaigns for your brand to make sure some of the content you build can be pushed as Spark Ads, which run through your brand account or an influencer account. This generates higher engagement and, eventually, conversions.”, explains Uygun, a New York-based professional with 15 years of experience leading digital marketing departments of various brands in the beauty, fashion, and wellness industries.

“We launched on TikTok three months ago and went viral several times, which was recently picked up by media outlets such as The Sun and NY Post. Our most viewed TikTok video has over 7 million views with over 830,000 likes and 2,800+ comments. This one video generated over $30k in sales.”, reveals entrepreneur Alice Kim, founder of PerfectDD, a small business that launched in December of 2020 focusing on providing clothing options for women who wear a DD+ bra size and up.

With other posts also surpassing 1 million views, Kim is happy with the online attention her business’ videos are getting, but her content strategy goes beyond fast revenue.

“We aim to normalize the conversation around (big) boobs but boobs in general. To destigmatize the stereotypes of over-sexualizing and body shaming breasts. We will continue to share the struggles of having a fuller chest and provide solutions for women to feel confident with their DD+s.” vows Alice who spent almost two decades in the fashion industry.