TikTok Part 2: Using Sounds To Increase Reach & Traffic

Lilith
Shopify Staff

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In case you missed it! Check out TikTok Part 1: The Social Media Platform Your Business Needs To Be On first!

If you’ve not downloaded the app yet, you should! TikTok is one of the fastest growing platforms since its creation and is quickly becoming a big influence in trends, and social understanding. It’s a very entertaining platform and also an excellent way to grow your business.

 

Aside from using paid advertisements on social media platforms like TikTok, participation in the platform by creating content is a free and fun way to promote your business! Remember that social engagement with your target audience is an impactful way to increase traffic and conversions on your store. More importantly it’s a great way to build trust with your audience and inform them of your brand, values and unique selling propositions.

 

In this TikTok series of community forum posts we’ll cover a little bit about the different ways you can use TikTok for your business. We’ll chat about some paid methods, but we want to focus on free techniques that are budget friendly for any level of business. This is especially useful for those of you who are starting your first business and are wanting to take advantage of the currently growing interest in TikTok.

 

What’s TikTok?

 

Recently we added a post to our Community on what TikTok is and the general way that it works. If you’ve not had a chance to check that out, I encourage you to have a read. You’ll be able to understand the background of TikTok, who the main user base is on the platform and some of the basic features to get started on it.

 

Certainly, it’s not the full list of everything you can do with TikTok, but it’ll sure help you navigate some of the basics!

 

Among many of the features of the platform, there is one called “sounds”. 

 

What are TikTok sounds?

 

Sounds are exactly what it sounds like (pun fully intended). Videos on TikTok have an attached soundtrack to it, for simplicity they’re called “sounds”. Aside from sounds, there is also something called original audio. The original audio is a way of saying that a new sound was created by a TikTok user instead of choosing an existing sound on the platform. Be it a voice-over, music or generally the video’s original sound, this is one of the key components of the content that makes up TIkTok’s feed.

 

What you’ll notice often is that content creators on the platform will use the same sound for different content. These sounds will gain traction and become trending sounds. When multiple users use the same sound and create videos with a similar theme they are categorized by the TikTok algorithm as clusters. These clusters are a great way to get your content to your specific intended audience.

 

Many content creators decide to create their own unique sounds for their videos, which in turn allows them to have flexibility in their creative process and customize content to their particular theme or genre.

 

Why use them?

 

Visual content is often paired with audio. TikTok takes both elements of this medium and ranks them in their algorithm in various ways. Videos containing trending sounds are more likely to be pushed through to more For You Pages (FYPs) on the platform. This means that more people will view your videos when they open up the app and scroll through their FYP. It makes it very easy to find your content! It not only helps your brand get more fresh eyes on your profile, but can lead to potential customers finding your website. More visitors means higher chances of sales conversions!

 

Trending sounds are similar to how hashtags work on Instagram. Sounds have a similar effect on TikTok in that if the sound is used by many people it’ll become popular and then trend. The more frequently people use a sound the likelier it is to go viral. Essentially, using trending sounds in your videos increases your algorithm favorability.

 

Aside from using existing trending sounds on TikTok you have the opportunity to create unique original sounds. This would be a sound that you use your own audio whether you upload audio or use your microphone. Original sounds help you with being discovered and for your brand to find it’s identity on that social media platform.

 

Always remember that all products and services won’t be needed by everyone. That’s why it’s key to have identified your specific target customer while using the TikTok’s sounds and algorithm. This way it’ll boost your reach to the right audience for your brand!

 

How to find sounds

 

There are a few simple ways to find sounds to use on your TikTok videos!

 

When you open the app and start to scroll through the FYP you may hear a great sound that you want to use for one of your videos. How can you find those sounds again? You can save them! 

 

To save a sound for later, you can tap on the sound while the video is on your screen. Then you simply tap on “Add to Favorites”. You’ll be able to save sounds or videos to your favorites anytime and refer back to them. TikTok has a quick guide on how to add them to your videos.

 

You can also search to see what sounds are trending on the platform. Searching for them is pretty easy and you have the chance to get to know what other trends are happening. Sometimes participating in some fun stitches, duets or other trends could be a great way for your business to engage with your followers on TikTok.

 

We can also create our own sounds from scratch and add them to content. Because you would be the first person to use an original sound, you’ll be given the original tag when people tap to see the sound details. Even if you simply use a voiceover, this will be a fabulous way to get creative with your content. Creating a new sound will help your business reach people that have had the chance to listen in on your original and entertaining content!

 

As a business owner on TikTok, keep in mind that when you upload or bring in a new sound to use on your videos you’ll want to try and use sounds that you have rights to use freely. Popular music will be licensed and will require you to gain rights and permissions to use them. 

 

Try to use the Commercial Music Library to avoid any licensing issues. A lot of trending sounds as well are usually free to use without issue. However, keep in mind that if there are hit songs (A.K.A: licensed) on the sound clips on your video, the sound could be removed by TikTok.

 

Tips for using sounds on TikTok

 

To make things simple and easy, here are some tips to follow to make sure that the sound you use on your videos will help your content be successful:

 

  • Try to use sounds that enhance your brand

  • When using sounds that are trending, but not exactly matching your content or brand, lower the volume to 20% and use a voiceover to help with your content

  • If creating original audio brand it by naming it with your brand name and make sure you add unique sound that is relevant to your business

  • Try to match your audio to your product/brand to help connect them in the mind of the viewer. This will help your content stick around longer in their mind

  • Feature your original sound in TikTok ads if you want. This will give that sound a chance to become more popular and be used by more content creators

  • Use hashtag campaigns with your original sound to encourage use in niche areas

  • Work with TikTok influencers asking them to use your sound in their videos with new creative content

  • Make sure the sound is informative and quick, you have 60 seconds (unless at the time of this post you have access to the new 3 minute videos update

  • Create shareable and loopable sounds, it’ll keep the sound going and not cut out randomly while also encouraging others to use the sound

  • Most importantly keep it entertaining! It may even be a great idea to hire someone that can help with creating unique sounds for your videos to get people to share them and use the sound to create their own

Sounds are important for TikTok and are one of the heavyweight contenders for increasing your reach on TikTok. Your business doesn’t always need to place ads, social media is a strong method to create a loyal following and long-term business growth.

 

What are some of your tips for using TikTok’s sounds?

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