TikTok, TikTok… Don’t Waste Time Marketing Elsewhere!
You’re a small independent record label looking to break out your artists to a wider audience. You know that marketing is the key to success, but you’re not sure how to stand out in a crowded field especially on a shoestring budget. There’s one tool that stands above all others when it comes to potential explosive growth – TikTok.
One of the biggest advantages of TikTok is its largely secret algorithm. Unlike other social media platforms, its algorithm is designed to show users content that they’re likely to enjoy, even if they’re not already following the creator. This means that if you create compelling content, it has the potential to go viral and reach a massive audience.
Getting The Most Out Of TikTok –
Like Twitter and Instagram, TikTok hashtags help your content reach interested users. Use genre-related popular hashtags for visibility, but avoid spamming. Two or three is fine but anymore is a waste of your time and takes away from your content. Visible text in videos is crucial now, but TikTok’s algorithm keeps evolving. Stay updated.
On TikTok, prioritize your artist’s music availability for user video creations. It expands exposure and fosters a music community.
TikTok challenges are a great way to get users engaged with your artists’ music. Getting them to create a dance or lip-sync challenge using their music, and encouraging users to participate by using a specific hashtag. This can help their music go viral and create a buzz around your artist. Be on the lookout for any new music your artists are putting out that have the potential to be picked up and used on TikTok for trends. When a song is used as part of a challenge or trend, its growth can be explosive.
The Lows and The Highs –
Of course, there are also some potential downsides to using TikTok for music marketing. One of the biggest challenges is creating content that stands out in a sea of similar videos. You’ll need to be creative and find ways to make your artists music and their persona genuine, unique and memorable. TikTok moves quickly, and trends can come and go in a matter of days. You’ll need to be agile and adaptable to keep up with the latest trends and stay relevant.
Despite these challenges, there have been plenty of successful music marketing campaigns on TikTok. Perhaps the biggest example is Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” which started as a TikTok meme and eventually became a worldwide hit. The song’s success was due in large part to the grassroots support it received on the app, and the creative ways users incorporated it into their videos.
Another example is the success of Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License.” The song was initially promoted on TikTok by fans who created their own videos using the track. This helped create a buzz around the song, which eventually went on to become a massive hit.
The potential that TikTok presents from a marketing standpoint is clear for all to see. Though it can seem as easy as posting a random video and getting lucky, most of the time it’s not that simple. If you put in the work into creating label-wide strategies and strategies for specific artists, or give them free reign to do so, your chance of seeing their career skyrocket will be as high as possible.
If you’ve found this relevant and helpful, visit Instrumental to see how we can help you further grow your label!
