How to Transform Your Event Marketing with TikTok

In the vibrant landscape of the UAE, exhibitions serve as a paramount platform for businesses to showcase and share their innovations with current and potential customers. As a business owner, you are definitely well aware of the excitement and anticipation that come with participating in an exhibition. But, in a sea of a competitive market that grows fiercer every day, how do you ensure that people will show up at your event?

That’s right! A well-structured marketing strategy is the key. While traditional marketing methods like billboards and TV ads have their audience, relying solely on them might not be enough to promote your event effectively. In today’s digital age, establishing a stable online presence is not just beneficial; it’s essential.

And here’s where TikTok comes into play. Like many other social media platforms, TikTok has become a powerful tool that has taken the world by storm with its short, engaging videos and dynamic audience base. TikTok provides its users with an active platform where they can connect with a broader audience. By embracing the power of TikTok and what it adds to your marketing plan, you will have a great tool that could help you boost your exhibition visibility to a point that genuinely marks your place in the market.

So, before we unravel the secrets to effective TikTok marketing strategies, let’s learn more about what TikTok marketing is and what it offers that other social media platforms don’t.

Simply put, TikTok marketing is a digital marketing strategy that businesses use to promote their brand, services, products, or events on TikTok. It encompasses a variety of tactics aimed at reaching and connecting with a target audience.

By leveraging the platform’s unique features, trends, community dynamics, and visually-driven structure, you can create content that resonates with users, drive engagement, and increase brand awareness.

No one can deny the popularity and growth that TikTok has witnessed since its humble beginning. It was first launched in 2017 as a simple app used for short-form videos only.
However, in 2020, after the COVID-19 pandemic, TikTok evolved quite rapidly, becoming one of the most popular social platforms that does not only support videos but other various content types, including slideshows, live streams, text overlays, and voiceovers.

This transformation served as a wake-up call for businesses around the globe. They realized that to effectively align their marketing efforts with their marketing goals, including TikTok in their digital marketing plan was essential. Alongside the pandemic and its significant influence on global digital consumption, TikTok’s remarkable growth would not have been possible without its unique features and benefits that set it apart from other social media platforms, including:

Large User Base: Did you know that the average active user opens TikTok at least 8 times daily? Shocking right! Well, that’s not all! TikTok is expected to reach 1.8 billion monthly users by the end of 2024. Can you imagine what you can do with this extensive user base? TikTok can provide a unique opportunity for you to connect and reach a wider audience of all ages and interests. It is simply a great platform that you can use to draw attention to your exhibition.

High Engagement Rates: TikTok users are known for spending hours using the app. Consider your own experience; how frequently have you lost track of time scrolling through social media? With the extensive time users spend on TikTok and its diverse user base, people will inevitably engage with the content they encounter through likes, comments, or shares.

This high level of user engagement can do wonders for your event and brand. Every interaction could enhance visibility, attract more audience, and generate buzz. This not only boosts your event’s reach but also creates a sense of excitement, making it more likely to resonate with potential attendees.

User-Friendly Algorithm: Unlike Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms, TikTok has a simple algorithm. Every piece of content shared on TikTok runs directly through a page called “For You Page,” commonly known as FYP. This page is designed for personalized experiences, showcasing user-generated content. The algorithm learns from your behavior over time, considering every like, comment, and share. So, The more you engage with a specific type of content, the more likely your FYP will feature similar videos.

By leveraging the algorithm’s focus on personalized content and employing the right content strategy, you can effectively reach your target audience—those most likely interested in attending your event.

At our agency, we often get asked, “How can I kickstart my TikTok marketing journey?” As a leading digital marketing agency in the UAE, we’re here to guide you through the essentials of launching a successful campaign on this dynamic platform.

Define Your Target Audience

The first step to crafting a successful TikTok marketing strategy—or any digital marketing strategy, for that matter—is to have a deep understanding of your target audience. Analyzing user demographics such as age, income level, education level, and motivations for attending your event is crucial. This valuable insight allows you to design targeted campaigns that align with your audience’s interests and needs, ultimately enhancing your TikTok marketing plan’s primary goal: attracting more attendees and generating greater interest in your event.

Build a Diverse Content Plan

Your primary business goal is for your videos to appear on your audience’s For You Page, right? To achieve this, your content creation on TikTok should be thoughtfully structured. Fortunately, TikTok offers a versatile platform that allows you to do just that.

Let’s go back in time for a second. When TikTok was first released, it primarily supported short-form videos that featured dance challenges only. However, it has evolved significantly since then, especially among Generation Z users. Today, TikTok supports a wide variety of content forms, including long videos, live streams, stitches, and many more, giving more room for creativity and engagement.

So, how can this feature enhance your content creation efforts? With the variety of content formats available on the app, you can easily experiment and find what resonates best with your audience. Not only that, but by using the right content, you can actively engage your audience, increase traffic to your account, and get more video views. Here are some ideas you can share:

• Behind-the-scenes clips showcasing the making of your event.
• Teaser videos that offer a sneak peek of your event highlights.
• A promotional video highlighting key moments from previous events.
• Interactive polls or Q&A sessions.

Post Regularly

One thing that most social media platforms have in common is their love for constant posting. While it’s true that quality often outweighs quantity, on TikTok, both aspects are equally important as the app’s algorithm favors accounts that consistently share valuable videos.

This is how it works: When you post regularly, your videos gain views, and the more views your videos get, the higher the potential for engagement. As user interactions with your content increase, it sends signals to the algorithm, notifying it of the value of your content. This means more people will see your event-related content.

Additionally, by posting consistently, you can build a stronger connection with your audience, leading to more followers and higher conversion rates.

Note that it’s essential to strike a balance when posting on TikTok. You don’t want to overwhelm your audience with too many videos, as this could lead to them unfollowing you or, even worse, hitting the “Not Interested” button.

Partner With Influencers

Whether you believe it or not, influencer marketing has become indispensable to any digital marketing strategy. It’s no accident that influencers have gathered millions of loyal followers. Their success is rooted in their ability to establish trust and develop authentic, engaging relationships with their audience. So, can you imagine the incredible impact an influencer collaboration could have on your event and brand?

By partnering with influencers—who share your brand values and target the same audience as you—you can create content that sparks conversations and creates a buzz around your event. Think of influencers as the trusted voices in their communities. When they promote your event or brand, it comes with a level of authenticity that traditional advertising struggles to match, making your promotion more credible and compelling.

Invest in TikTok’s Paid Ads

If your marketing budget allows, investing in TikTok ads can be a game-changer. There are various types of ad formats on TikTok, such as In-Feed ads, image ads, carousel ads, video ads, top view ads, spark ads, Brand takeover, branded hashtag challenges, and branded effects.

These diverse ad types not only help you reach a broader audience, but they can also be an excellent hook for ongoing conversations around your event. So, if you have the budget, don’t miss out on this opportunity to elevate your online presence. Invest in TikTok ads and create lasting connections with your audience.

Track Key Metrics

By monitoring metrics like comments, likes,  shares, video views, and follower growth, you can gain valuable insights into the kind of content that resonates best with your audience. Utilizing tools like TikTok Analytics and third-party platforms can provide accurate tracking and analysis of these metrics. This data-driven insight enables you to optimize your content for better performance and ultimately enhance your visibility and reach on TikTok, making your exhibition more noticeable and engaging to your target audience.