Currently, there are about 80 million monthly active TikTok users in the United States, with 80% of users falling in the 16–34 age range. While millennials still make up the largest share of home Buyers, Gen Z (the primary users of TikTok) may be hot on their tails. Using TikTok can be a good way to break into this emerging group of future home owners. Here are a few tips for how to use TikTok to market yourself and your homes.
1. Know what your audience wants
Is your audience interested in doing home tours online? Or are they more interested in learning about the home-buying process? What kinds of information do first-time home Buyers want?
These are just some of the questions you should answer as you begin to use TikTok. A good way to answer these questions is to immerse yourself in the app itself. See what other real estate agents are doing on the app and try to mimic it as best you can. One of the unique parts of TikTok is that popular users can find success by imitating other popular things (more on that later).
As you get more comfortable with what works, you can focus on your target audience. Given the younger age of the TikTok audience in general, you’ll likely focus on things like “How much you can expect to pay for your first home,” or “Things you can do to become a homeowner in your 20s.”
2. Be your authentic self
Authenticity is currency on TikTok, so your content must be authentic. Unlike many other social media and advertising platforms, you don’t have to be totally polished to be successful. The key instead is to be real and provide real value relevant to the needs of younger Buyers.
Going further, TikTok is relatively rare in social media for its focus on positivity. According to a study from Nielsen (commissioned by TikTok itself), authenticity is the expectation on TikTok, with about 75% of people surveyed responding that “TikTok is a place where people can express themselves openly.” Additionally, “Users also associated the advertising on TikTok with being more authentic, fun, genuine, honest, real and trustworthy compared to other channels.”
So, don’t be afraid of letting your positive idiosyncrasies shine. If you’re funny, tell jokes. If you like to dance, dance like everyone who loves you unconditionally is watching. Just make sure you’re providing value, and you can use your personality to become memorable.
3. Be creative and willing to imitate in your TikTok marketing
In many marketing cases, differentiation and creativity are what lead to breakthroughs. While that does still apply to TikTok in general, TikTok users also like imitations in what they watch.
For instance, you can go on TikTok and watch hundreds or thousands of videos of people doing their take on a certain dance set to certain music. It’s kind of like song covers, but for more than just songs.
So, how can you be creative and willing to imitate at the same time? One way is to keep up with popular songs and sounds on TikTok’s For You page. This can help keep you connected to the rapidly changing zeitgeist on TikTok. Then, you can combine it with what makes you, you and your expertise in real estate.
Combining authenticity with what’s popular on the platform is a strong way to break the ice and connect with your clients on TikTok.
4. Create concise content and convert existing content
When using the app, the longest video you can make is 60 seconds long. For real estate agents, it’s essentially a digitized elevator pitch. So, when making your point or pitch, you must be direct and efficient.
One way to do so is to convert existing content into smaller, bite-sized pieces. Whether it’s something as long as a seminar or shorter like a useful blog post, you should use content you already have on TikTok. The key is to present the best hooks from existing content on TikTok and then invite users to learn more, either on your website or on a longer-form social media platform like Facebook.
5. Make your TikTok cross-functional
TikTok encourages you to share anything you make on their platform to other social media platforms. That lets you take several bites of the apple when creating content and maximizing engagement. It can also help you introduce yourself to people on other platforms more authentically and organically.
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