I really break down TikTok into two types of content, educational and entertainment based. Now, your videos can be a mix of both. But you're primarily an educational content creator or an entertainment-based content creator. So with a personal brand, you're gonna put out lots of that educational content because we know that's what positions you as the expert in your industry.

You know, you're giving value, you're building credibility. Where I find, you know, in some of the business brands is that they tend to do more of this entertainment based. So, for example, if you look at Duo Lingo very successful on TikTok, they have over a million followers, maybe even 2 million. I, I can't remember off the top of my head, but they have a mascot as the face of the brand and they also have a social media manager and you know, some other team members who make appearances in the videos.

Another one is the Washington Post, right? They have primarily two to three people who are creating content and being the face of that page, and they're doing a lot of trends, a lot of the trending content, or they're presenting information in a way that's really entertaining. Such as like these role plays or what I call character skits.

That's when one person plays two characters, maybe even multiple characters. So of course if you are a business, you need to have like an employee who is kind of the face of the brand or, or a few team members.

George B. Thomas: So as you can see, it's a bit of a happy mix of content types, but your possibilities are endless. You just have to get creative and think of what can you do and what can you do different, but find those humans in your company that like to create content that like to be creative and test of TikTok can be a new powerhouse for your B2B marketing efforts.

However, it's interesting where I cut it off there… Wave did go on to give us some interesting words of wisdom about leveraging single person versus a team and the thought around this sole representative of your brand on TikTok

Wave Wyld: It's really important at the same time, you know, not exactly be the sole representatives because if that employee ever leaves the workspace, you know, then you have a little bit of a hurdle to overcome.

So it can be a little bit tricky for business owners and I think that's sometimes why they get kind of hung up and you know, are not super fast to jump on the TikTok bandwagon.

George B. Thomas:That's why I wanted to include, include that clip, because if you know the hurdle in the middle of the road before you get to it, it's easier to jump over when you get there.

Just be smart in how you start to implement TikTok and think multiple humans versus maybe just one. Unless, of course, maybe that just one is just you, the business owner. But we'll dig back into this conversation in a bit.

What are your thoughts on TikTok for B2B marketing? Love it. Have a success story you'd like to share.

I wanna know, keep the conversation going by using the hashtag #mpb2b and let me know again, we'll get back to wave in a few minutes where we dive into the question and the original title of the podcast episode. How do you know if TikTok is right for your business?

But first, it's time for some dope B2B learnings from the vault of marketing prof's articles. That's right. It's time to dig into the treasure trove of valuable information and pull out two pieces of gold to help you be a better B2B marketer.

Article one this week is how to make sure your social media strategy succeed: take a cross discipline approach. This honestly is a quick and easy read and tells the story and teaches lessons from General Motors, Hewlett Packard, Nissan, and many more.

Article number two for this week's episode is four things TikTok can teach us about presentations. Man, is it so true. I love, love, love this section here. Great content starts Conversations. Dance trends, reaction clips, stitching and duets. The best content on TikTok doesn't end when the video loops. It enters into a larger conversation where it's shared, edited, remixed, and repurposed.

The common thread is that the original creators are offering something that is relevant, engaging and to their SP or engaging to their specific audience. It's a not only what they wanna say or do, but also how they can be creative in conversation with a broader cultural context. I want you to think when you're doing presentations, does it end with where your presentation ends, or does it continue on? Does the conversation continue on?

Yo learn more after the broadcast and to read both of those articles, head to the link located in the description below, and actually it's links in the description below. And that's right. You know what I'm gonna say? All the right links in all the right place at the right time, they will be there.

Trust me, I got your back. I love you that much. But back to the interview with Wave, but first, the title of the original podcast was How do you know if TikTok is right for your business? Uh, I should have maybe retitled that a little bit. Maybe right for your B2B business or right for your B2B marketing efforts.

I could have maybe done a little bit of a different title, but either way you slice and dice this conversation. The question remains the same. How can you understand and come to the realization if TikTok is or is not right for what you want to achieve in the future with your digital strategy? To that question and to that title as good or not good as it was Wave simply had this to say, let's take a listen.

Wave Wyld: Go consume content, right? Do some research on the platform. Go see if your competitors are there and see what they're doing. Notice if what is working for them and not working. So you can easily do this through the search function by just searching keywords in your industry. You can do it through hashtags, maybe even trying some of your hashtags from other platforms and seeing what kind of content comes up on the platform with those.

So that is a great way just to see are other people in your niche on the platform: What are they doing? Does this look like something that you could do too?

George B. Thomas: I love, uh, Myra, your comment, uh, and let's just go ahead and. Relieved to know that there are more TikTok content options than just having the CEO shaking his thing to an R&B song.

I absolutely love that. That is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful view. But now let's get back on track. Had to have a little fun there. Did you catch the plethora of ways to find out if it makes sense for you? Literally Wave said, consume content. Do some research. See if your competitors are there. Search keywords and search or use hashtags.

Man, it's so true if you just dive into the platform and then again, test. And test. And test. All of those sound like great ways to start and we're gonna get some words of wisdom from wave here in a few minutes, but right now it's time to turn the spotlight on you, the MarketingProfs community.

Yep. Time for From the #MPB2B Community. We've searched foreign and wide in the #MPB2B universe to find amazing information and of course conversations to bring to you the masses. So first, make sure you're using the hashtag and second, make sure you have fun and add value to the community.

So when it comes to this conversation, what's fun is it actually came from the B2B Forum. That's right. It came from the B2B Forum. And we are going to go ahead and hold for one second because we're having couple difficulties and let me get to the section that we need to get to. So the B2B Foeum is where this came from, and it actually was from the community. Here we go. And we're almost there. The joys of live video. And tech do, do, do, do, do, do. I could start beatboxing for everybody. That would be dope.

There we go. All right. This week it's LinkedIn. That's where we got this, the hashtag mpB2B from LinkedIn, and it is Mark Alvarez. If we tag you and you see this or watch this, mark is a business development executive at Top Rank Marketing, and his Spotlight post is this. It simply was 10 creative content ideas you'll want to try today featuring Top Rank Marketing CEO Lee Odin. That's right, Leo Odin, and if you click on the link, it takes you to a great resource. And of course, they use the hashtag #mpb2b to get us there. Links will be in the show now. Are you gonna be the next to get the spotlight?

Remember, community, use the hashtag #mpb2b on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, and get the light shined on your awesomeness in the next episode or a future episode of The Marketing Smarts Live show. Pro tip: by the way, it won't hurt if you tag me into your post, as I will see it a lot quicker. And again, it's at George B. Thomas on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Let's kick it back to Wave, to the interview, some words of wisdom around this topic of B2B marketers and TikTok. And, uh, to be honest with you, I don't know if this is just TikTok, but these are definitely some good words of wisdom. So let's go ahead and take a listen.

Wave Wyld: You have to consume content and just know that there is still a lot of opportunity on TikTok. Some people will say, oh, you know, the early adopter stage is over. But I have many clients who are crushing it on TikTok because they understand the culture and they get shortform video content creation. The last thing I wanna say is content is king on TikTok.

And I see a lot of people really getting caught up in strategies like using trending music. And this is stuff that holds them back cause they don't know what to use or you know, they're focused on going viral or which hashtags to use or which time of the day to post. And these are strategies, they're all good to employ, but they never ever determine video performance or virality. It always comes down to the content. What you communicate in your videos, what you're saying to people, how you make them feel, the story that you're telling, and how they engage with your videos is what determines what, how many views you get, and then how many, how much exposure you get.

And then ultimately, you know, your success on the app.

George B. Thomas: It always comes down to content and especially if you're focused on educational. And then I love that Wave said, how do you make them feel? Yes, strategy is great, but content is king. And might I say then engagement from that content is possibly queen.

Listen. Have you enjoyed today's journey? Let us know. Use that #mpb2b. Make sure you head to the description below. Click on the link to the Full Marketing Smarts Podcast with Wave Wyld and keep on learning more about TikTok. Remember, These were just a few small clips from the original Marketing Smarts interview that, by the way, were sponsored by Mountain and Semush when we released it in your favorite podcast app.

If you got value outta today's show, hit that like and better yet, share it with a friend to keep learning more. Hit that subscribe or watch additional MarketingProfs videos or go tune into the original Marketing Smarts podcast episode on your favorite podcast app. But don't forget to become part of the MarketingProfs community by heading over to mprofs.com/mp today.

And as always, remember to be a happy, helpful, humble B2B marketing human. And we'll see you on the next Marketing Smarts Live next week. Have a great day.