The Complete Guide to Getting Started with TikTok: TikTok Basics for Language Schools
TikTok is a new app that became popular among teenagers in recent years. This new sensation skyrocketed some young influencers’ careers and also found a use for many content creators.
Although it is famous for being a platform for young people to post short dance and lip-syncing videos, it’s actually much more versatile than that.
People quickly noticed the potential to use the platform to promote their businesses. But would it be useful for your language school’s marketing strategy? Let’s consider some pros and cons of the app.
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What Is TikTok and How Can It Be Beneficial for Educational Businesses?
TikTok is an app where users can create and upload short videos (started from 15 seconds, now even up to 3 minutes). The most popular formats include dancing or lip-syncing to popular songs. Videos can get likes and comments and have captions and hashtags, as on any other social platform.
It’s not the first app like that to be a hit among young people - a few years back we saw a rise of Vine and Musical.ly. But it is, by far, the most successful one and one that didn’t get unnoticed by “the old guard” – Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
The content on TikTok is greatly shaped by trends. It can be a type of a dance sequence, a song to dance to, and various types of challenges or anything else that simply catches on, that people try to replicate. It’s crucial to understand that it is a giant platform (800 million users!) with a massive amount of content created on daily basis.
And that means you can literally find anything on there. Not only silly skits and dancing, it can be also personal stories, advice, cooking recipes, and even serious educational content! This gives you the opportunity to find a niche for yourself there.
One thing about TikTok that makes it different than platforms like Instagram is that the content isn’t focused on aesthetics and quality, and videos tend to have a very home-made look. Also, people tend to look more often at their „For You” and „Discover” pages using hashtags, meaning it’s much easier to get noticed even if you don’t have any followers at the moment.
If you think your ideal students might be using TikTok, it is something worth considering. If you’re not up to date with Internet trends, it might be a bit tricky to know what to do. But if you feel like you found your niche and feel comfortable with the app, it can be a great addition to your marketing strategy.
Getting Started with TikTok
Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting started with TikTok:
Download the app – of course!
Set up an account – you can create a standard account and then switch it to a Pro Account for free, to be able to see your analytics and add links when needed.
Check out your „For You” and „Discover” pages – it’s an ever-changing platform with new trends coming up every week. It’s difficult to give universal advice on what to create, it’s best to see what’s popular at the moment.
Look for hashtags and creators related to language learning, expat living, education, etc.
Follow, like, comment…simply engage! – it’s a social platform after all!
Find inspiration – please remember to get inspired, not to copy!
Shoot your first video using the app and edit it – TikTok actually has a great built-in editor where you can cut videos, add effects, stickers, text on screen, etc. Editing starts with simply starting and pausing the recording as you go, to create individual clips. You can speed them up or slow them down, use a timer, add sounds and music, and all the effects when you’re done. Videos don’t need to be of perfect quality, start with something simple and have fun with it.
Post it! 😁
Try Duetting – a popular way of interacting and collaborating with people is to duet their tiktoks. Simply go to a video you like, click the arrow „Share” button, and choose ‘Duet’. You can shoot your video side to side with somebody else’s video. It may seem weird but it’s actually how people create viral trends and build on each other’s ideas to create new content.
How to Use TikTok as a Marketing Tool for Language Schools
When TikTok gained popularity, many companies started to wonder how to use TikTok for marketing.
For businesses like language schools, TikTok is tricky because on one hand - it targets a very specific audience, that might not have money to invest in your language courses (since they’re still in school) - but on the other hand, they might be the ones to convince their parents when it comes to choosing the final language school or tutor.
As a business owner, you are probably going to be older than most of the platform’s demographic and it might be very difficult for you to fit in. But it is also said that it might be easier for older creators to gain a lot of traction on this platform, as they are far and few between.
All in all, when it comes to TikTok, for language schools or tutors, it might be useful as a long-term tool to increase your visibility and lead to other opportunities, not only courses sales. So, if you’re feeling like it’s something that you could have fun with and your client avatar fits the platform – go for it!
Try creating short educational content, let your sense of humor shine, and don’t be afraid to be creative! The very limited length of the video might seem like a difficult restriction, but it will help you to keep things interesting and to the point. Creative platforms like these are perfect to show your personality, so if you’re a fun and young-at-heart type of person, you can show that to your students and gain their sympathy.
Unfortunately, TikTok doesn’t allow clickable links in videos, yet. Although this option may appear in the future. This means that it’s not the best for directly guiding viewers from the app to your website to sell the courses. But you can add links to your website in your bio with a Business Pro Account (it’s free). Similar to using Instagram, this can be your gateway to presenting your offer in full and convincing someone to enroll.
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How to Create a Successful Content Strategy on TikTok
If you decide that TikTok might be a platform for you, it’s time to decide on your content strategy. Since it’s a platform that favors authenticity over aesthetics and videos that feel native to the platform and not like commercials, the best tactic is to try and be yourself.
Look at your content pillars to get some basic ideas, remember your client avatar, and brainstorm what type of content your ideal students would enjoy.
But most of all, look around on the app to see what other people enjoy. On this social platform, it’s okay to get a bit more personal. Uploading perfect, yet impersonal promotional videos could feel out of place. Try to keep things entertaining, you can tell short anecdotes, talk about interesting language facts, show a piece of your local culture and tourist attractions.
Try to think of things you could have in common with your potential students or the opposite - things that are unique about you that people may find interesting. Adding more promotional or sales-related content is okay as long as you keep it looking native to the platform.
For example, if you’re an expat, and you’re running a language school for other expats, talk about the experience of moving and living abroad – people enjoy interesting personal stories and learning about cultures through the eyes of someone who has a similar experience to their own. This can increase the chance of someone who is an expat finding those videos, following you, and over time, gaining interest in your courses.
When it comes to following trends it’s better to be cautious and not follow them blindly. Lip-synching and dancing might send a wrong message to the target audience and copying the behaviors of content creators or influencers from this platform is risky. Content creators are people whose job is to provide entertaining or educational content and influencers earn money by influencing people to buy products or services because of their social media popularity. Ultimately your goal is to get more students and you should keep that in the back of your head when planning what to post.
Another precaution is that not being a native on this platform, usually due to age or cultural differences, might end up with you using a reference to something that is completely off-brand (like song lyrics that actually have a hidden meaning or a viral challenge that seems fun and innocent but was actually started in controversial circumstances). So, make sure you understand what you’re doing or try to stick to things that are safer.
Conclusion: How You Can Use the Power of TikTok for Your Language School
TikTok can be a powerful platform to drive interest, and ultimately sales for small businesses as well as big brands. If your ideal customer fits with the app’s demographic, using it for your language school or tutoring business may help you gain more students long-term.
However, not every social platform is right for everybody, you should choose the right one for yourself and focus on that instead of spreading yourself thin.
Generally, TikTok won’t be worth it for most small and medium language schools and tutoring businesses unless people who run the accounts are TikTok savvy. To check if this is something you could have fun with, try using the app as a viewer first, and see if you feel comfortable with it.
But be warned: it can be very addictive! 😉
