What is TikTok for Business?
TikTok is extraordinarily popular, with the projected number of users in the United States in 2023 to be 97.6 million.1 Given this popularity, businesses may wonder if they should consider utilizing this platform for business outreach and branding. Given security concerns, businesses may also wonder if they should consider avoiding using TikTok for business. In order to make an informed decision, review the following features and concerns associated with creating a TikTok business account:
Features
Web Business Suite. Web Business Suite is a central location for the additional features available on a business account, and it is available on your computer. The Web Business Suite features include2:
- Analytics– where you find data about your account.
- Workspace– where you find your Promote information, which is the advertising tool within your TikTok app that helps you to get more viewers and followers.
- Activity and support– where you find creative ideas and information on how to grow your business account.
Business Creative Hub. In the Creative Hub, business account users can use the Business Content Guide to see tips on content strategy, video recording, and best practices. Business account users can also use the Video Showcase, which features nationally trending content.
Commercial Music Library. Business account users have access to CML’s collection of 1,000,000+ songs and sounds that have been pre-cleared for commercial use, enabling business users to create their own TikTok trends without needing to obtain licenses on their own.
Concerns
Customer privacy and security. If your customers were to experience a privacy or security violation on TikTok, there is a risk that they could associate that experience with your brand, which could be damaging.
Your privacy and security. TikTok has been banned by states and government organizations over security-related concerns. TikTok may also violate your business’s own security policies.
Association with controversial company. TikTok has been described as a “vector for censorship and surveillance” by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.4
Audience is quite young. As of April 2022, roughly 70% of TikTok users were younger than 35 years old.5
Limited analytics. TikTok business profiles are quite young themselves, and do not contain analytics data beyond 28 days. If you want to track this data beyond that timeframe, you will need to do so independently.
1 Statista, 2022, “Number of TikTok users in the United States from 2019 to 2025”
2 TikTok, 2023, “Personal and Business Accounts on TikTok”
3 Watson, 2022, “6 Reasons Why TikTok Is Still Risky For Your Business Outreach and Branding”
4 U.S. Embassy in El Salvador, 2023, “TikTok parent company complicit in censorship and Xinjiang police propaganda”
5 Ceci, 2022, “TikTok usage distribution in the U.S. 2022, by age”