How to Promote Music on Tik Tok

Tik Tok may be most popular with Gen Z, but they are far from the only ones to use the platform. Tik Tok currently boasts over 1 billion active users and has become a major player in music marketing. If your band does not have a Tik Tok account, you are missing out on an opportunity to promote your music and your band merch. 

If you’re looking for an easy way to promote your music with no money, you should definitely promote your music on Tik Tok. You’ll probably have a lot of fun doing it. 

Promoting Music on Tik Tok is Easy

Unlike some other social media platforms, Tik Tok users don’t merely scroll endlessly looking at content--a majority of Tik Tok users regularly upload their own content. Unlike YouTube, for example, Tik Tok has a more interactive user base. 

The more people interact with your Tik Tok content, the more likely you will go viral. 

If you are currently working on your marketing strategy, Tik Tok is a great way for you to interact with your current fanbase with the goal of building your audience. 

Why is it a good idea to promote music on Tik Tok? Because it’s easy to do. It’s also free. It’s also very music-centric. 

Tik Tok is a video-based platform where most of the content posted is based around music. Anyone who is promoting music should be on Tik Tok and learning how to get songs on Tik Tok. 

Here is a basic outline of Tik Tok videos:

• Videos can be 15 seconds, 60 seconds, or three minutes long
• Videos are backed with audio (usually music)
• Tik Tok videos can be recorded in parts and edited together
• Popular videos reach a wider audience 
• Users can stitch or duet other user’s videos to interact with content 
• FYP gives you super personalized content 

Everything that makes this platform unique are reasons why you should promote your music on Tik Tok. If you don’t believe promoting your music on Tik Tok can lead to success, consider this:   Lil Nas X reached number one on the Billboard Top 100 for his single Old Town Road all thanks to Tik Tok. 

If you are now convinced that you need to be promoting your music on Tik Tok, here is how you can begin. 

How to Promote Music on Tik Tok

Follow these steps to help your music go viral on Tik Tok. 

1) Make an Account 

The first thing to do is make an account for your band if you haven’t already. You can add your other social media accounts and your website link in your bio so fans can easily find you. Consider setting up a Linktree if you don’t already have one, you can share all of your social media pages and band merch from one link. 

2) Get Your Songs on Tik Tok  

There are two ways to get your songs on Tik Tok so other users can use your songs in their videos. But to even have the slightest chance of your music going viral on Tik Tok, your music needs to be featured in the app library. 

The first way to get your songs on Tik Tok is to use a music distribution service. You won’t be able to upload any song from your harddrive and get it on Tik Tok. Just like with getting your music on iTunes or Spotify, you need to distribute it. 

If you are already using a digital distribution service, make sure they support Tik Tok. Check with your service to see how you can get your songs on tik tok.  

If you want to test a song to see how it performs on Tik Tok before releasing it, you can also upload a teaser of your song, such as the chorus or a catchy verse. This will function the same way as uploading a regular video with original audio.  

Steps for Uploading a Teaser Clip on Tik Tok: 

1. Upload a video that contains the track clip you want to use
2. Click the profile photo in the bottom right-hand corner
3. Name your song with the Track name and Artist Name 

Once you have music on Tik Tok, your goal is to get other people to use your music on the platform. Create videos around your content and encourage your friends and followers to do the same. The more interaction your posts get, the more you are likely to show up on FYP. 

3) Use Hashtags

Like with Instagram, using hashtags on Tik Tok is one of the best ways of promoting your content. As long as you use relevant hashtags, you are more likely to get new views by people who are already interested in that type of content. 

If you are focusing on niche marketing, you already know that it’s best to focus your promotion efforts on a qualified audience. 

Using popular hashtags will also increase your chances of appearing in the Discover and For You tabs. 

4) Create Fun Challenges 

As we said earlier, Tik Tok is a very interactive social media platform. One of the best ways to boost interaction and increase the likelihood of going viral is to follow trends and participate in challenges. 

Tik Tok users are more engaged with this type of content and the algorithm knows it, meaning your content is likely to be seen by a wider audience. If you see a cool challenge that fits in with your brand, you can make it work for your content marketing strategy.

If you are participating in a viral challenge, use one of your original songs as the soundtrack. Anyone who shares your video will be sharing your song and promoting your music for free. 

Sidenote: if you are participating in viral Tik Tok challenges, wear your own band merch in your videos to help promote yourself! 

5) Follow and Interact with Others 

Following other users is one of the best ways to build an audience on Tik Tok. Start following accounts as soon as you create yours. Follow other musicians, popular influencers, and be sure to follow back everyone who follows you. 

By following successful accounts and influencers, you can see how they interact with their audience and use that information to help you form a better Tik Tok marketing strategy. 

If you build rapport with other users, you can consider creating a duet with another musician to help boost both of your accounts. 

6) Focus on Tik Tok-friendly Tracks 

If you want your music to go viral on Tik Tok, it’s best to focus on songs that are best-suited for the platform. Focus on songs that contain a catchy clip around 15 seconds long. Songs with catchy lyrics or a good rhythm tend to perform the best. 

Not all songs will perform well on Tik Tok. The songs you choose to highlight should resonate with other users. Think about the music content that is already on Tik Tok: your song should be prime for lip-synching or otherwise encourage content generation by others. 

If you think your song has the potential for a dance routine akin to Lizzo, go for it. 

7) Use Tik Tok Analytics 

Content creators on Tik Tok can view data and metrics regarding their content and engagement using the analytics dashboard. To view this info, go to the Creators tools tab under account settings and select Analytics. 

Tik Tok pro analytics offers three main views: 

• Content insights showing shares, likes, and comments
• Follower insights showing audience breakdown by activity, gender, etc. 
• Profile overview showing profile views, video views, etc. 

Utilizing analytics will help you understand which songs/dance routines perform the best so you can focus on content that will perform best. 

8) Share on Other Platforms

If you create content for Tik Tok, it doesn’t have to live there exclusively. Share your videos to your other social media channels, as well. Someone might follow your page on Facebook but not even realize you have a Tik Tok. 

It’s also easy to share Tik Tok videos on Instagram stories directly from the app.

9) Be Authentic 

Tik Tok isn’t about perfection, it’s about real people entertaining one another. Make it fun and entertaining for your followers, but don’t lose your authenticity in the process. 

You can help grow a community with your fans by providing behind-the-scenes access to your band and upcoming projects. You can document practice sessions or the process of designing new merch. Whatever you do, just keep it true to yourself. 

Convert Your Tik Tok Followers into Fans 

Promoting your music on Tik Tok is a great (and free!) step in marketing your band. The platform has allowed unknown artists to find music success nearly overnight. Tik Tok is certainly one of the most exciting ways to promote your music, but it is not the end goal. 

There is no guarantee that your song will go viral on Tik Tok, so you need to continue your efforts marketing your band outside of the platform, too. You also need to turn your active Tik Tok followers into active fans who will support your music outside of the platform. 

Make it easy for fans to find your content outside of Tik Tok. Make sure you link to your other social media pages and band website. Maybe share your Spotify page so your fans can listen to your full album or direct them to a purchase page if they can buy physical copies of your album. 

If you’re selling merch like band t-shirts, make sure your fans know that you have merch available. The easiest way to let your fans know you have merchandise is by wearing them in the videos you upload. 

Tik Tok is a global platform and you may find yourself with fans all over the map. Since many might not be able to support you by going to your concerts, make sure they can still support you by selling your merch online, as well as in person. 

At MerchBooth.com, we can help you deliver the best merch to all your Tik Tok fans for free.

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