We posted on TikTok every day for a month. This is what we learnt.

In January, during one of our team meetings, we discussed whether we should prioritise creating and sharing content on TikTok. One thing led to another, and the result was us deciding to commit to a challenge. We would post on TikTok every single day for 30 days to see what would happen. 

What we learnt.

The consistency worked. During our daily posting period, we achieved a 411% increase in video views (17k total), a 776% increase in likes and an increase of 118% in followers compared to the 30 days prior. 

Not only has it helped us set up our account and start developing a following within our niche, it allowed us to start consuming content differently. We began watching our FYPs with a little consideration in the back of our minds…‘Could we make this?’. This alteration in our mindsets meant that we always had a surplus of ideas for videos to create.

We also realised that some content styles performed better than others overall. The recurring theme? Content that was industry-relevant, for example, DITL’s (‘day in the life’  videos), digital marketing jokes/tips and general office-life content, performed best. Our highest-performing video was about what time we each arrived at the office. Whereas, the algorithm didn’t like it when we each shared our book of the month. This essentially taught us that the algorithm wanted us to be two things, educational and relatable. We needed to share advice that was relevant and helpful, while also creating humorous, down-to-earth content that was entertaining for our audience. 

With these learnings, we realised that just because we used a sound that was going viral, it didn’t automatically mean that our content would succeed. 

We also found that content doesn’t need to be over-complicated unnecessarily. Some of the videos we created simply involved us being filmed while we worked at our desks, then using the footage as a background for text, sharing insight about our industry. This style of content was quick, efficient and effective for the audience. In fact, if you aren’t sure how to get started on TikTok, this style of content is what we recommend, especially for the introverts out there. It’s user-friendly regardless of skill level, while still being optimised for the algorithm and entertaining and interesting for an audience to consume.

We also found that re-using our successful TikToks as Instagram Reels made for high-achieving and fun content to be spread across other platforms with less effort.

Why did we decide to do it?

Our team is split, two are Instagram Reel users, and the other three are avid TikTok fans. This experiment was really to help us understand how we can best use the platform, discover how quickly we can find a like-minded audience, see if we can achieve virality and discover whether it is worth our time and effort as a Digital Marketing Agency to advertise ourselves and our services on the platform.

Research has told us that most brands will benefit from posting 1 to 3 times per day, on average. Since we were starting from only posting whenever we felt inspired (once a week at most), we decided that posting daily would be enough of a challenge, to begin with. As digital marketers, we are always intrigued by new platforms. However, TikTok is a platform that seems to divide. Some believe it is THE tool for successful businesses online, while others believe it’s still just an app for kids to post dancing videos on. So, despite already being well aware of the pros and cons of using TikTok, we wanted to test what we could do when challenged with the task to increase our output of content so drastically. 

How we did it.

When it came to deciding what content to create, we really utilised the three of us on the team that was already enjoying (slightly obsessed with) TikTok. At the same time, the entire team began seeking out content that we could recreate for the challenge and sharing it with one another. Our inspiration really came from scrolling on our FYPs and sending videos to the group chat, which, once we started, allowed us to have an abundance of ideas. The only thing we struggled with was ensuring that everything we made was in some way relevant to our industry and that we were never making jokes at our client’s expense. Interestingly, we found a lot of companies using viral sounds to complain about their clients or employees, this wasn’t something we were keen to partake in. Luckily, we love a good challenge! So whenever these barriers presented themselves, they only encouraged us to collaborate on coming up with fun, creative and relevant ideas to use a trending sound or style of video.

We soon found ourselves in the routine of scheduling our daily videos a week ahead. We would either note what content we had already filmed or ideas we had and wanted to film. We found we were never short of ideas, due to our commitment to the ongoing search for the content we could make (the hours we spent scrolling in our own time were put to good use). Then, throughout the week we would set aside some time, at most 15-30 minutes, to shoot videos together and edit them. Although, there were times when we would be too busy and towards the end of the day, the panic would ensue that we hadn’t made a TikTok yet! Luckily this wasn’t often, and we were generally able to come up with an idea quickly or re-use our content from other platforms. Saving drafts that are ready to share also helped us during our busier periods.

What we would have done differently.

If we were to attempt the challenge again, one thing is for sure. We would time-block and batch as much content as possible. Doing this is safer, easier and far less stressful than attempting to make an odd TikTok sound about digital marketing in 10 minutes before you finish your work day. We would set aside a day and film as much content as possible to edit and use across the 30 days. This would allow us to film content on-demand when inspiration strikes, while also taking away the stress of needing to come up with content immediately so as to not fail the challenge. From the challenge, we learnt that it is worth setting aside this time and dedicating it to TikTok content as posting so often made such a great difference in our performance.

So, would we recommend it?

Yes! If you have the time and inspiration. 

It was enjoyable for the vast majority of the time, actually, we found that it was a fun, stress-relieving and bonding experience for our team to spend 10 minutes at a time away from our laptops to film a video for TikTok. It also got us inspired. We would come into the office with ideas coming out of our ears that we couldn’t wait to share with the team. It energised us.

But hey, to each their own. As digital marketers, we find creating content enjoyable, you might not. That said, it was a wonderful learning experience for our team. So, we recommend giving our little challenge a go. If 30 days sounds like too much of a commitment, then try a week or a fortnight. If you do, let us know how you go!