Hello Alice Examines Why SMBs Are Flocking to TikTok

More small and midsized businesses are de-emphasizing marketing via traditional social platforms like Facebook and Instagram to grow conversation, reach and revenue in favor of more video-centric platform like YouTube and, particularly, TikTok, and Hello Alice, a free multichannel platform aimed at helping SMBs get off the ground and grow, conducted a survey to find out why. Hello Alice said the estimated 32.5 million SMBs across the U.S. make up 99.9% of the country’s overall business landscape, making it important to understand how those businesses plan to grow and the tools they plan to use in that journey. The company said in the introduction to its report, “To do this, we surveyed small businesses across the country and within numerous industries and identified three key trends for how small businesses leverage digital marketing to achieve growth. First, SMBs prioritize affordability when deciding to use a digital marketing platform. Second, creative storytelling is emerging as an important factor regarding the value a platform brings to a small business owner. This leads naturally to our third finding: Platform sentiments are starting to shift from platforms like Facebook and Instagram toward alternatives, like YouTube and TikTok.” Hello Alice continued, “In fact, throughout our research, we uncovered overwhelming optimism among small business owners about TikTok’s potential as a digital marketing platform. To better understand the source of this optimism, we took a deep dive into the perspectives and experiences of small business owners who are using TikTok, through both organic and paid advertising, to promote their products and services.” The main findings in the report by Hello Alice include: SMBs using TikTok are more optimistic about their future compared with those on other platforms: 78% of those currently using TikTok plan to increase their investment, 11% higher than any other platform, and 59% of SMB owners that do not currently use TikTok plan to start doing so. Meanwhile, 84% of SMBs using paid ads on TikTok plan to maintain or increase their marketing budget on the platform this year, while 79% find TikTok as valuable or more valuable than other digital platforms.Platforms that support creativity and connection are increasing in appeal for SMBs: The "easy-to-use" (73%) and "fun-to-use" (81%) features that enable dynamic storytelling in a variety of formats on TikTok are proving to be the most appealing to SMBs.SMBs are influenced by their peers: Hello Alice explained, “The viral word of mouth that makes TikTok so impactful for SMBs is the same primary factor increasing SMB usage of TikTok. Of the five platforms studied—Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube—TikTok had the highest proportion of owners who planned to start due to word of mouth from other small business owners claiming that the platform was effective (43%).” 68% of SMBs on TikTok say it is the place where their counterparts need to be right now, while 75% of TikTok Ads Manager users strongly agree that they would recommend the platform to other SMB owners. Finally, when asked why SMBs were looking to start or increase investment with each platform, the most common reason for adopting TikTok was, “I’ve heard from other small business owners that this platform was effective."Affordability and return on investment were top concerns: Hello Alice wrote, “A majority of SMBs leveraging these platforms are new or emerging businesses with limited resources and a primary focus of immediate ROI.” The company found that 45% of SMBs that use digital platforms don’t engage in any paid marketing, relying entirely on organic traction, with newer platforms like TikTok gaining significant ground based on organic discoverability. 49% of those that use TikTok for organic marketing purposes have only been on the platform for three months or less.58% of SMB owners on TikTok believe the platform has positively affected their businesses to date, with visibility, audience reach/engagement, business growth and professional development most commonly cited.SMBs using TikTok are pleased with the audience they're finding on the platform, with 70% calling it diverse and 59% believing it's an audience eager to discover new products, services and brands. Hello Alice concluded with these suggestions for TikTok: “Small business owners regularly using TikTok have few complaints about the platform. In fact, 46% believe TikTok is dedicated to the success of small businesses like theirs. However, TikTok still has some work to do in dismantling common misconceptions among small business owners not yet on the platform, particularly those who are newer to digital marketing in general. Three key steps TikTok can take to address these concerns are: more effectively promoting its learning resources to ease the fear of complexity; better demonstrating and raising awareness of its fast-growing audience; and raising awareness among SMBs of the many advertising tools and opportunities on TikTok. Overall, TikTok is not lacking in these areas but, rather, it could improve in promotion and education.”

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Hello Alice Examines Why SMBs Are Flocking to TikTok

45% of those that use digital platforms don’t engage in any paid marketing

David Cohen

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David Cohen