From the editor:

This blog is part two of a four-part TikTok exposé brought to you by FearWorm in conjunction with our client Fear Factory SLC. Chris Strebel, their Media Director, has had wonderful success with this new, exciting social platform. FearWorm is proud to bring this information to our industry.

If you missed Part 1, read it here first.

Take it away, Chris! 

A guide to Using TikTok & Getting Started.

After downloading, TikTok videos begin to play automatically on your “For You “page. The app has chosen to highlight. You can adjust this by following and unfollowing creators as you go. Perhaps if you’re like us, you’ll follow your actors, artists, other haunts, vendors, influencers, and creators that inspire some ideas. Remember the For You page cause we’ll come back to that.  

You can give creators “hearts” for the content they created, which are the same as “lIkes” you’d find on other social media platforms. If you click on the magnifying glass icon next to the home icon, here is where you can see current popular hashtags that are trending, challenges, and sponsored videos. You also can type what you’re searching for, for example, typing in fearfactoryslc lets you see the following results. Top, Users, Videos, Sounds & Hashtags. 

While watching videos on the app, You’ll notice on the right-hand side the videos creator icon, which takes you to other videos they’ve created. The number of “hearts” it has received (you can also click if you like their content) The number of comments it has which you can go in and comment or like others comments from different users. At the bottom, the user finds the name, captions, and song title that is playing. Or it may even be an original sound that users can duet, or save to make their video with your sound. 

When you’re ready to post your video on TikTok, click the plus icon in the middle at the bottom of the home screen.  

How do I start using TikTok for my Haunted Attraction?

Assuming you’ve downloaded the app, the first thing you’ll need to do is make sure you’re using the ‘PRO’ version, especially if you’re going to be using this solely for your Haunted Attraction. 

TikTok gives you access to a 28-day view of analytics – giving you insights into how your content is performing. If you’d like a more detailed report of how each video is performing and the hashtags you’re using, I recommend using Pentos. They have a full report from engagement rate, total likes, shares, comments, and much more. Once your PRO TikTok account is ready, it’s time to start showing off your attraction.

Things to consider now that you are ready to go, let’s talk about your audience.

• What are you hoping to achieve? 
• Who is your target audience? 
• What exactly are you promoting?
• How will you incorporate it into your current marketing plan?
• How can people find and view your content?

Let’s say this is all figured out, and you’re ready to begin creating your first piece of content. What should I do? How about we dig into TikTok’s growing trend subculture, it can seem a little confusing to those not familiar with the platform.

Below are the ten most popular TikTok trends currently. So that your brand/Haunted Attraction can stay current on what’s trending with influencers, viral social media content, marketing campaigns, and branded social promotions.

•   Hashtag Challenges
•   Brand Advertising
•   For You Page (#ForYouPage)
•   Memes
•   Influencer Sponsorships
•   Duets
•   Slow-Mo
•   Celebs
•   Cosplay
•   Twins

1. HASHTAG CHALLENGES

Hashtag challenges are a large part of TikTok’s diverse content. 
Users record themselves attempting these challenges and often challenge others to do the same.

2. BRAND ADVERTISING

Brands like the NBA, Guess & Chipotle, have flocked to the platform to experiment with TikTok marketing features, with branded hashtag challenges, brand takeovers, in-feed ads, and shoppable ads. By leveraging one or a combination of any of these advertising, tactics have led to stellar results.

3. FOR YOU PAGE (#FORYOUPAGE, #FYP, #FORYOU)

With so many TikTok users experiencing immediate virality with particular/original content, the TikTok community is on a mission to crack the algorithm. One theory suggests that tagging your video content with the hashtags, #ForYou, #fyp, and #ForYouPage shall help push their content onto other users’ For You page, this is where most users shall discover content that gets recommends based on previous interactions.

4. MEMES

Where would social media be if it didn’t have memes? TikTok is unusually reliant on memes for most of its content. Unlike other social media platforms, TikTok thrives on its irreverence. Users can befound making fun of current trends, making fun of themselves in embarrassing ways, performing pranks, and doing skits. Meme culture falls perfectly into TikTok’s community.

5. INFLUENCER SPONSORSHIPS

A question that’s been on the minds of everyone in the influencer marketing world: “Yes, TikTok is popular, but will it be a relevant platform for brands and influencers?” Influencers are teaming up with brands, not only to bring you a contest or hashtag challenge but can push and direct their followers to liking their own YouTube and Instagram accounts. Brands like Walmart, NFL, and Cash App are starting to take notice that more people are using TikTok and creating ads that shall appear within your (For you Feed.)

6. DUETS

Many TikTok users worldwide and within the U.S. are familiar with the Musical.ly platform before the acquisition; it should come as no surprise that its features continue to play a significant role in the popularity of TikTok.

7. SLOW-MO

Slow-motion is one of the many effects that users can implement into their videos at the tap of a button. It’s one of the themes on TikTok’s content that could be found in more visual content. For example, pranks, stunts, dance moves, scares all of which lend well to slow-motion effects.

8. CELEBRITIES

TikTok’s becoming more popular with celebrities. They’ve been slowly trying out the platform, whether for branded sponsorships, awareness, or just plain fun.

9. COSPLAY

Cosplay is a trend that has been mainstreaming for years now. Many cosplayers are using TikTok as a way to showcase their transformations from their normal look into their characters.

10. TWINS

This theme is the exact opposite of sibling rivalry content that can usually be found online. The trending hashtag #twins is enormous, with 1.8 million posts and 13 billion views of videos featuring it.

Promoting Your Video By Hashtag

You’ve shared your video to TikTok, and it’s out there with millions of other videos…but hardly has any views! What happened? What did I do wrong? TikTok is where you need to think about what your audience is searching for and watching!

Once you have shot and edited your content, you’ll add hashtags before posting live. But make sure you’re not just hashtagging everything. The very first thing I recommend is creating your own branded hashtag for your haunted house and use it, use it not only on TikTok but on all your social media. Encourage your actors and staff to use it as well. For my Haunt, at Fear Factory Haunted House in Salt Lake City, Utah, we use #fearfactoryslc, which already has over 6 million views, just from TikTok in our first season. 

After that, I would recommend the following: #foryou, #foryoupage, #fyp if it’s during the haunt season, I would always follow it up with #hauntedhouse, #halloween, #spfxmakeup any other time make sure you are hashtagging with the seasons. Also, if you are doing any challenges or a hashtag that is going viral, make sure to include that. You can check to see how many views the hashtags you are using have by clicking the search icon, typing in your word, and clicking on the hashtag button. If the hashtag is currently trending, it’ll have a little fire icon by it if it’s relevant to your content use it. 

This next part is essential! If you are using fake blood of any kind, use the hashtag #fakeblood #spfx #spfxblood. By using one of those hashtags, this should hopefully stop your video from violating community standards. Or try to limit your use of blood as much as possible. For the best results, I would stick with content like you would for Facebook, Instagram & Twitter. But feel free to experiment. Each video could be different. 

Think about sharing your TikTok content on other social media; don’t flood your feeds with the same content. But if you have a video doing well, SHARE IT, SHARE IT, SHARE IT, on your other channels as well. Other users don’t need to have a TikTok account to view shared content. So your other customers don’t need to have the app, they’ll be able to check out what you created.