TikTok is coming up to its 5th year in existence and it’s safe to say it’s made a huge impact since its launch. The recent lockdowns have given opportunities for creators to do what they do best, get creative! Although it’s predominately 18-24-year-olds that use it, TikTok is starting to become more popular with older age groups and is even being used as a learning tool and way for businesses to create engaging content.
So whether you’re thinking of setting up a TikTok account or you already have one but aren’t sure how to use it, keep reading!
Setting up a TikTok account
- Go to the app store and search for TikTok
- Sign-up using phone/email, Facebook account, Apple, Google, or Twitter
- Done! Now you can start TikToking
App Tour
Me – This is where you can ‘edit profile’, view your favourite videos, hashtags, sounds, and effects using the bookmark symbol, and also view your personal feed and draft TikToks.
Home – Here you will view a feed of recent TikToks by other creators. The more TikToks you interact with the more your feed will be personalised to you.
Search – This is a really handy tool because you can get really specific with what you’re looking for. You can filter down your search by hashtag, user, video, or more to find what you’re looking for. This means you can watch what other people in your industry are doing or find new creative ideas for video content that would be relevant to your audience!
Inbox – Here is where your likes, comments, and follower notifications appear.
Plus – This is where you can start creating your TikToks!
Creating your TikTok
Before you start recording, make sure you choose the ’60s’ or ’15s’ option depending on how long you want your TikTok to be!
Sounds – This is right at the top. You can pick a song based on what is trending on TikTok or in the charts or you can search for a particular sound.
Sidebar – There are lots of handy tools here including the familiar ‘flip’ tool to switch around your camera, the ‘speed’ tool, ‘filters’, the ‘enhance’ tool, and the ‘timer’.
Effects – This is where you can get really creative and add funny and clever effects to your videos such as green screens, bling, zoom, time warp, and more.
Upload – Here you can upload your own existing footage
After-effects
There is also a range of editing tools for after you’ve made your TikTok such as:
- Adjusting clips
- Adding a voiceover
- Adding effects
- Adding text and/or stickers – you can also set the duration
Uploading your TikTok
Once you click ‘Next’ you can either save your TikTok as a draft to finish later or upload it! Make sure you type a caption, add relevant hashtags, and set a cover before you post.
Rockstar Top Tips
- Be careful which music you choose
- Look for inspiration
- Utilise the creator portal which you can access via the 3 dots on the ‘Me’ section
- Utilise TikToks for LinkedIn but not Instagram! Use reels on Instagram
- Don’t get stuck in a TikTok hole, you’ll never get out…
Stay Safe,
Negin
#realfaces #stickingtogether
