“Another platform for
book promotion? Aren’t we swamped already?”
Good question.
TikTok is not for every
author, but for some, it could really help in book promotion. To understand
how, let us look at TikTok first.
TikTok is the newest and
fastest growing social media platform of 2019 and the trend is continuing. It
started in China and is the visual equivalent of Twitter. Where Twitter posts
are composed of short written prose, TikTok posts are composed of short videos.
Users can create videos of fifteen seconds (or string togehter videos into
posts of sixty seconds each.) Most users create videos on their phones, edit it
using the easy-to-use but professional tools, add music, and download it on to
TikTok. Most users use the platform on their mobile devices.
Is TikTok worth it? It
depends on the audience for your book. Sixty percent of TikTok users in America
are between sixteen to twenty-four years of age. For a young adult title, this
is the perfect demographic and can help in author-branding. It is also
extremely popular in places like China and India, with five hundred million monthly
users in China while about the same number of Indians download TikTok videos every
month. Targeting these geographic areas specifically is an option.
By its nature, TikTok is
visually driven. Graphic novels are prime candidates for TikTok promotion. . Large
companies such as Guess jeans and Chipotle have used TikTok with great success
and many more are joining the trend. TikTok is a fun and visually-appealing
platform. It doesn’t lend itself to serious topics and is not a place for
making sales pitches.
TikTok has made available
several marketing tools available. The videos can be linked to websites and the
social engagements (likes, impressions, clicks, etc) are measured, allowing a
marketer to know how well a campaign is doing. Use of hashtags, games and
challenges allow for viral promotion.
TikTok is very easy to
use and understand. It is this ease of entry that is its main drawing card. It
is not for everyone, but for a product or book with a good fit, it can work
well.
Mohan Ashtakala is the author of "The Yoga Zapper" a fantasy and "Karma Nation" a
Literary Romance. (www.mohanashtakala.com)
He is published by Books We Love Ltd. (www.bookswelove.com)
