As TikTok grows, both as a social network and a place to do marketing, careful management of your account is more important than ever. In fact, while TikTok may have once been a place to test out strategies, it’s now possible to have ever-larger followings on this network.
Additionally, the fact that the content is short-form video means that it’s often necessary to publish a series of posts to tell your story completely. Go to any FYP, and you’ll often find a part one, part two, and even part three. Furthermore, these video series aren’t produced only by brands. They’re also popular with individual TikTokers.
But, what does the growth of TikTok as a commercial enterprise mean to us? Increasingly, it means that we need not only have a presence on TikTok, but we need to make the most of it. That means creating a relatively large number of TikTok posts, just like you might on Twitter. It also means that marketers need TikTok management apps to keep track of everything and make life easier.
Because TikTok is a relatively young social network in the West, there aren’t as many tools available. However, many of the tools we do have available are quite good. Let’s look at the tools we have available. We’ll also consider why if you aren’t already on TikTok, then you probably should be.
Arguably, the biggest reason to use TikTok for marketing is that most TikTok users’ age falls between the range of 16-24. This is the Gen Z generation, born between 1997 and 2012. The older end of this generation has likely just finished college, while the younger people are entering middle school. Many companies naturally have Gen Z as their target audience, and for them, TikTok is essential.
Of course, many of the younger people in this generation still need their parents to buy goods and services on their behalf. But the high school and college-age young people often have their own spending money.
Although Gen Z is the largest demographic on TikTok, there are also a lot of millennials. These two generations generally are very social media-oriented and frequently buy things because they saw them advertised or endorsed on their favorite network. In other words, if your brand’s audiences are the younger set, there’s a good chance you’re leaving money on the table if you don’t participate in TikTok marketing activities.
Further Reading: Is TikTok the Next Big Thing in Social Media Marketing?
With that said, there are more reasons that TikTok is a major marketing force that goes beyond user demographics. Here are some important statistics — there are about 1 billion active users, and TikTok remains the most downloaded app of 2022. These staggering download numbers helped TikTok become the No 1 app in the U.S and represent $2.5 billion in consumer spending.
Not convinced that TikTok is important? When you combine US stats with worldwide performance, TikTok becomes the 6th most used app in the world, just behind Facebook, YouTube, Whatsapp, Instagram, and WeChat. In other words, there are a lot of people on TikTok.
Naturally, the massive user base also represents a lot of purchasing power. And not all of it is the type of purchasing represented in the statistics we discussed above. There are also many situations where people see something on TikTok, then the side to buy it much later. In this case, the purchase may not be credited to the app.
Users interact with content a lot. In fact, Tiktok has the highest engagement rate across all social media platforms, with an average spent time of about25.6 hours per month in the US and an Average user session time of close to 11 minutes.
The platform is also popular as a way to get information — TikTok has become the go-to search engine for Gen Zand is threatening Google Search. Sure, youth will still use Google Search and other information sources for in-depth information, but TikTok is an increasingly popular place to get a quick answer.
Further Reading: TikTok Marketing: 5 Reasons Why, 5 Strategy Tips How, and 5 Examples to Help You Master the Channel
Influencers and marketers alike are falling in love with TikTok for several reasons. For example, TikTok content has a higher chance of going viral compared to content on other networks. When you consider that going viral is a major goal of many social media users, this statistic makes TikTok quite attractive. Plus, viral branded videos are incredibly effective.
Another reason that people love to create and advertise on TikTok is their video creation tools and other features. For instance, TikTok has a huge music database, and they have permission for people to use it. There’s also a robust collection of content creation tools, such as the ability to shoot footage with your phone, and some basic video editing functions.
Sharing and consuming content is also easy on TikTok. For instance, if you like to collaborate with other creators, there’s a feature called Duet. Here, you can share your reactions with other creators. This is similar to other popular formats on social media that let you react to other people’s content.
Finally, TikTok is highly personalized. While YouTube and other networks have powerful algorithms that help users find the content they’ll enjoy, TikTok goes further by using AI. This may be one reason why TikTok is controversial in some circles, but for us, as marketers, it offers a golden opportunity to reach subsets of our audience that we might not even be aware exist.
Naturally, even with AI and other native features, you will need to plan and execute your content carefully. TikTok isn’t like its industry counterparts, but that doesn’t mean that you get to be sloppy.
Further Reading: TikTok Influencer Marketing: The Complete Guide to Get You Started
TikTok management apps are an important part of planning, designing, and scheduling content for TikTok. I’ve talked about the importance of a content calendar for other platforms, and TikTok is no exception. There is, after all, the saying that “a failure to plan is a plan to fail.”
Be that as it may, TikTok management apps have several benefits. Many tools have just one or a few of these functions, but in the right combination, you’ll get everything you need. Here are the different functions that you’ll want to cover.
Let’s face it, you can’t be online 24/7. And at the same time, your audience is frequently in multiple time zones. But even if everybody lives in the same area, you really don’t want to be getting online and posting manually throughout the day.
Because posting at the right time is so often critical to success, many TikTok management apps let you schedule posts. Ideally, you should be able to schedule posts at least a week in advance, reducing your overall workload.
Nobody likes to fly blind, especially when it comes to marketing post-performance. Fortunately, many TikTok management apps offer analytics. Some apps only provide basic information, but others really delve into audience analysis. All of them should include information on likes, comments, and shares.
Further Reading: From Starting to Going Global: 5 Amazing Secrets for How to Get Followers on TikTok (for Brand New Accounts)
Finally, many TikTok management apps will tell you when somebody engages with your post. This could be any type of engagement, whether positive or negative. When it’s positive, you can sometimes interact back with the person who gave you positive feedback. Similarly, if you have a PR disaster brewing, then you’ll get an early heads-up.
Further Reading: 15 Legit Ways How to Get More Views on TikTok
You want to have two basic functionalities in your TikTok tech stack. These are direct publishing, which means that the app will post new videos directly onto your account, and reminder scheduling. With a reminder schedule, you can get a reminder to check for important notifications, respond to raving fans, and perform other maintenance tasks.
Additionally, you want an app that’s easy to use. While all apps require a small learning curve, for something like this, it should be short. After all, we get very busy in our jobs, and it’s hard to remember everything.
With all that in mind, let’s look at some TikTok management apps. I have them broken down into categories, so it’s easier to see what each app is best for.
Although TikTok has added a built-in scheduling feature, many companies might want to use a tool that helps you manage multiple platforms simultaneously. This approach can help save time and sometimes even gives more comprehensive options. Fortunately, you can use a host of officially supported third-party apps that integrate with the platform as well as other popular social networks. These comprehensive social media management dashboards that support TikTok include:
Loomly is a comprehensive social media management tool for most major social networks. However, its features TikTok are more limited. You’ll still get powerful post-planning and creation tools, such as a content calendar, integrations with thumbnail tools, a hashtag manager, and a content creation studio.
Think you’re ready to post? Loomly has approval workflows and content previews to make sure that everything is perfect. Then, you’ll get a reminder when it’s time to post. Unfortunately, Loomly doesn’t yet have a complete integration that allows direct posting. However, the remainder will come through your calendar notifications, Microsoft Teams, or one of several other options.
Pricing: there is a free trial then paid plans start at $26 per month. You’ll pay more or less depending on how many users you have, and what features you want. The most popular plan is $59 a month.
SocialPilot is another TikTok management app that lets you create content and then post it after receiving a reminder. This means that it doesn’t post directly to your TikTok account, so you’ll need to have somebody available consistently. With that said, it’s an excellent choice for people who already use SocialPilot or those who want a really awesome content creation studio.
SocialPilot has integrations for several mainstream graphic design and video editing apps, as well as a hashtag planner, a content calendar that lets you make changes easily, and the ability to track multiple TikTok accounts. This means that if your company has several brands, you can easily manage the TikTok accounts for all of them in one place.
Likewise, if you work as part of a team, there are appropriate collaboration tools to make everyone’s lives easier. You can even share files through the Dropbox integration.
Pricing: SocialPilot is priced similarly to the competition. You get a free trial, then choose from paid plans starting at 25.50 per month for a single user. Need more seats? You’ll get more seats and a larger account allowance with higher service tiers. The most popular option is $85 a month.
Later is a true post scheduler, in that it automatically posts TikTok videos at the scheduled time. So, if you need to set and forget, this is a good option. On the other hand, you will have to create the videos elsewhere.
Later also provides content moderation and audience interaction tools that let you connect with your audience and ensure that the nasty stuff stays off your page. To make a great first impression, later will add a custom link to your bio. Finally, you’ll get a nice suite of analytics tools that help you measure and adjust campaigns and understand your audience better.
Pricing: the lowest service level costs $18 a month, and allows one set of social media profiles managed by one person. This is perfect if you’re an influencer or industry figure. Larger plans are available for $40 or $80 per month, depending on how many seats and social media accounts you need to manage.
Crowdfire aims to be a comprehensive social media management and. And for the older social networks, it is certainly that. However, with TikTok, you only get reminders to post rather than direct posting. In addition, you get advanced analytics information that helps you plan ahead. Combined with the content calendar, you can perform your basic account management functions with Crowdfire.
With that said, it’s relatively difficult to use the content creation tools or curation features on TikTok because most of these are geared toward non-video content.
Pricing: there’s a free version of Crowdfire, though it’s very limited and essentially designed for people to try out the tool. Paid plans start at about $7.50, with the most popular business option costing $37.50 monthly.
Vista Social prides itself on providing social media management services that are geared toward the oft-overlooked networks, including TikTok and Reddit. Specifically, TikTok provides a relatively comprehensive suite of TikTok management apps that will help you perform the vast majority of your TikTok-related tasks.
First, they have comprehensive content creation and publishing features. Although you can’t record footage within the app, you can do just about everything else, such as editing and publishing. You can even add the right hashtags. Second, you have full-featured collaboration tools. That means you get approval workflows, as well as content calendar management and even content curation.
Finally, there are tools to help you both foster engagement and benefit from high-quality analytics data. For instance, you can program the software to leave a first like and the first comment, which encourages people to follow suit. You’ll also get comprehensive analytics presented in a way that helps you plan for the future.
Pricing: Vista Social charges a flat $3 per month for each social media account you manage with their app. That price includes all features, but you can get a limited version for free.
Planable is a social media scheduler that helps with both content creation and post approvals. Then, depending on the network you either get a reminder to post or Planable will post directly to the social network. In the case of TikTok, you’ll have to post on cue. With that said, the way Planable is set up allows you to do those postings at the click of a few buttons using your smartphone.
Besides scheduling or posting reminders, you’ll also get approvals for the content right there in the app. It keeps your content calendar and helps with collaboration on your team. Besides the posting method, Planable has the same features for TikTok as it does for other networks.
Pricing: you can get a few limited features for free, and then paid plans start at $11 a month, per user. For most businesses that are starting out with social media, this is enough. More advanced and larger companies will probably want the $22 version, which has more features.
Hootsuite is one of the most famous and comprehensive social media managers. And for this reason, it’s one of these TikTok management apps that can do most tasks across all social networks. Specifically, you get access to all of Hootsuite’s content creation, scheduling, collaboration, and publishing. The publishing aspect of Hootsuite for TikTok does involve manually pushing the button, however. With that said, you will get the convenience of having your TikTok managed on the same platform as the rest of your networks.
Pricing: plans start at $49 monthly for one user and 10 social media accounts. You can sign up for a 30-day free trial.
TikTok Scheduler is an app that only does one thing — schedules your posts to TikTok. It’s also still in Beta testing, so you should expect “features” to crop up occasionally. Basically, with this new app, you will select a pre-made video, add a title and hashtags, then select a date and time for posting.
Of course, because this is just a scheduler you don’t have any collaboration or content-creation features. With that said, if you’re an influencer or want to simply grow your account, this is a great shortcut.
Although TikTok offers a native analytics tool that you can access after hitting 100 followers, like some other social networks, you might want to consider using third-party TikTok management apps that provide additional analytics. This way, you can get a which might not be possible otherwise. Here are some to consider:
TikTok Analytics is a tool that you can access in your Creator Studio once you get 100 followers. It’s very similar to the native analytics on most other social networks, in that it gives you audience insights. You’ll also learn what content works best for you, such as through view counts and engagement rates. It’s a great way to get started, although you’ll probably want more complete insight as your channel grows.
Exolyt is a TikTok-specific analytics and campaign tracking tool. For this reason, it’s excellent for content creators and influencers on TikTok who want to maximize their potential. It’s also great for businesses that want a specialized TikTok tool during a time when TikTok management apps are often short on features.
With Exolyt, you get more than just analytics dictated. In fact, you get a suite of tools that is similar to the older complete social media dashboards. That means that you get actionable insights, sentiment tracking, campaign tracking, competitive analysis, and more. You can even plug your TikTok analytics and Exolyt data into Google products and see which content is boosted.
Pricing: plans start at $49 a month for influencers and small brands with more limited features. Agency accounts cost hundred $99 a month and include more comprehensive analytics capabilities.
TikBuddy is an all-in-one TikTok management app that doesn’t work on any other social network. With that said, it’s just like the larger social media dashboards in almost every other way. It’s also one of the few TikTok management apps that facilitates influencer marketing. That’s because it not only has influencer management tools but there’s a version of TikBuddy that is specifically for content creators.
Another advantage to TikBuddy is its free browser extension. This extension interfaces directly with TikTok and lets you work more seamlessly between TikTok and third-party apps. It’s great making TikTok convenient to use with apps like other networks.
Pricing: information not available on the website.
Pentos is TikTok management that performs analytics in very specific detail. First, you can track users and their analytic data. This is especially important if you have stiff competition, or if you’re an up-and-coming account that needs to establish credibility. It’s also very helpful if you need to monitor a competitor that’s especially hard to surpass.
Another feature of Pentos is that it tracks hashtags. You can use this to track a branded or proprietary hashtag, or you can use it for one that’s more industry-specific. Either way, knowing how well each hashtag performs is critical to creating content that will compete favorably. And for proprietary hashtags, you can get very good information on your campaign’s reach.
Finally, Pentos lets you track both sounds and engagement. So, if you’re a content creator that resolved, it’s easy to see if your composition has gone viral. Similarly, the benefits of engagement-related metrics cannot be overstated.
Pricing: from $49 per month for creators and $149 for small businesses. A free trial is available.
Social Blade is unique in that it’s essentially a public database of analytics information. Specifically, it keeps track of creators on many social networks, including TikTok. They’ll give you the numbers on how many video views they have, what their engagements look like, and more. Also, you’ll get a quality score that shows how well a creator’s content performs overall.
As a marketer, you can search for a particular user and see the most important information for your business. You can also check to see if you’re corporate profiles listed, and if not, there’s a way to get listed. Finally, Social Blade is often used to find influencers so that you can collaborate with them.
Melody Socials essentially has one purpose — to find influencers for marketing purposes. To take advantage of this tool, you run searches on TikTok for hashtags, similar sounds, and similar profiles. This lets you find people in your industry or niche. Then, Melody looks through the results and helps you select the people you need. Finally, you export the information for follow-up.
While you can use TikTok’s native editor to create and upload your videos, you might want to consider using a 3rd party tool for more effective video creation. There are several reasons why you might want to do that. For one thing, TikTok’s built-in Creation tools assume you’ll use a cell phone camera. That may not work well for a brand. For another, you may prefer to use the same video editing apps for your TikTok content as you do for other types of videos. Choose from these:
Simplified lives up to its name by being a simple video editor. For content managers, one of the more valuable features of this TikTok management app is the ability to create short videos out of a longer ones. This allows for the easy repurposing of long-form video content. You can also add thumbnails, logos, and other branding features. Use a template, or do it on your own.
In addition, Simplified has a few simple social media management tools, including a social media scheduler that will automatically post the content. You can even finish the post by adding hashtags and other features.
Although CapCut can be used for almost any social network that uses video, this is one of the most tailored TikTok management apps you’ll find. That’s because they already have TikTok filters, icons, and other custom content preloaded into the program. For most other apps, you’d have to import those items yourself. Add special effects right in the app, and then move the finished content to your social media scheduler. It’s that easy.
Adobe Express has a tool that lets you upload existing video footage and then make simple changes. Specifically, you can extract a clip of the original video, which is perfect for content repurposing. You can also change the aspect ratio for your clip and remove the sound. If you want to put a new soundtrack on old footage, that’s a great option.
TikTok is an up-and-coming social network that is increasingly taking the marketing world by storm. Fortunately, there have been several new TikTok management apps developed over the last two or three years. In addition, many of the older social media management tools have developed features for TikTok. This makes the lives of creators and marketers much easier.
Which one’s your favorite?