If your business isn't listed on TikTok in 2024, you won't be getting the most out of your marketing budget and could be missing out on thousands of new customers. Explore what TikTok's organic engagement, automated advertising options, and emerging e-commerce marketplace can do for you.
Among small businesses that market on TikTok and at least one meta platform, 96% say they get the most engagement from TikTok.
TikTok, Meta's biggest rival in the social media world, is steadily gaining popularity in the U.S., especially among Gen Z. Small businesses are benefiting from the surge, seeing engagement results that go beyond what they get from Facebook and Instagram.
In fact, the majority (96%) of small businesses that market themselves on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or both say they get the most engagement from TikTok.
Over the past year, TikTok has further expanded its user base in the US, rolled out an in-app e-commerce marketplace, and provided new ways to leverage social media discovery algorithms that are most beneficial to small businesses.
According to Capterra's 2023 TikTok Marketing Study, among 364 small and medium-sized retailers and restaurants, TikTok outperforms meta apps (Facebook and Instagram) in terms of organic engagement. Additionally, even though Meta reduces ad revenue, more than half of small businesses achieve positive return on investment (ROI) from paid advertising on TikTok.
Among brands that run paid ads on TikTok, 51% achieve a positive ROI and 45% break even.
Many small businesses already sell products through TikTok Shops, but 45% say it's difficult to derive ROI from TikTok's e-commerce marketplace.
Leveraging trends (53%), owning a niche (51%), and educating customers about the product and brand (51%) are key aspects of the TikTok marketing strategies of the small businesses surveyed.
Social media initiatives
A new study reveals the most engaging social media sites, with YouTube coming out on top. A study by web design firm DigitalSilk.com found the most engaging social media sites by analyzing data from SimilarWeb to see which sites have the longest average visit time and the average number of pages users visit.
I found YouTube to be the most engaging social media site. This video sharing platform had the highest score for average visit time, at 19 minutes and 35 seconds. Also, users of the site visited an average of 11.08 pages per visit, earning him the top spot on the list.
In second place is Reddit, with an average visit time of 15 minutes and 55 seconds. It was found that a Reddit user visited an average of 10.49 pages per visit to the discussion site.
Third place on the list is Snapchat, in this case referring to the web version of the messaging service launched in 2022. We found that users visit an average of 8.34 pages per visit and spend an average of 14 minutes on the site. 10 seconds.
X.com, formerly known as Twitter, came in at number four on the list. There are an average of 10.19 pages per visit and an average visit time of 10 minutes 53 seconds.
Rounding out the top five is Instagram, the image and video sharing site with the most pages per visit in the top 10, with an average of 11.53. However, the visit time is slightly shorter at 8 minutes and 19 seconds.
The study also looked at platforms like TikTok, which didn't make the top 10, but the average visit time for the video-sharing service's web version was 3 minutes and 37 seconds, and the average number of pages per visit was just 7.65. .
digital content management
Business activities on the web must extend far beyond social media. Online software management programs play a vital role in business success in today's digital age.
Camino Bakery's Cary Clifford explains that before adopting Cybake software, Camino Bakery used Google Sheets spreadsheets to manage its store's production and wholesale operations. This is probably a similar strategy for many retail bakeries.
“It worked, but it's very easy to order in the wrong line,” points out Clifford of Camino Bakery, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “If you type in the wrong row in Google Sheets, you accidentally ordered, say, 20 whole loaves. Now that's all wasted product, so that doesn't happen anymore, which is great. Our mistakes, which were, say, 100, are now down to 1.”
Camino Bakery was founded in 2007 by Cary Clifford, inspired by her journey along the Camino de Santiago, Europe's oldest and longest pilgrimage route. Since then, the bakery has gone from strength to strength, growing from one store to his three stores, along with a commissary kitchen and a thriving wholesale business. In 2018, long-time managers Lisa Warner and Jordan Poe-Crawford became co-owners.
Camino Bakery deploys Cybake software to manage its three stores and wholesale operations. Cybake is a cloud-based bakery management system used by retail and wholesale bakeries to automate and control everything from order to billing, recipes, store management, waste management, production, delivery, and more.
“This is the back-end software that inputs all the recipes and allows us to create manufacturing and packaging sheets for all of our back-of-house employees to know exactly what they need to make each day. ” Clifford explains. . “That’s how we use it.”
digital age
This is the dawn of the digital age, and retail bakeries across the country are adopting emerging technologies to improve internal operations and reach existing and potential new customers through digital channels.
Attractive promotions play an important role. For the second year, General Mills Foodservice is rolling out the red carpet for restaurants, showcasing how biscuits play a starring role on menus, and winning $35,000 in prizes for business owners. He announced that he would offer an opportunity. The Biskies™ Recipe Contest is accepting submissions of original recipes using baked or unbaked Pillsbury™ biscuit products and two or more additional ingredients until March 31st.
The Biscuit Recipe Contest allows commercial restaurant chefs, owners and employees to show off how their biscuits look on their menus and win prizes by uploading photos of their original biscuit recipes to the contest website, Facebook or Instagram Aim for opportunities. The recipe contest will award one grand prize winner $20,000 and three runners-up (one winner each in the appetizer, entree, and dessert categories) $5,000 each.
“The Biscuit Recipe Contest celebrates restaurants and their best biscuit creations, whether they take center stage as a main dish, take a supporting role as an appetizer, or grace the grand finale as a dessert.” says one chef, Jesse Kordosky. Mill chefs helping judge this year's biscuit entries. “We can’t wait to see how restaurants bring their biscuit creativity to standout performance on their menus.”
General Mills Foodservice, which partners with restaurants to provide its products, recipe inspiration and culinary support, launches the Biscuit Recipe Contest in 2023 to celebrate biscuits of all flavors and shapes Ta. Last year's grand prize winner, Benae Pawlowski of Black Magnolia Southern Patisserie in Greensboro, North Carolina, layered Pillsbury™ buttermilk biscuits with brown sugar roasted apples and served them with bourbon buttermilk sweet biscuit ice cream for the Upside Down. I won with my apple praline biscuit. Topped with bourbon caramel, pecan praline, and salted toffee.
“It’s always exciting to see how our biscuit products translate to menus,” says Kordosky. “We hope Biscuits will encourage restaurant professionals to experiment with Pillsbury biscuits, which provide low-labor, delicious biscuits that bake beautifully every time and serve as the basis for many unique menu items. We will provide you with a way to do so.”
Recipes are reviewed by General Mills Foodservice's team of culinary experts, Chef of the Mills. Top nominees will be selected based on originality, foodservice feasibility, creativity, and how well their recipes incorporate Pillsbury biscuit products.
A public vote from April 15th to May 3rd will determine the final winners, including one $20,000 grand prize winner and three $5,000 runners-up in the appetizer, appetizer, and dessert categories.
For more information on eligibility, contest details, and official contest rules, restaurants should contact their General Mills Foodservice representative or call 1.800.215.6120 or review the Official Rules and Regulations.
Entries for The Bisky's Recipe Contest will be judged by General Mills Foodservice's team of culinary experts, Chefs of the Mills, who will select three finalists in each recipe category and one grand prize winner. name will be selected. Finalists will be published on the General Mills Foodservice website and social media channels in April, and the public will vote to determine the final grand prize and runner-up. The final winner will be announced around May 17th.
