TikTok as a platform for employer branding

Usually hr professionals count on Meta (Facebook/Instagram), YouTube and LinkedIn when it comes to employer branding on social media. Meta and YouTube, meanwhile, are heavily paid-driven. No money, no reach. On LinkedIn, you can score non-paying (= organic), with higher educated people in traditional sectors such as IT, finance, marketing ... TikTok, on the other hand, also reaches other audiences and is made for discovery.
The TikTok algorithm is extremely performant. That is why it is so addictive and thus interesting for employer branding. After all, you tell the same story in 101 pieces and reach relevant people over and over again. The form changes, the message does not.
TikTok measures very well every type of interaction: clicking, watching videos, pausing, repeated viewing ... This also means that content that 'arrives' afterwards is much easier to show to people who interacted with you.

TikTok requires a different kind of content and different content planning. In the past, you planned a social media calendar down to the details, sometimes even months in advance. Copy, visual, hashtags: all ready to go. For TikTok and Instagram Reels, you can plan the message, but the format and form follow the trends of the moment. Understand your target audience and the trends they interact with and respond accordingly. So you make videos best native, with the capabilities and features that are in the app. Think sounds, filters, hashtags ... that are trending.

Sint-Trudo Hospital in Sint-Truiden wanted to use TikTok for their employer branding. Together with Ilona, a nurse at Sint-Trudo, we made 16 TikToks in 1 day. In them she shows what her life as a nurse looks like. The organic reach ranged from 10,000 to almost 140,000 views per TikTok. Curious? You can view them all at www.tiktok.com/@ilona_the-nurse.

1. Understand the platform. Download the app and try to figure out how your target audience uses it. Follow accounts and hashtags from their lifestyles.
2. Find colleagues who have a feeling for the app. They are the most interesting ambassadors to engage for your videos. And they often know the relevant trends. Double win.
3. Volume is important. TikToks are a piece of trial-and-error. 10 TikToks can barely have reach, while the 11th explodes. Therefore, don't focus on the perfect TikTok. Publish quickly, learn and build on what works.
4. Establish a framework with themes, a tone of voice and some do's-and-don'ts, but also give the content producer complete freedom within that framework. Experimentation is essential for good results.
5. A little ad budget goes a long way. Focus on the best-performing TikToks and scale those further. That way you extend their lifespan and surf along on the good organic results.

TikTok is an interesting platform, especially for a younger target group (18 to 35 years old). Similar in content to classic messages around employer branding, completely different in form. But remember: TikTok is a means, not an end. Need a little sparring before diving into the subtoks and filters? Give us a call. Depending on your strategic objectives, we will help you find the right angles, platforms and media choices. To Tok or not to Tok: we look at that together.