TikTok for Brands: A Practical Guide

For a while, brands approached TikTok like a slightly terrifying new country.

Everyone knew they probably needed to visit.

Nobody quite understood the language.

The platform has matured considerably since then, but one principle hasn't really changed:

TikTok rewards content that understands TikTok.

You're not competing with other brands

Or at least, not only with other brands.

You're competing with creators, entertainment, stories, memes and an algorithm that's extremely good at learning what somebody enjoys.

That creates a very high bar for attention.

The fact that your content looks polished or communicates all of the approved campaign messages doesn't guarantee anybody will watch it.

Don't try too hard to be TikTok

The answer isn't jumping onto every trending sound.

Brands can become so determined to appear culturally relevant that they end up doing exactly the opposite.

You need to understand the language of the platform without losing the identity of the brand.

Sometimes that means participating in a trend.

Sometimes it means recognising that you have absolutely no reason to.

Knowing the difference is important.

Find formats you can repeat

One viral TikTok is exciting.

A format that consistently connects with the right audience is considerably more valuable.

Recurring formats give audiences something recognisable and give creative teams something they can learn from.

The first version might be good.

The fifth should be better because you've had four rounds of real audience feedback.

Shaka in practice

Let’s look at our work with Skycanner - they needed a TikTok strategy that reflected the current social landscape, not something built on outdated assumptions or generic formats.

The challenge was obvious, travel content on TikTok was noisy, repetitive and often brand-led in a way audiences scroll past. 

But with 64% of Gen-Z using the platform as a search engine (even more now) the opportunity was huge. So how did we tap into this? 

The first step was to test how travel content was working on TikTok. Shaka Social didn’t just deliver creative concepts; we rebuilt Skyscanner’s entire short-form video workflow to do this.

We created a test-and-learn system, publishing multiple content formats per week, designed to quickly identify winning ideas and executions.

Once we knew what the audience loved - and importantly what the platform was responding to - Shaka owned the creative and end-to-end process, ensuring every video started with a strategic hook, narrative and CTA built for TikTok’s algorithm.

The results proved that this strategy was worth committing to. 

Multiple videos reaching 150k+ views, a rise in saves, shares and comments (the signals that matter most for TikTok’s recommendation system), and a scalable model now influencing broader Skyscanner regions and teams.

With Skycaner, we proved that on TikTok, the brands that win are the ones who inform, entertain and earn attention, not demand it.

Give the strategy enough time to learn

Publishing six TikToks, seeing that none went viral and deciding the platform doesn't work isn't particularly useful testing.

TikTok gives brands a huge amount of feedback.

Use it.

Try different hooks.

Different formats.

Different subjects.

Different people.

Look at what holds attention and what people share.

Then adjust.

The brands that do TikTok well generally aren't the ones that cracked a secret algorithm.

They're the ones that understand what their audience actually wants to watch.