7 Big Takeaways from My On-Site Training with TikTok

At SocialCoach we take training very seriously. Some of you may have even come through the social media boot camp that Ashley and I develop and coach together every week.

But a good coach is always trying to stay on top of the game.

Last week I was lucky enough to be invited to attend a training led by TikTok on specifically what they are looking for when they look to promote content to the For You page.

And I’m going to break it down for you right now. No fluff.

Some of these might sound familiar, but when TikTok themselves are emphasizing these things, it’s important to take note and realize just how important they really are.

Alright let’s get started:

1. Find Your Niche

TikTok is all about community. A big emphasis on the platform is the connection and proximity between creators (those making the content) and audience (those watching and engaging with the content). 

Luckily for you, chances are that you already have your niche.

Mortgage and real estate is a great niche because it’s something you are knowledgeable about and it's something that others need knowledge about.

2. Be consistent – but choose quality over quantity

The amount of times that the TikTok trainers stopped what they were saying to emphasize consistency were too many to count.

SocialCoach makes it easy to be consistent between the content library, Video Catalyst, and even things like autoposting, but consistency is everything on these platforms, not just TikTok. 

And the reason is twofold:

One is the obvious one and that is that they more frequently you are posting, the more your content gets in front of users. When users engage with one video of yours, they will then start to be shown more of your content. It’s just how the algorithm works.

So what’s more likely? Someone sees the one video a week you post? Or someone sees one of the 3-4 videos you’re posting weekly?

The other reason is that the act of consistent posting will help you learn what works for you. You'll never know what kind of content seems to connect if you're not consistently putting videos out there.

But again, don't opt for putting content out "just to get something out there." Be thoughtful about what content you create. The last thing you want to do is put out lazy content that makes you look like you don't care.

3. Share Your Authentic Expertise

People on TikTok want to engage with people who are knowledgeable. But sometimes it’s about connecting your expertise to them.

Most people won’t care about what is required to get pre-approved. But, if you’re able to tell a story that makes that process feel important, or even closer than they realize, you can grab their attention.

Your expertise is why people are watching you. There are plenty of industry folks on these apps creating video, but there is only one of you.

So share your experiences and your unique perspective that lets people know that you offer something the others don’t. Even if it’s just your point of view.

Here’s some ideas:

• Solve a problem: share an example of a specific problem a client had and how you helped them navigate through it
• Myth busting: what are the things that clients get wrong? What are the things that other mortgage and real estate folks get wrong? Call it out and bust that myth!
• Hacks: What are the tips and inside angles that you can share to help people save on a home or pay it off faster? What step should they include in the homebuying process that most people forget about?
• Respond to comments: this is some of the best engagement you’ll ever have. Give a response in the comments or reply with a video
• Step by step walkthrough: Mortgages are complicated, but what if you could simplify it with a step by step video of what to expect?

4. Engagement

If there is one thing that TikTok (or any social media platform for that matter) is looking for, it is engagement. 

But it’s not just any kind of engagement, they are looking for meaningful engagement.

Meaningful engagement are on-topic comments and shares that show the platform that there is real interest in your content.

This is where engagement becomes a two way street. Every comment is the potential for a discussion with that person, it’s up to you to be the one to take advantage of that engagement and turn it into one.

Comments left unanswered are just potential connections that you didn’t take advantage of. 

In addition to this is watch time. The first 5 seconds of your video is CRUCIAL to its success. If you cannot hook viewers in the first 5 seconds, they will scroll away and your video will die in obscurity. Creating a hook that grabs attention will ensure that your audience 

You get the idea.

But second is that consistency brings confidence. The more consistent you are, the more you’ll see what works and what doesn’t. You’ll find the small ways you can improve and over time you’ll work out a process that really works for you and your audience.

5. Tighten up your editing

I’ve been doing monthly calls with TikTok for the last few months and there are two things that they have discussed on every call. 

The first is hashtags (more on that in a minute) and the other is editing.

Editing is so important to creating video content that is engaging and keeps people watching. If they aren’t engaged, they leave. And that will hurt your video’s chances of going further and gaining more reach.

So what can you do? Tighten up your editing.

Cut out the “ums”, “uhs”, and “likes”. Spend some time tightening up the beginning of your video so it starts right away and avoids The Millennial Pause (don’t know what that is? Check this out) 

Lucky for you, if you have Video Catalyst, that all gets taken care of for you by our team of editors so you don’t have to worry about ever!

Click here to see how Video Catalyst makes video content creation easier than ever.

6. Hashtags

If I had a dollar for every time I was asked, “what hashtags should I use?” I would have bought the San Jose Sharks hockey team by now.

Hashtags are a very tricky part of your social media content because they are an element that users created, platforms adopted, and then platforms phased out as the algorithms got smarter.

Years ago, they were a way to find specialized feeds. But now? Not so much.

Algorithms on these platforms are so advanced that they are taking into account EVERYTHING on screen – everything you say, every word of text on screen, your post caption – everything.

And so while hashtags can be helpful, they are really not as impactful as they used to be. 

I think it’s best to talk about hashtags like a compass – a compass tells you direction, not distance. In this same way, hashtags can help categorize your content and get it in front of people with the interests that you’re speaking about, but won’t necessarily put it in front of more people.

The best practice? 2-3 hashtags that are ON TOPIC. The more specific you are, the better. But stuffing your post with hashtags can create a topical mess that might actually hold your video back more than help it.

7. Video Quality

Finally, the most important thing – video quality. Not just the quality of your content, but the quality of the video itself. 

One thing that the TikTok trainers kept hammering was the importance of high-quality video content. Why? Because high-quality content is what gets views, draws engagement, and gets shared.

It doesn’t matter the topic, the niche, the industry. If the content is quality, it can go places. So what does this look like?

Good lighting

I’ll be honest, lighting might be the one thing that makes the biggest difference with your watch time. You can have the best hook in the world but if your lighting is bad, it can make your video feel...off.

TikTok recommends a 3-point lighting setup but I think that’s a bit too much. 

Instead, focus on finding a nice comfortable light source that can light as much of you as possible.

Filming in front of a window will give you almost the exact same effect and make you look great on camera.

Good audio

More and more people are watching video content on their phones without sound, but that doesn’t mean that you should skimp on the audio portion of your content.

TikTok’s recommendation is simply to get an external microphone to plug into your phone that will help give you better clarity to your voice as well as dampen some of the noise around you.

If you need some ideas for microphones, check out our gear guide. You’d be surprised the difference it can make. 

Video layout and composition

Looking at a lot of content that comes through SocialCoach, I actually think that many of you have naturally found a decent layout for your videos. 

If you’re doing a standard talking head video (which 95% of you are doing), you should take up about ½ to ⅔ of the frame starting at the bottom, leaving the top of the frame for things like the text, the TikTok search bar and feed markers that will be above you.

You can see how clean this framing looks.

Try to maintain this framing as consistently as possible as it creates good spacing for your on-screen captions and keeps you the focal point of your video.

It might seem like an obvious choice, but you'd be surprised how easy it can be to forget it. 

The training from TikTok was a great way to learn a few things (like some very specific strategies on using TikTok features that I'll share in another post soon) but also confirm some things that had been floating around.

I prefer to get the concrete details of "this is what you should be doing on our platform" and I'm glad I was able to get that for you all. Use these, create great content and you'll go places.

Want to get better at creating social media content as a mortgage or real estate professional? Learn more about how SocialCoach takes the headache out of content to help you post more and sell smarter.

Click here to get a no-commitment demo of SocialCoach today.