Is your brand’s TikTok account collecting dust?
Well, it’s time to brush it off and start consistently posting, especially if you like making sales.
According to HelloAlice, 67% of small business owners say TikTok helps them tell stories in a creative way, and 78% plan to increase their investment in the platform.
But the best way to tell your brand story and capture your audience’s attention involves more than jumping on trending audio. Live streaming is where you can make a real impact.
A TikTok live session gives you a unique opportunity to showcase your brand in real time, create a stronger sense of community, and boost your bottom line.
Intrigued?
Here are some of the best TikTok live ideas for your small business.
Best Practices to Make Your TikTok Live Engaging
Before we explore the six must-try TikTok Live ideas, here are some essential practices to ensure your live sessions are as engaging and effective as possible:
1. Promote Your Live Stream Ahead of Time
Promotion is key to ensuring a successful turnout for your TikTok Live sessions.
Use all your social media platforms to build excitement and let your followers know about upcoming lives. If you have an email list, send out a blast campaign and add reminders to your weekly or monthly newsletters.
Tease what you’ll discuss and highlight the value your audience will receive from attending the live session.
2. Consistency is Key
Establishing a regular schedule for your live content is crucial for building a loyal viewership.
It sets up audience expectations, allowing them to incorporate your broadcasts into their routines. Whether it’s a weekly Q&A, a monthly product launch, or daily behind-the-scenes peeks, sticking to a schedule keeps your audience engaged and anticipating your next live.
Plus, consistent posting means you can analyse engagement patterns and adjust your strategy to maximize viewer participation.
3. Interact with Your Audience
Engaging with your audience through real-time conversations turns passive viewers into active participants.
Ask them questions about their preferences or thoughts on the topic at hand and encourage them to share their queries and insights.
Responding to comments and acknowledging viewers by name can make the experience feel personal and inclusive. This two-way interaction creates a community atmosphere, making viewers more likely to return for future live sessions and engage with your content regularly.
Read More: How to Go Live on TikTok: Everything You Need to Know
7 TikTok Live Ideas for Small Business Owners
Here’s how to use TikTok’s live feature to build brand awareness, grow your community, and increase sales.
1. Stand Out With Behind-The-Scenes Tours
Offering a behind-the-scenes look into your business on TikTok Live can:
- Build brand trust with your audience
- Generate brand awareness
- Humanize your business
And the end game of all this unfiltered content? It works together to help you make more sales.
Whether it’s the process of making a product, packaging orders or touring your workspace, people love getting an inside look.
For example, if you run a bakery, take your audience through the process of baking your signature bread, from mixing ingredients to pulling the final product out of the oven.
This is engaging content that showcases the transparency and dedication behind your brand. This is crucial in today’s market, where consumers want to buy from brands that align with their personal values.
Tip: To get the most out of your TikTok Live, encourage viewers to ask questions to create an interactive experience and get fresh ideas for future videos.
2. Cash in on Product Demonstrations
There’s a reason why product demonstrations and tutorials are go-to TikTok Live ideas.
It’s the perfect way for small business owners “to show, not tell” how your product works in real-time.
During your TikTok live stream, you can explain the features to your loyal audience, demonstrate the benefits, and answer any questions.
It’s the ultimate one-two punch.
You’re educating your followers about your offerings, and you can alleviate any hesitations during the live session.
For example, if you sell skincare products, you could start a TikTok live stream during your morning routine. While online, you can talk your audience through each product, explaining what ingredients help with specific skin problems.
While you talk about your business, you’re still providing your audience with valuable knowledge on skin health. This is a sales pitch and an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise and gain trust.
3. Host Q&A Sessions
Q&A sessions are another social media content staple.
It’s a golden opportunity for your small business to engage directly with your audience, answer questions about your products, clarify any doubts, and offer personalized advice or recommendations.
Worried not enough followers will show up and ask questions?
Prepare before you start your TikTok Live session.
Collect questions in your TikTok comments or other social media platforms and start answering those while you wait for people to join.
When a spontaneous question pops up, answer it and then return to your prepared list. By having part of your TikTok Live planned, you’ll avoid any lulls in your video or feeling awkward.
What if you run out of pre-planned questions but are not ready to end the live?
Use it as an opportunity to chat about any upcoming products, address any misconceptions about your industry, or delve deeper into the ethos behind your small business.
Tip: Invite your team members or other people in your industry to join you. It’s another way for your audience to meet the people behind your business and grow your following by collaborating with other creators or brands.
4. Generate Buzz with Live Events and Launches
Do you have an upcoming launch?
Host it on TikTok Live!
It’s a dynamic and interactive way to generate excitement and engage directly with your audience.
Unlike physical events, live streaming on TikTok gives your brand access to a wider audience to experience the excitement surrounding new offerings.
To make sure your followers tune in, build anticipation with TikTok videos and on your social media platforms. To encourage immediate action, you can sweeten the deal by offering exclusive deals or discounts to viewers.
During the live event, create a narrative around your product or service. Share the inspiration behind it, the challenges you faced during its development, and the impact you hope it will have. Demonstrating the product live, highlighting its features, and explaining its benefits helps to create a compelling story that resonates with viewers.
5. Host Live Chats for Product Recommendations
Leveraging live chats on TikTok for product recommendations is a brilliant strategy to personalize your audience’s shopping experience.
It’s an interactive approach where your small business can engage directly with your followers and learn about their needs, preferences, and pain points in real-time.
To begin the live stream, introduce the session’s purpose and encourage viewers to share what they’re looking for or any specific challenges they’d like you to address.
As questions come in, recommend products that align with individual needs, highlighting their unique features and benefits.
This TikTok livestream strategy is perfect for brands with multiple products and different target personas.
For example, if you’re an athleisure brand selling leggings, you might have product lines dedicated to different sports or levels of intensity training.
A first-time buyer might feel overwhelmed deciding which squat-proof leggings to buy and may have concerns about the length because she is petite or taller than the average person.
You can clear all of this up during the live session and use it as an opportunity to showcase how different products work together or suggest combinations that offer additional value.
6. Try Live Installations or Tutorials
Depending on what you’re selling, a live installation or tutorial is an excellent TikTok live idea.
It also does wonders for your post-sale customer service.
Instead of waiting for your customers to send you a DM asking how to assemble the item, you can take a proactive approach and invite them to a live installation or tutorial session.
You could also host dedicated TikTok Live streams focused on after-purchase care, where you can address common questions, demonstrate care for products, and provide solutions to any potential issues customers might encounter.
These live streams offer immediate value to your customers and publicly showcase your commitment to customer satisfaction. It also gives your brand another opportunity to reinforce your brand message post-purchase, improve retention, and deepen your connection with your audience.
Maximizing Engagement on TikTok with Plann
TikTok Live (and the entire TikTok platform) is a pot of gold for small business owners – if you have the right strategies in place.
To go viral and get thousands of views on your content, you first need a Plann.
Sign up for a 7-day free trial of Plann Plus and start making your content creation easy.
You’ll gain access to a content calendar filled with the latest trending audios, an AI caption generator, and the ability to cross-post to another social media platform in a single click.
