For small businesses, school is now in session — and TikTok is the classroom.
The buzzy app is a marketing hotbed, and it wants to help its partners capitalize on its potential. That’s why it has launched TikTok Academy, a self-service learning platform catered to brands and agencies.
At launch, TikTok Academy features two curricula. The TikTok 101 course “includes a global overview of our product offerings, how we keep the platform safe for brands, our creative best practices, and what makes TikTok unique,” according to a blog post. The course is designed to take between two to four hours to complete, and the knowledge it conveys is pretty basic. Some of the questions are so simple that you only need to recognize a few TikTok accounts to answer them.
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Marketers in search of more specific advice can check out the small business course, which is broken into four 15-minute sections. An additional course about commerce will be added to TikTok Academy “soon.”
TikTok Academy uses a gamified structure that resembles other learning apps like Duolingo. Participants who complete courses will be awarded badges that can be displayed on their profiles.
“Through TikTok Academy, we aim to provide robust learning opportunities to help teams become TikTok-savvy marketers by providing not just the ‘how-tos’ of TikTok but also the key insights that will enable media and creative excellence on the platform,” reads the blog post. “We know the TikTok community loves engaging with their favorite brands, so we want to deliver the tools and expertise to maintain this unique and engaging experience.”
This is not the first time that TikTok has made overtures to the small businesses community. Earlier this year, the app launched Follow Me, a six-week initiative that paired curious brand reps with small business owners who are already thriving on social media. There is no shortage of success stories for brands on TikTok. The individuals behind Feel Your Soul and Tassel Amor shared their wisdom during Follow Me, and additional vertical video marketers deliver testimonials for the Academy.
Any brands who haven’t yet hopped on the TikTok bandwagon may want to ride the wave in the near future. Upcoming ad formats, several of which were announced during Advertising Week, will allow for more granular targeting on the ByteDance-owned platform. Marketers may be able to achieve greater gains than what is already possible — and Academy graduates will have the upper hand.
