TikTok marketing strategy — organic growth, paid ads, content creation, influencer campaigns, algorithm optimization, and performance measurement. Covers organic profile growth (content strategy, posting cadence, trending audio, algorithm mechanics), TikTok Ads (objectives, creative formats, targeting, Spark Ads, bidding), UGC and content creation (native formats, hooks), influencer strategy on TikTok (creator tiers, campaign types, ROI), TikTok Shop integration, and metrics (CPM, CPC, ROAS, EMV). Use when your TikTok videos aren't getting views, ads are spending but not converting, profile growth has stalled, you're unsure what to post, you can't tell if campaigns are driving revenue, or you're debating whether to hire an agency for TikTok. Do NOT use for platform-specific agency help (use /sales-houseofmarketers or /sales-cloutboost), general influencer marketing across platforms (use /sales-influencer-marketing), or social media management scheduling (use /sales-social-media-management).
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TikTok marketing strategy — organic growth, paid ads, content creation, influencer campaigns, algorithm optimization, and performance measurement. Covers organic profile growth (content strategy, posting cadence, trending audio, algorithm mechanics), TikTok Ads (objectives, creative formats, targeting, Spark Ads, bidding), UGC and content creation (native formats, hooks), influencer strategy on TikTok (creator tiers, campaign types, ROI), TikTok Shop integration, and metrics (CPM, CPC, ROAS, EMV). Use when your TikTok videos aren't getting views, ads are spending but not converting, profile growth has stalled, you're unsure what to post, you can't tell if campaigns are driving revenue, or you're debating whether to hire an agency for TikTok. Do NOT use for platform-specific agency help (use /sales-houseofmarketers or /sales-cloutboost), general influencer marketing across platforms (use /sales-influencer-marketing), or social media management scheduling (use /sales-social-media-management).
argument-hint
[describe your TikTok marketing question — e.g., 'how do I grow my brand on TikTok organically' or 'my TikTok ads aren't converting, what should I fix']
Helps the user plan and execute TikTok marketing — from organic growth and content creation through paid ads, influencer campaigns, and performance measurement. Platform-specific strategy for TikTok's unique algorithm, audience, and content formats.
Step 1 — Gather context
If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated knowledge.
Ask the user:
What do you need help with?
A) Growing a TikTok profile organically
B) TikTok paid ads (creating or optimizing campaigns)
C) Content creation strategy for TikTok
D) TikTok influencer campaigns
E) TikTok Shop setup or optimization
F) Measuring TikTok marketing ROI
G) Agency vs in-house decision for TikTok
H) Something else — describe it
What's your business type?
A) DTC / ecommerce brand
B) Mobile app
C) SaaS / B2B
D) Local business
E) Creator / personal brand
F) Agency managing clients
G) Other — describe it
Current TikTok maturity?
A) No profile yet — starting from zero
B) Profile exists, under 10K followers
C) 10K-100K followers, growing
D) 100K+ followers, optimizing
E) Running paid ads already
Target audience?
A) Gen Z (16-24)
B) Millennials (25-34)
C) Broad (25-44)
D) Niche community — describe it
If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step. Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions at the end.
Step 2 — Route or answer directly
If the request maps to another skill, route:
House of Marketers agency services → /sales-houseofmarketers
Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about platform features and ad pricing that may change.
Algorithm changes frequently. TikTok updates its algorithm regularly. Strategies that worked 3 months ago may underperform. Stay current with trending formats and features.
Creative fatigue is faster than other platforms. TikTok ads lose effectiveness after 7-14 days. Budget for ongoing creative production, not just one-time asset creation.
TikTok Pixel attribution is imperfect. In-app browser, iOS ATT, and cross-device behavior mean TikTok Pixel underreports conversions by 20-40%. Use Conversions API (CAPI) alongside Pixel for better data.
B2B on TikTok is possible but harder. Most TikTok success stories are B2C. B2B works for brand awareness and recruiting, but conversion campaigns are challenging due to audience composition.
Business vs Creator account tradeoff. Business accounts get ads and analytics but lose access to some trending sounds and effects. Many brands run a Creator account for organic and a separate Business account for ads.
Don't overproduce content. Polished, studio-quality content typically underperforms native, raw, phone-shot content on TikTok. UGC-style beats brand-style by 2-3x on engagement.
Vanity metrics mislead. High view counts and follower growth don't equal business results. Track downstream metrics (website visits, add-to-carts, purchases, app installs) alongside TikTok metrics.
Self-improving: If you discover something not covered here, append it to references/learnings.md with today's date.
Before recommending a specific platform skill
This skill covers a strategy domain across many platforms. Before pointing the user to any specific platform skill (any /sales-{platform} listed in ## Related skills, e.g., /sales-mailshake, /sales-klaviyo, /sales-apollo), read that platform skill's actual SKILL.md first. The 1-line description in ## Related skills is enough to identify a candidate — it's not enough to commit to it or to write a prompt that invokes it well.
How to read it:
If ~/.claude/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md exists locally, Read it.
For sales-* skills, WebFetch directly from this repo: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sales-skills/sales/main/skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md — e.g., for sales-mailshake: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sales-skills/sales/main/skills/sales-mailshake/SKILL.md.
For non-sales-* skills (third-party), look up {org}/{repo} in ~/.claude/skills/sales-do/references/skill-sources.md if installed and fetch the same skills/{skill-name}/SKILL.md path under that repo.
After reading, ground your recommendation in something concrete from the SKILL.md (its scope, a sub-flow, its argument-hint shape, or a "Do NOT use for..." negative trigger). Align any generated invocation with the platform skill's argument-hint. If the platform skill turns out not to fit the user's situation, swap to another or handle the question here directly rather than recommending a poor fit.
Related skills
/sales-houseofmarketers — House of Marketers platform help — TikTok-focused agency services, pricing, campaign planning
/sales-retargeting — Retargeting strategy — repurpose TikTok content for paid ads across channels
/sales-social-media-management — Social media management strategy — publishing, scheduling, cross-platform
/sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do
Examples
Example 1: Grow a DTC brand on TikTok organically
User says: "I sell handmade candles on Shopify. I have 500 TikTok followers. How do I grow organically?"
Skill does:
Recommends content pillars: candle-making process (behind-the-scenes), scent descriptions (ASMR/sensory), customer unboxing (UGC), day-in-the-life of a small business owner
Provides hook formulas: "POV: you just lit a candle that smells like..." or "Watch me pour this candle from scratch"
Sets realistic timeline: 8+ weeks of consistent posting before meaningful traction
Recommends Creator account for better trending sound access
Result: User has a content strategy with specific pillars, cadence, and timeline expectations
Example 2: Fix underperforming TikTok ads
User says: "My TikTok ads are getting views but not converting. CPC is $2.50 and ROAS is 0.8x. Budget is $200/day."
Skill does:
Diagnoses likely issue: creative-audience mismatch or wrong campaign objective
Checks: are they using Conversion objective (not Traffic or Video Views)?
Recommends: switch to UGC-style creative (2-3x better than polished), test 3-5 variants, use Spark Ads with top organic posts
Suggests targeting fix: start with broad/smart targeting, let TikTok's algorithm optimize
Notes: need 50+ conversions for learning phase to complete. At current budget and CPA, that's 2-3 weeks
Flags Pixel vs CAPI: ensure Conversions API is set up alongside Pixel to capture iOS-blocked conversions
Result: User has specific optimization steps with expected timeline for improvement
Example 3: Plan a TikTok influencer campaign
User says: "I have $15K for a TikTok influencer campaign to launch our new protein bar. Who should I target and how?"
Skill does:
Recommends micro-influencer strategy: 6-8 creators at $1,500-2,500 each in fitness/nutrition niche
Advises on content brief: authentic taste-test format, workout integration, not scripted testimonial
Suggests including Spark Ads rights in creator contracts to boost top-performing posts
Notes: $15K is below most agency minimums — use self-serve platforms (Modash, Heepsy) for creator discovery
Result: User has creator selection criteria, budget allocation, and measurement plan
Troubleshooting
TikTok organic reach suddenly dropped
Symptom: Videos that used to get 5K-10K views are now getting 200-500
Cause: Algorithm shift, content fatigue (posting similar formats repeatedly), or account flagged for guideline borderline content
Solution: Diversify content formats (try Duets, Stitches, text-on-screen, different hooks). Check if any videos were removed or restricted. Post at different times (test 7am, 12pm, 6pm, 9pm local time). If sustained drop for 2+ weeks with varied content, the account may need a content reset — archive underperforming videos and try a completely new content pillar.
TikTok ads stuck in learning phase
Symptom: Ad group says "Learning" for 5+ days with no conversions
Cause: Too narrow targeting, too low budget for the objective, or conversion event too far down funnel
Solution: Broaden targeting (remove interest restrictions, use Smart targeting). Increase daily budget to at least 10x your target CPA. If optimizing for purchases with a $50 product, you need at least $500/day per ad group. Alternatively, optimize for a higher-frequency event (Add to Cart instead of Purchase) to exit learning phase faster, then switch to Purchase optimization once you have 50+ events.
Can't attribute TikTok's impact on sales
Symptom: TikTok reports strong engagement but Google Analytics shows minimal TikTok traffic
Cause: TikTok's in-app browser strips referrer data, iOS ATT blocks tracking, and TikTok drives delayed conversions (30-45 days post-exposure)
Solution: Implement TikTok Conversions API (CAPI) alongside Pixel for server-side tracking. Use dedicated landing pages or vanity URLs per campaign (mysite.com/tiktok). Compare brand search volume and direct traffic during campaign periods vs baseline. For influencer campaigns, use unique promo codes per creator. Accept that TikTok attribution will always undercount — use incrementality testing (geo holdout or time-based on/off) for true measurement.
