The TikTok-ification of B2B Marketing

Here’s a statistic that will make your marketing team uncomfortable: only 3% of B2B marketers think TikTok delivers value for their business. Meanwhile, 85% still swear by LinkedIn as their platform of choice.

Yet companies like Square, Monday.com, and Shopify are generating millions in revenue from TikTok B2B marketing whilst their competitors remain invisible on the platform. These businesses have discovered something that traditional marketers are missing: the rules of B2B engagement have fundamentally changed.

The corporate playbook is dead. The future belongs to companies brave enough to abandon boardroom presentation aesthetics for something far more powerful: authentic human connection.

The Corporate Playbook is Dead

For decades, B2B marketing followed a predictable formula. Create polished content that sounds professional. Use industry jargon to establish credibility. Keep everything serious because we’re talking about business.

This approach worked when decision-makers were exclusively older executives who expected corporate formality. But Gen Z is now moving into positions where they control budgets and make purchasing decisions.

These decision-makers grew up on TikTok. They’ve been trained to scroll past anything that looks like traditional advertising. They crave authenticity over authority, entertainment over information, and personality over polish.

The companies that understand this shift aren’t just adapting their TikTok B2B marketing strategies. They’re completely reimagining what business communication looks like.

How Square Cracked the Code

Consider how Square revolutionised financial services marketing on TikTok. Instead of creating videos about payment processing efficiency, they film ASMR unboxing videos of their card readers. The gentle sounds of packaging being opened, the satisfying click of the device being assembled.

It sounds absurd until you realise it’s generated millions of views and actual sales.

Their secret isn’t the ASMR gimmick. It’s understanding that even business buyers want to feel something when they engage with your brand. The unboxing videos create anticipation and excitement around what is fundamentally a piece of business equipment.

Square also showcases real customers using their products in authentic settings. Small business owners sharing their success stories, creators explaining how Square helped them monetise their passion. These aren’t polished testimonials with perfect lighting and scripted dialogue. They’re genuine moments that feel like conversations between friends.

The Monday.com Entertainment Strategy

Monday.com has perhaps perfected the art of making boring business software feel exciting. Their TikTok B2B marketing strategy centres on using trending audio clips and popular video formats to demonstrate project management concepts.

They’ll take a viral sound about relationship drama and use it to explain sprint planning. They’ll adopt a trending dance to showcase workflow automation. They’ve turned project management software into entertainment.

Their approach also leverages TikTok’s algorithm in ways that traditional B2B content never could. When they use trending sounds and formats, they tap into existing momentum that can carry their message far beyond their immediate audience.

Why Entertainment Beats Education

Traditional marketing wisdom suggests that B2B buyers want detailed information and rational arguments for purchasing decisions. TikTok B2B marketing reveals this as partially false.

B2B buyers do want information, but they want it delivered in a way that doesn’t feel like work. They’re already overwhelmed with technical documentation and sales presentations. What they crave is content that makes them feel smarter and more connected to the brands they’re considering.

Shopify has mastered this balance. They create content that educates entrepreneurs about e-commerce whilst keeping it genuinely entertaining. They’ll show someone building an online store in 60 seconds, but they’ll do it with humour, trending music, and visual techniques that make the process look exciting rather than technical.

The Authenticity Imperative

Research shows that 40% of TikTok users engage more with brands that show personality. In the B2B context, this translates to companies that let their human side show through their marketing.

This doesn’t mean being unprofessional. It means being recognisably human in a landscape dominated by corporate speak and manufactured messaging.

Duolingo’s approach offers a template. Their owl mascot has become famous for being chaotic, threatening, and completely unhinged. This characterisation is the opposite of what traditional marketing would recommend for an educational platform.

Yet it works because it makes Duolingo memorable and shareable in ways that traditional educational marketing never could be. B2B companies can adopt similar approaches by developing distinctive voices or perspectives that make them uniquely recognisable.

The Algorithm Advantage

TikTok’s algorithm operates differently from other social platforms in ways that particularly benefit TikTok B2B marketing. Rather than prioritising content from accounts users already follow, it focuses on engagement signals and content quality.

This creates opportunities for B2B companies to reach potential customers who would never find them through traditional channels. A small software company can achieve the same reach as a major corporation if their content resonates with viewers.

The key is understanding that TikTok rewards native content over promotional material. Videos that feel like they belong on the platform perform better than content that’s obviously been created for marketing purposes.

The Implementation Challenge

The biggest obstacle to successful TikTok B2B marketing isn’t platform knowledge or creative resources. It’s organisational willingness to embrace a different approach to business communication.

Companies need to accept that effective TikTok content may look nothing like their existing marketing materials. It may feature employees being silly, behind-the-scenes chaos, or informal explanations of complex topics.

This requires trust in teams to represent the brand authentically rather than following rigid brand guidelines. It also requires patience, as TikTok success often builds gradually through consistency rather than immediate viral hits.

What This Means for Your Business

The TikTok-ification of B2B marketing represents more than a platform trend. It signals a fundamental shift in how businesses communicate with potential customers, partners, and employees.

The future belongs to companies that can balance professionalism with personality, expertise with entertainment, and authority with authenticity. These aren’t contradictory goals. They’re complementary approaches that reflect the complex, human nature of business relationships.

As more companies embrace TikTok B2B marketing strategies, the platform will likely become as essential for business growth as LinkedIn or email marketing. The companies that establish their presence early will have significant advantages over those that wait for proof of concept from competitors.

The change has already begun. The question isn’t whether TikTok B2B marketing will become mainstream. The question is whether your company will be leading the change or scrambling to catch up.

Sources

1. B2B marketing on TikTok: What you need to know – MarTech
2. TikTok What’s Next 2025 Trend Report – TikTok Newsroom
3. 5 Easy TikTok trends for your 2025 marketing strategy – Fluid Branding
4. B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks: Outlook for 2025 – Content Marketing Institute
5. TikTok for B2B: 5 Best Practices with Examples – Nestscale

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