Most businesses underestimate how ready they are for TikTok
By Dan Madden UKI Independent Agency Lead
Businesses Are More Ready
Many businesses fit TikTok better than they think: success comes from content that is relevant, educational, problem-solving, or proof-led, not just trend-led. With 30M+ monthly UK users, 200M+ in Europe, and case studies like Randstad España and Prep Kitchen, the practical next step is to explore TikTok-first content and tools such as Smart+.
When it comes to grabbing attention on TikTok, it isn't always trend-led or entertaining. More often, it comes down to something much simpler. Content doesn't have to be flashy to work on the platform. It can suit a business's brand identity, whether that means being specific, educational, problem-solving, or entertaining. Which means many businesses have more of a place on TikTok than they realise.
What if your category isn’t the reason you aren’t seeing success on TikTok?
One of the most common objections we hear to TikTok is still "our category isn't right for it." But the reality is, TikTok looks very different today than it did a few years ago. The audience has broadened, the content has diversified, and the categories that felt TikTok was not for them are now seeing real value on the platform.
What began as a space dominated by a younger generation and trend-led entertainment has evolved into something much broader. With over 30 million monthly UK users and a European community of more than 200 million, TikTok reaches far beyond the categories and audiences brands once used to dismiss it.
30M+ monthly UK users
200M+ European community
In reality, the platform has become a place where people actively look for ideas, answers, reviews, and brands they might actually buy from. A category does not need to be on trend to work on TikTok. It needs to be relevant to the audience by providing content that is useful, worth talking about, or both.
The breadth of categories finding success on TikTok extends well beyond what many brands expect.
In automotive, Toyota (Germany) cut its cost per acquisition by 38%, with a 65% reduction specifically for the Corolla, as the first European brand on Automotive Ads between 2023 and 2024.
In finance, BCP (Banco de Crédito) drove 10 times more registrations with a TikTok-first approach in 2024. In B2B, HubSpot became the first B2B brand on TopView and lifted brand favourability by 10.5% and awareness by 7.1% in 2023. And according to TikTok's own research, 81% of users say the platform helps them discover topics and trends they didn't know they'd like, proof that discovery extends well beyond any single category.¹
The real question isn't "Are we entertaining enough?" It's "Do we have a story to tell?" Because on TikTok, storytelling wins regardless of category.
Want to gain more insights and advantage for your agency and your clients?
TikTok doesn't mean trendy. It means worth watching
It's time to rethink what makes content work on TikTok. Too often, brands assume it comes down to trends, humour, or entertainment, but it's so much more than that.
Users come to TikTok it Watch It, Love It and Want It, and that means all types of businesses can earn attention on TikTok through expertise, demos, reassurance, transformation, proof, and problem-solving. In the right hands, a success story, behind-the-scenes content, a how-to, or a before-and-after, delivered with a consistent tone of voice, can drive stronger brand recall than trend-led creative that may not resonate with an audience.
Success stories
Randstad España is a good example of this in action. Proof-led content, not polished brand voice
As a global HR services brand, it could easily have leaned on generic, trend-led content to chase reach. Instead, it built its channel almost entirely around practical, proof-led content: CV tips, interview prep, and live labour market insights, delivered by in-house experts rather than polished brand voice. It's employer branding that feels like bite-sized coaching.
Working with agency Internet República, Randstad ran a TopView activation to build awareness on top of this foundation, delivering results: 2.81% CTR and 17 million impressions. The lesson isn't that TopView worked. It's that TopView worked because the underlying content was already trusted, useful, and native to the platform. Teach people something real, put humans front and centre, and let the content do the talking.
2.81% CTR
17M impressions
This is possible because TikTok is built around a content graph, not a follower graph. Content can travel to the people who are most likely to care, even if the brand itself does not have a large audience to begin with. Relevance matters more than reach.
Prep Kitchen Creative testing at scale with Smart+
Prep Kitchen is a leading UK meal preparation brand that delivers chef-prepared, nutritionally balanced meals tailored to fitness goals. To boost new subscriptions during a peak sales period, the brand partnered with their agency Open Partners. They leveraged creator led video content with Smart+, an AI ad powered solution and used narratives around matching diverse meal packages (such as health benefits or time-saving) with the most relevant audiences.
+44% conversion rate
16% lower cost per order
374% increase in orders
This automation freed the team to focus on rapid creative testing, effectively eliminating ad fatigue. The campaign was a massive success, delivering a 44% increase in conversion rate, a 16% lower cost per order, and a 374% surge in orders compared to previous manual campaigns.
For brands, this creates a genuine opening. If you have something useful to say, TikTok will often find the audience for it. The data backs that up. 83% of users purchase after using TikTok for inspiration, and 78% are more likely to consider a product when an ad is personally relevant. 44% of TikTok users say they trust authentic product reviews on the platform, further evidence that demos, reviews, and explainers build real pre-purchase trust.²
The results prove the point. PureGym (UK) cut cost per acquisition by 77% and added more than 26,000 members using always-on native content in 2023.
HydroClean, a home services brand, cut cost per conversation by 74% through Instant Messaging Ads in 2024. These are not outliers. They are a pattern.³
Your community is thriving, here on TikTok
TikTok is a collision of communities, subcultures, obsessions, and enthusiasts, all living just beneath the surface of the feed. What looks like one platform is really thousands of smaller ones, all running at once.
One of the most compelling examples of this in 2026 is personal finance. There are creators breaking down mortgages, pensions, and credit scores in an "explain it like I'm five" format that turns complex topics into simple, proof-led lessons. This is practical, educational content that maps perfectly to the finance industry, which can easily fall into the misconception that "our audience isn't on TikTok." In reality, this community shows the opposite. Not only are they there, they actively want brands and institutions to speak to them in clear, accessible language.
That hidden structure is exactly what makes the platform so powerful for practical categories. You do not need to reach everyone. You need to show up in the right conversation: the niche question, the high-intent search, the moment of doubt, the moment of need.
This is where the most relevant brands win. Finance can stop trying to be on trend and start educating people on something useful, or find its own creative edge. Home and living can win with practical tutorials and smart shortcuts. Healthcare can build trust through reassurance and myth-busting. B2B can earn attention through expertise, not ego.
#LearnOnTikTok 51.1M posts
#BookTok 84.3M posts
#CleanTok 8.2M posts
The scale of these practical communities is hard to ignore. Alongside the growth of #LearnOnTikTok, #BookTok has generated over 164 billion views across approximately 53 million posts, and #CleanTok has surpassed 33 billion views.⁵
On TikTok, the brands that matter most are often the ones that balance useful answers with genuine entertainment or education, proving that being helpful and being watchable don't have to be mutually exclusive.
TikTok tools to spark ideas
Use TikTok tools to add inspiration, community context, and momentum to the strategy.
If you are ready to explore what that could look like for your agency, reach out to a TikTok representative via the button below.
They can help you find the right starting point, understand the tools available, and turn your business reality into content people want to watch.
TikTok for Business case studies ; TikTok Newsroom "Built on TikTok," 2026
TikTok x Deloitte "From Query to Cart," 2024; TikTok Marketing Science "Power of Compound Intelligence," with NRG, 2025
TikTok for Business case studies; TikTok Creative Center
https://ads.tiktok.com/business/en-GB/inspiration/geely-tiktok-success-story
TikTok Newsroom, 2024; TikTok Creative Center