5 Tips on Leveraging TikTok for Animal Shelters and Rescues

TikTok has continued to be an increasingly popular platform, surpassing Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram in monthly downloads. Formerly known as Musical.ly, TikTok is an entertainment app for compelling, short videos. Now over 800 million users strong, TikTok is especially popular with the Gen Z demographic and is growing quickly with Millennials as well. Brands and celebrities have been jumping on TikTok in droves to raise awareness about their work and speak to their fans.

If you’re not already on TikTok, consider creating an account to snatch up your shelter or rescue’s username. Tap into one of your social media-savvy employees to start creating content or see if any of your volunteers have an interest in TikTok.

Five Top TikTok Tips

1) HOP ON A TREND

There are constantly exciting new trends and challenges popping up on TikTok. For example, one popular trend captured in the video below encourages people to describe something by showing and not telling Hop on to one of these trends to showcase your adoptables. You can find new trends by visiting the “Discover” tab, though quickly scrolling through your “For You” homepage will often show you what is currently popular.

2) CREATE A “HOW-TO” Video

Short and sweet tutorial videos are increasingly popular on TikTok. Try creating a “How-To” video by recording a step-by-step guide and adding text on screen. Consider sharing tips for foster parents or DIY enrichment examples. Get inspired by @kittiesinthetwincities, who shared tips on how to treat kittens with ringworm.

3) LEVERAGE TRENDING HASHTAGS

Make sure to incorporate a variety of hashtags into your post for added visibility. In addition to including relevant hashtags like #petsoftiktok, you can go into the “Discover” tab to see what hashtags are currently trending.

4) SHOWCASE COMPELLING CONTENT FROM YOUR SHELTER

 As more and more shelters are getting on TikTok, we’ve been seeing a myriad of funny, cute, and compelling videos of rescue pets featured on the app. Check out the example below.

5) ENLIST YOUR FOSTER PARENTS TO CAPTURE CONTENT

 With so many of your pets in temporary homes, foster parents can be a great resource for collecting compelling content. Consider putting an ask out to your foster parents, enlisting any TikTok-savvy folks to create content like the example below, which you can re-purpose for your shelter’s account.