# 40 TikTok ideas for businesses in 2026, with an example for each

Ana Ibáñez Lario · Published 8 Oct 2026 · Learning

_40 TikTok ideas for businesses, grouped by format: slideshows, behind the scenes, product, education, trends and customer stories. Each one comes with a short example, plus what our study of 1,272 short videos says about how to open, cut and end them._

## The short answer

- The best TikTok ideas for a business come from what customers already ask, buy and get wrong.
- In our study of 1,272 TikToks and Reels, listicles drew 2.12 times the account's typical views and story-led videos 1.50 times.
- In our study of 1,018 TikTok slideshows, list and step-by-step slideshows drew 3.29 times the views.
- Write the hook on screen. On-screen hook text drew 1.79 times typical views, and spoken-only hooks drew 0.62 times.
- Postdom reads your website and turns it into ideas and finished posts in your brand, which post only once you approve them.

Here are 40 TikTok ideas for businesses, grouped by format: slideshows, behind the scenes, product, education, trends and customer stories. Each idea has a one-line example you can copy. The ones most likely to work are lists, step-by-step guides and real stories from your own business, because those are the formats that did best in our own studies of short videos and TikTok slideshows.

**Last checked: 8 October 2026.** We checked every study figure against Postdom's published research on what makes a short video go viral and on TikTok slideshows, and the trend formats against our weekly TikTok trends list, updated 4 October 2026.

## TikTok ideas for business

A good idea for a business account is specific. "Show our product" is a topic. "Three mistakes people make when they first buy a road bike" is an idea, because it has a promise, a list and an ending.

The fastest way to find ideas is to look at what you already have: the questions customers ask, the products people return, the jobs you do every week and the reviews you get. Every one of those can be a post.

Before the list, here is what our data says about which formats tend to beat an account's usual views. Each figure compares a post with the same account's other posts.

_Which TikTok formats did best in Postdom's studies_

| Format | Result | Source and date |
| --- | --- | --- |
| List and step-by-step slideshows | 3.29 times the views of the same account's other slideshows | Postdom study of 1,018 TikTok slideshows from 129 accounts, read 8 Oct 2026 |
| Slideshows built to be kept (steps, prices or a checklist) | 3.13 times the views | Postdom study of 1,018 TikTok slideshows, read 8 Oct 2026 |
| Listicle videos | 2.12 times the account's typical views (95 videos, 61 accounts) | Postdom study of 1,272 TikToks and Reels from 160 accounts, read 8 Oct 2026 |
| Story-led videos | 1.50 times | Postdom study of 1,272 TikToks and Reels, read 8 Oct 2026 |
| Tutorials and demos | No clear difference to views, but 58% more saves per view on TikTok | Postdom study of 1,272 TikToks and Reels, read 8 Oct 2026 |
| Product showcases | 0.67 times, not a statistically clear result | Postdom study of 1,272 TikToks and Reels, read 8 Oct 2026 |
| Moodboard slideshows with no hook | 0.34 times | Postdom study of 1,018 TikTok slideshows, read 8 Oct 2026 |

These are correlations, not proof of cause, so trust the direction more than the exact size. The pattern is clear enough to plan around: give people something to learn or a story to follow, and lead with a hook they can read.

## TikTok slideshow ideas

Slideshows are photo posts people swipe through. They are quick to make and easy to save. In our slideshow study, posts with 5 to 7 slides drew 1.71 times the views, and short ones of 2 to 4 slides drew 0.40 times. Our guide to [how to make a slideshow on TikTok](/blog/how-to-make-a-slideshow-on-tiktok) has the steps.

- **The numbered list.** "5 things to check before you sign a gym contract."
- **The step-by-step guide.** "How we prep a wall before painting, in 6 steps."
- **The price breakdown.** "What a $4,000 kitchen refit actually pays for."
- **The checklist to save.** "Everything to pack for your first week in a new office."
- **Mistakes to avoid.** "4 mistakes that make a small garden look smaller."
- **Before and after, slide by slide.** "This bathroom took 9 days. Here is every stage."
- **Myth and fact.** "6 dental myths patients still believe, and the truth."
- **The comparison.** "Gas vs electric patio heaters for a small restaurant terrace."

Avoid a run of pretty photos with nothing to read. Moodboards with no hook drew 0.34 times the views in our study.

## TikTok video ideas

Videos take more work, but they carry stories and faces better than slides. Here are 32 more ideas in five groups.

### Behind the scenes

- **Opening up.** "Opening the bakery doors at 5am, and the first job of the day." Open on the shop, not a close-up.
- **How an order gets made.** "Your order, from the moment you click buy."
- **A job from start to finish.** "One roof repair, sped up, start to finish."
- **The tool you can't work without.** "This $20 tool saves our team an hour a day."
- **The mess nobody sees.** "What the salon looks like after a Saturday rush."
- **Meet the team.** "Sam has fixed 3,000 bikes. Here is his favourite trick."
- **A small win.** "We just sent our 1,000th order from the spare room."

### Product

- **Three ways to use it.** "Three ways our customers use one linen scarf."
- **What it fixes.** "Squeaky floorboards gone in ten minutes with one product."
- **The honest con.** "The one thing our best seller is bad at."
- **Who it is not for.** "Skip this mattress if you sleep on your stomach."
- **New stock arrives.** "The autumn range just landed, and here is all of it."
- **Packing an order.** "Packing a real order for a customer in Leeds."
- **The bestseller explained.** "Why this one candle outsells the rest of the shop."

Our study found that opening on a product close-up drew 0.56 times typical views, while opening on a real place drew 2.28 times. Start product videos in the room or street where the product is used.

### Education

- **The beginner mistake.** "Most new runners buy shoes half a size too small."
- **The quick tip.** "Defrost a freezer in twenty minutes with one bowl."
- **The jargon explained.** "Here is what APR actually means on a car loan."
- **The rule of thumb.** "Water your lawn deeply twice a week, never daily."
- **The tutorial.** "How to fix a dripping tap without calling anyone."
- **The expert opinion.** "As a dentist, I would never use charcoal toothpaste."

The last idea uses a job or role hook. In our study, hooks that opened with the speaker's job or role drew 3.16 times typical views, though that rests on a small group of 30 videos.

### Trends

Trends work best when you bend the format to your business. These five come from our weekly [TikTok trends](/blog/tiktok-trends) list, updated 4 October 2026, which has the sounds and examples for each.

- **POV.** "POV: you finally booked the plumber you kept putting off."
- **Expectation vs reality.** "Expectation vs reality of opening a coffee shop."
- **Unpopular opinion.** "Unpopular opinion: you don't need a website builder."
- **Day 1 vs later.** "Day 1 of our shop vs day 500."
- **Day in the life.** "A day in the life of a wedding florist in June."

### Customer stories

- **The problem we solved.** "She had three leaks in a week. This fixed all of them."
- **A review, read out.** "This review made the whole team stop for a minute."
- **The repeat customer.** "Dave has bought the same boots from us since 2015."
- **The odd request.** "Someone asked us to bake a cake shaped like a tax form."
- **The before and after.** "Six months ago this garden was mud and bins."
- **The question we always get.** "Everyone asks if our dog treats are safe for puppies. Yes."
- **The thank you.** "One customer sent this card, and it made our week."

First-person story hooks drew 1.74 times typical views in our study. Customer stories are easy to tell in the first person.

## How to turn TikTok ideas into posts that get watched

An idea only works if people stop scrolling. Our study of 1,272 TikToks and Reels from 160 accounts found a few habits worth copying. The full write-up is [what makes a short video go viral](/blog/what-makes-a-short-video-go-viral).

- **Write the hook on screen.** Hooks written as text on screen drew 1.79 times the account's typical views. Hooks that were only spoken drew 0.62 times.
- **Say what the post is about.** Hook length made no clear difference, and the median hook was 7 words. What the hook said mattered more: hooks that opened with a first-person story drew 1.74 times, and a job or role 3.16 times, though only 30 videos did that.
- **Open on a real place.** A street, a room or a view drew 2.28 times. A product close-up drew 0.56 times.
- **Cut often.** Videos cut 10 to 25 times a minute drew 1.53 times. One take with no cuts drew 0.69 times.
- **End on a recap.** Videos that ended with a quick recap drew 52% more views. Ending with a soft invite such as "let me know below" drew 39% fewer.

If the first line is the hard part, our free [TikTok hook generator](/tools/tiktok-hook-generator) reads your website and writes 3 hooks about your business, each about 10 spoken words. It needs no sign-up and runs up to 3 times a day.

## What to avoid

- **Ideas with no point.** In our slideshow study, moodboards with no hook drew 0.34 times the views.
- **Giving the answer away on slide 1.** First slides that gave the answer away drew 0.46 times the views.
- **Hard sells at the end of a slideshow.** They drew 0.52 times the views of the same account's other slideshows.
- **Question captions.** In our video study, the 23 captions that ended on a question drew 0.17 times typical views, though that is a small group.
- **Opening on a product close-up.** It drew 0.56 times typical views. Show where the product lives instead.
- **Copying a trend with no link to your business.** Change the words so a customer would recognise your shop in it.

## Social media content ideas

Every idea in this list works beyond TikTok. A list slideshow can go to Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. A behind-the-scenes video can go to Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Facebook and LinkedIn. You don't need a separate set of social media content ideas for each app, only a steady supply of good ones.

A simple weekly mix for a small business:

- 2 lists or step-by-step guides, as slideshows
- 1 behind-the-scenes video
- 1 customer story
- 1 trend, bent to your business

That is five posts a week from the same ideas, each one reused across your accounts.

## How Postdom turns your website into TikTok ideas

Coming up with ideas every week is the part most owners give up on. [Postdom](https://app.postdom.com/signup) reads your website and makes ready-to-post short-form videos, slideshows and single images in your brand. You approve, edit or skip each one, and by default nothing posts until you approve it.

Approved posts are scheduled to TikTok and your other accounts, at 9am and 7pm in your time zone by default, up to 2 a day per account. Videos can go to TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and LinkedIn, and slideshows to TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn. Postdom posts to nine platforms in total. Its For You feed is weighted by what performs, so the ideas you see lean towards what works for your account.

The Free plan is $0 with no card: 1 post a month on 2 accounts on any platform. Free posts carry a small Postdom watermark, which paid plans can turn off. Paid plans start at $39 a month for 30 posts on 3 connected accounts. See [pricing](/pricing).

> **Get TikTok ideas made into posts**
>
> Postdom reads your website and turns it into videos and slideshows in your brand. You approve the ones you like and Postdom schedules them.
>
> [Start free](https://app.postdom.com/signup)

## FAQ

**What should a business post on TikTok?**

Post lists, step-by-step guides, behind-the-scenes clips and customer stories. In our studies, list formats and story-led videos beat an account's usual views, while product showcases did not clearly help.

**How do I come up with TikTok ideas every week?**

Write down every question customers ask, every mistake they make and every job you do. Each one is a post. Postdom can also read your website and make ideas and finished posts for you to approve.

**Are slideshows or videos better on TikTok?**

Both work. In our study of what people save on TikTok (656 videos and 565 photo carousels), photo slideshows were saved 4.5 times as often as videos, per 100 likes. Videos are better for stories and faces. A mix of both covers more ideas.

**How long should a TikTok be?**

In our study of 1,272 short videos, no length from under 10 seconds to more than 90 was reliably better or worse for views. The median video ran 44 seconds.

**Do I need to film myself?**

No. Slideshows need only photos, and Postdom makes videos from your website without filming. On paid plans, an AI persona can put the same person on screen in every video.

> **Never run out of TikTok ideas**
>
> Postdom reads your website, makes videos and slideshows in your brand, and schedules the ones you approve to TikTok and your other accounts. The Free plan is $0, with 1 post a month on 2 accounts on any platform and no card. Free posts carry a small Postdom watermark, which paid plans can turn off.
>
> [Start free](https://app.postdom.com/signup)

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Canonical: https://postdom.com/blog/tiktok-ideas