Let’s go TikTok! Results are ticking over there.
Now that TikTok has overtaken Google as the most popular website, it’s clear that there’s more to it than lip syncing teenagers.
With over one billion active users and 53% of them being aged 18-24, brands become exposed to a number of emerging markets when they harness TikTok marketing. This helps brands grow their customer base, increase community rapport and expand commercial opportunities.
What is TikTok?
TikTok is a short-form video platform, where users can create, discover and share original video content of up to 10 minutes in length.
Types of content that’s typically hosted on TikTok includes:
- BTS (behind the scenes)
- comedic skits
- DIY (do it yourself)
- TikTok challenges/ hashtag movements
- user generated content (earned media)
TikTok has undeniably surpassed the popularity of Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Many brands and celebrities now use TikTok marketing to cross-promote their content so they can become exposed to a wider audience. With Instagram’s bold come-back of Instagram Reels, it’s evident that TikTok has helped push short-form video to the forefront of social media.
Influence with influencers
TikTok is great for leveraging influencer marketing. The app’s engagement features make it easy for influencers and brands to obtain user-generated content on their posts. Creators also have instant access to ready-made tools, including music, animation, sound effects and voice-over capabilities. Short-form video has never been easier to create!
As an example, let’s look at the recent success that Dunkin’ has had with influencer marketing on TikTok. In 2020, Dunkin’ partnered with Charli D’Amelio to produce videos to complement a launch of new menu items. The collaboration enabled Dunkin’ to reap a 57% increase in app downloads and a 20% sales boost for all cold brew coffees.
Another compelling example starts with Emily Mariko’s salmon rice recipe. When it went viral, creators were quick to make their own #SalmonRice. The momentum of this popular trend caught the attention of Itsu, and the global brand created its own version by adding their crispy seaweed to the recipe. This triggered a 108% increase in seaweed sales in just three weeks.
When brands join forces with TikTok influencers, they’re able to more easily embed their products into the collective cultural consciousness, where users make a purchase almost on instinct. This is one of the most lucrative aspects of TikTok marketing.
Grow your brand community
Today, people are responding favorably to brands that cultivate authentic relationships with users through social content and community engagement. As we’ve touched on before, TikTok’s unique discovery algorithm equips brands with an unmatched opportunity to reach new audiences.
The discovery algorithm affords every TikTok user an equal chance of going viral, no matter how large their follower-count is. This means that brands who are new to TikTok don’t need to fear that they have no way of competing with established users.
As long as brands make community engagement a priority, they have as good a chance of any with TikTok marketing.
Community engagement involves:
- creating and participating in trends
- liking and commenting on other brand videos
- replying to comments
Brands that are responsive with community engagement make users feel seen. When users are acknowledged by the accounts they like, follow and comment on, they’re more likely to want to continue supporting the brand through routine interaction.
This is an important chord to strike as the TikTok “For You” algorithm (platform explore page) curates feeds according to the activity history of individual users. The more interactions your content receives, the more likely it is that you’ll appear in the “For You” feeds of users who are already connected with those that engage with your content. TikTok marketing is a powerful way to build communities!
Don’t make Ads. Make TikToks’
Many people use TikTok for entertainment. Brands need to understand this overarching user intent so they can seamlessly fit in with the tone and feel of the platform and be embraced by the user base.
This is where TikTok’s “Don’t make ads. Make TikToks’” call enters the arena. When building TikTok Ads, TikTok probes brands to draw upon fun-filled creativity over hard sells.
The platform wants its ads to carry a similar feel to organic content, where strains of DIY, BTS and challenges are leveraged. It’s also a call for brands to sidestep overly styled studio production as this is now losing appeal. Today, users are hungry for more relatable content that depicts the real-life benefits of products without frills or fluff. It’s what builds trust.
Making paid content feel more native to the platform makes users more likely to engage with it and perform a desired call-to-action. According to TikTok audience insights, 73% of users experience a deeper connection to brands when they interact with them on TikTok and 67% claim that TikTok inspired them to shop even when they weren’t intending to.
In light of the tremendous purchasing power of TikTok marketing, the platform is quickly being adopted as an ecommerce outlet.
TikTok itself notes, “e-commerce is no longer the future of shopping – it is shopping. In this new landscape, brands must keep up with consumers’ ever-changing online shopping behaviors – and TikTok is at the forefront of this new era.”
To contextualize the power of TikTok as an ecommerce outlet, look no further than the explosive #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt. It’s been found that shoppers are 2 times more likely to make an online purchase via the platform’s marketplace than a traditional retail outlet.
When brands make TikToks’ [not ads], they’re able to build their brand story through an engaging short-form video format and meaningfully connect with target audiences.
How can brands determine whether their TikTok efforts are delivering desired results?
Brands can instantly find the answers when they connect their accounts into the Digivizer platform. Here, they can track and compare the success metrics of all their marketing campaigns in one place. Knowing what works and what doesn’t has never been easier to understand.
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