is TikTok right for your brand?
Learn more about whether TikTok is right for your brand and best practices for the channel
Although TikTok has only been available in the United States since 2018, the app has quickly escalated into one of the most popular social media platforms ever. The app, which allows users to create 30 second or 1-minute videos that play on a loop, is booming with opportunities for brands. As of August 2020, TikTok boasts a whopping 800 million monthly active users. For reference, Twitter only has 330 million (as of August 2020).
TikTok’s success in the U.S. market has not been without its drama. President Trump has been working diligently to ban the Chinese-owned app citing concerns about security. The brand's CEO, Kevin Mayer, surprisingly resigned on August 26th, noting a shift in the political environment. Now, Walmart has teamed up with Microsoft in a bid to buy the app.
TikTok’s success can be traced to a myriad of factors — playing into users' short term attention span, using a specific algorithm to provide users with content they want to see, and peoples’ fascination with different dances or trends that thousands of users participate in.
To put its appeal into simple terms, a 2018 New York Times article described TikTok as the “a place where people can let down their guards, act silly with their friends and sample the fruits of human creativity without being barraged by abusive trolls or algorithmically amplified misinformation. It’s a throwback to a time before the commercialization of internet influence, when web culture consisted mainly of harmless weirdos trying to make each other laugh.” Perhaps this is why brands are finding so much success through TikTok — marketing feels less like a hyper-targeted ad, and more like an organic integration into a user’s feed.
Should my Brand Use TikTok?
The first step to creating a successful campaign on TikTok is to figure out if your audience is on the platform in the first place. While 41% of TikTok’s demographic is users between the ages of 16 and 24, this is by no means the only demographic on the app. While TikTok may have originally been famous for its lip-synching and choreographed dance videos, its content is rapidly evolving. From home improvement and cooking channels to product review pages and deals, you might be surprised to find what’s actually on the app. However, it’s still important to be honest about how much time you can devote to TikTok. If it’s not much, your content may become irrelevant or fall flat from not staying on top of relevant trends.
Get Comfortable First
If you haven’t spent much time on the app, you first want to download it and see what it’s all about. A successful marketing campaign relies on the marketer knowing both its audience and the platform they’re using. We recommend browsing and getting comfortable with how the app operates — how to “like,” save, and engage are all important to know before you dive in.
Know Your Audience, but Experiment too
One of the best (and scariest) things about TikTok is that it’s still (relatively) new. Content and user behavior changes rapidly on the app, so it’s hard (almost impossible) to pinpoint what type of marketing strategy works best. However, we recommend starting with what you know. Target your videos to the audience you know will engage with your content, but learn to get comfortable with experimenting as well. Because of TikTok’s algorithm, your video will end up in front of users who might not fit your traditional target demographic. And that’s ok! TikTok is a great way to experiment and test new ideas. Lean into it!
Create Original Content, but Know the Trends
Create and share original content that is authentic to your brand. This is how you stand out from the clutter of content on the platform, and best connect with your audience. Use TikTok to get creative with a new social media platform. TikTok makes it easy to use different music, graphics, and sound effects in your videos. Use this to your advantage! Can you leverage a certain style that relates to your brand? This is your chance to get creative with your brand, and its messaging.
While original content is great, TikTok also thrives on redoing other user videos. Whether it’s a new dance or lip-syncing trend, it’s imperative that your brand is up to date on what’s trending. This means spending time on the app and seeing what others are up to. Take time, whether it’s daily or weekly, to scroll the “For you Page” to see what other, popular videos are out there.
While scrolling, look for what music is trending. Look at what videos users are associating with that music. Can you leverage this for your own channel? Unlike Instagram or Facebook, TikTok relies - and thrives - on users copying each other’s videos. Trends are constantly changing, and to be successful on TikTok, you’ll want to stay up-to-date on what is trending.
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