TikTok has seemingly exploded from nowhere to become one of the most downloaded apps in the world. It began life as a moderately successful video-sharing app – tagged Douyin in its native China and TikTok in the rest of the world. In 2018, however, it bought out the better-known app, Musical.ly, migrating all its non-Chinese users to a new combined TikTok platform. It should be no surprise that marketers have begun to see the potential of the platform.
Tik Tok enjoys more than 1.1 billion installs !
Probably the most significant impediment to TikTok Marketing success has been that most marketers (and business managers) older than 30 have never heard of the platform.
It has made the news a few times lately because of concerns over whether it is safe for youngsters. TikTok more closely scrutinized its content, removing over 6 million videos it believed violated its terms of use and community guidelines.
That concern aside, TikTok has grown tremendously over the last year. The app was the most downloaded free iOS app over the first half of 2018. It also topped Google Play in October 2018. Overall, TikTok ranked third in the world in November 2018. As of March 2019, the powerful App had more than 1.1 billion installs.
Who uses Tik Tok ?
Musciall.ly actively targeted Generation Z, with a female bias. It is too early to see if there is any real change with TikTok. It is still overwhelmingly favored by younger people, however, with 66% of its users just under 30. A similar percentage of TikTok users are female.
How can Brands use Tik Tok ?
There are three main ways that brands can market on TikTok.
They can create their own channel and upload videos relevant to their business
They can work with influencers, to spread content to a broader audience
They can pay to advertise on TikTok – it is very early days for TikTok advertising – there certainly isn’t a market yet like there is for YouTube. However, TikTok may become more popular and established over time than any other major Social Media platform we know.
Many brands do a combination of running their own channels and working with influencers to spread content to a broader audience. You might try some of the ideas listed below on your own channels, or you may suggest that your influencers create and share these kinds of content.
Hashtag Challenges and UGC
Good Marketing on TikTok can be resumed to two key factors:
- Challenges are an essential feature of TikTok’s community.
- Hashtags are the bedrock of TikTok.
TikTok’s users love taking up a challenge and making and uploading videos accordingly. These challenges are usually given a # name, to make them both memorable and easy-to-find. Brands can also encourage hashtag challenges on TikTok. Unless your brand has managed to build up a popular TikTok channel of its own, you will probably do best to work with influencers to kickstart your #hashtag challenge. Once a #hashtag challenge is launched on TikTok, people can participate with just a few clicks.
The 3rd feature that would immediately follow in a good TikTok marketing strategy is
user-generated content.
Again, this is a type of marketing that brands can either base from their own TikTok channel, or alternatively, work with influencers to encourage their follows to create user-generated content (UGC) supporting the brand in some way.
Generation Z loves the full immersive experience. That’s why they don’t sit at home watching traditional broadcast TV, it’s too much of a passive experience. Generation Z far prefers to be involved. If you can find a way to encourage your customers to share videos of themselves using or interacting with your products ins some way, you’re likely to get a high buy-in.
Is TikTok the right platform for my Business ?
Short answer: it depends.
Optimistic (and my personal) answer: hell yes!
The most frequent concern I get from my clients is that they're not sure if advertising on a platform that mostly targets Gen Z users would bring any sort of leads or conversions to their Business. But this is precisely where the magic of TikTok lies... As much as Gen Z likes to get involved, the more they like to share. Thousands of users that will discover/see/interact with your brand, product or service on the App will be keen to share the information/content with their parents, siblings, relatives, friends, etc... They will do half the work for you! There is much more potential here than people tend to think, and it has proven to be very efficient in terms of ROI for growth.
Yes. It's time to take Tik Tok seriously.