If you haven’t heard of TikTok already, you must be living under a rock. This addictive app has gained rapid worldwide popularity and could be the newest marketing strategy your business needs to spark growth! Here we look at the opportunities TikTok brings, specifically, why businesses are turning to TikTok for their upcoming marketing plans.
What is TikTok?
TikTok – known for its ‘short-form’ mobile videos – has gained universal popularity, taking the global lead on the most downloads of a video app ever! (Sensor Tower Q1, 2022) Like most social media platforms, TikTok features an algorithm suited to each users’ interests, along with a separate tab for creators they are following.
TikTok began as Musical.ly, a similar app used to create quick entertaining videos. In August 2018, Musical.ly was rebranded to TikTok after being taken over by ByteDance. This meant all users were automatically transferred to TikTok, allowing for instant popularity.
TikTok allows for a broader audience than Musical.ly, offering endless music, sound effects, video effects, and filters. There’s an in-built video and editing feature to create content, or users can upload content from their camera roll.
Who uses TikTok?
TikTok is full of challenges and dances, purely catering to Gen Z. However, the scope for engagement is far broader, with users regularly averaging 45 minutes per day on the app!
TikTok reached 3 billion downloads as of July 2021, capturing a diverse audience with content suited for every generation. The app launched an ‘in-app’ shopping feature in 2021, giving businesses a reason to incorporate the platform into their marketing strategy – it worked wonders.
App Features
Hootsuite released their Global Statshot report in April 2022, stating “TikTok users have spent more than $620 million USD on TikTok – the largest sum ever earned by a mobile app in a single quarter” (Hootsuite & We Are Social, Digital 2022 April Global Statshot Report). This number is remarkable considering it only reflects ‘in-app purchases”.
So, what exactly does this mean? Basically, TikTok have their very own “coins”, which are purely used as ‘tips’ within the app to give back to the creators. These coins are paid for with real money, however, are presented as a virtual gift. They also offer a rewards system to give back to their users. This allows users to redeem points and eventually win prizes by inviting friends or watching short advertising clips!
Outside of this, TikTok has opened an opportunity for businesses to use their platform purely for marketing and advertising. It allows for businesses to target their ideal following by creating a custom audience through choice of age, gender, interests, locations etc. Additionally, they offer the option to monitor ad performance and measure results accordingly.
Did you know that TikTok ads have reached 884.9 million users aged 18+?
Take a quick look into the businesses reaping TikTok’s benefits:
- NBA: 15 million followers, 215.4 million likes
NBA has generated a large amount of success after joining the platform early on. They have truly embraced the entertainment factor of the app and engaged in creating fun, light-hearted and motivational content featuring game snippets and player highlights.
- The Washington Post: 3 million followers, 55.7 million likes
A prime example of how any business can use TikTok to their advantage. Dave Jorgenson has taken charge of The Washington Posts’ TikTok feed and gained immense popularity. He creates informative, comical sketches reflecting the newspapers’ current events!
- Gymshark: 5 million followers, 54.3 million likes
The popular activewear brand predominately outsources fitness influencers to create their content, ranging from fun challenges, memes, and workouts – all while showing off their newest activewear range, a win-win situation!
- Amazon: 1 thousand followers, 3.5 million likes
Amazon increased their daily sales through strategic use of this platform. They often create unscripted catalog promotions or jump on popular trends like “Things TikTok made me buy”. Amazon partners with a range of different content creators/influencers – and often leave the content up to them.
- Chipotle: 7 million followers, 38.8 million likes
This food brand has gained a huge following, and multiple viral campaigns using TikTok! Chipotle is often seen creating challenges or contests, they also feature partnerships with creators, memes, and educational videos!
Successful strategies
TikTok doesn’t have any major platform competition, meaning you can reach more users at a lower cost. What more could you want for your business? After looking at a few of the top businesses on TikTok, let’s break down the most useful strategies.
Strategy 1: Hashtags
Want your video to be easily discovered? Try adding relevant hashtags to your post. This can include anything from the topic of your video to a hashtag that is popular or currently trending.
You may want to consider ‘TikTok SEO’ which allows users to find your videos when using the search bar within the platform. This works best when using non-specific hashtags, therefore reaching a larger audience.
Strategy 2: Partnering/Influencer Marketing
Need an extra boost for your brand? Or maybe you aren’t reaching as many users as you hoped. Start collaborating with content creators or TikTok influencers.
Find people that represent your brand and are relevant to your business. Often, users are more likely to interact and generate revenue with the business if they are already a fan of the influencer. Partnering offers an organic promotional strategy, allowing you to get closer to your target audience and obtain results fast!
Strategy 3: TikTok Ads
The best part about TikTok Ads is the minimal time needed to produce, post and achieve results. The platform offers in-feed ads, branded hashtags, top view ads, branded effects and brand takeover, all that comes with a range of objectives to select from.
The next step is to choose your preferred targeting technique – interest, or behavioural targeting. Interest will show your advertisement to your relevant target audience, whereas behavioural focuses on targeting users’ habits within the app.
TikTok is a unique and fun platform that can be an excellent marketing technique – if correctly understood and used in the right way. The popularity of the app is through the roof, however as a young platform, future capabilities and improvements are constantly in development. Due to this, it is the perfect time to make use of what this app has to offer for your business.
Whether it’s an entertaining skit, dance challenge or an educational video, TikTok will ensure you reach your desired audience in an organic and creative manner and get you the exposure your business desires. If you have been thinking about jumping on the ever-evolving TikTok marketing trend with your business – start today and reap the benefits.
