TikTok has been creating some buzz in the past few years and continues to grow in reach and popularity by every passing day! Let’s do a little rewind and know when it all began.
TikTok was launched by a Chinese company ByteDance in 2016 and was described as an amalgamation of Vine, Twitter, and Instagram. It allowed its users to create short-videos, edit them with various filters and many AR features. Originally it was known as Musical.ly.
TikTok came in the market and filled the shoes of Vine after its departure. Ever since TikTok has steadily climbed the popularity ladders with people scrambling to their app stores and downloading the trending app to know what all the fuss is about.
According to data, over 40% of the app’s users are between the ages of 10 and 19, making it a center of attraction for brands that are seeking the attention of Gen Z.
Apart from the youth appeal, TikTok has grown to be a favorite tool for branding. The app has only just begun exploring paid advertising and offers an open arena for influencers to fight for positions. But many brands are considering the ways that this platform can help in shaping culture and increasing relevant awareness about the brand. It is considered one of the fastest-growing platforms and has a fanbase of 800 million active users worldwide, making it stand ahead of many popular platforms like Snapchat, Twitter, and LinkedIn. With such a high growth rate, there are endless opportunities for brands to actively advertise their products/services here.
If you are thinking of adding TikTok into your digital marketing mix, then read on to learn more about it.
Know How it Works
Like any other social media platform, there are some basic unsaid rules that every user needs to follow. Make your profile stand out with a great picture, follow some popular users with whom you relate to, and then create your own content until you learn what will help you engage with the people on this platform. When you open the app there are two main areas that you’ll notice – ‘For You Page’ and the ‘Following Page’. The ‘For You’ page is the explore section where you get content from the trending creators, trending concepts, or the trending music. You’ll have a great experience even without following anyone. Whereas, ‘Following Page’ will show you the videos from the creators that you are following on TikTok.
Always remember that authenticity is the key – create content that matches your business’s branding and contributes to fulfilling specific goals.
Types of Paid Advertisement
There are five primary ad formats that are implemented on the platform. Paid media is always a great strategy to invest in.
In-Feed native content
With in-feed content, brands can create a storyboard related to the product like a TikTok creator. This video will be integrated into users ‘For You’ feed. Mostly video ads last <15 seconds on the homepage with automatic sound-on in full screen, just like how Instagram stories are displayed and are skippable. The impact of the video can be measured by the number of clicks, impressions, CTR, and video interaction through the URL landing page, TikTok page, or app download.
Top View
The concept of TikTok can help brands capture instant attention with sight, sound, and speech. Clubbing them all will be good for a stronger brand recall & engagement. Stating an on-point strategy for video: 15s total length with Brand + In-Feed content + Likeable Sound + Hashtag or External URL.
Brand Takeovers
Now let’s understand what a brand takeover actually means. It’s a full-screen dynamic or static display of the brand with the help of an image, GIF, or short videos. Brand takeover immediately captures the attention of the users and with the help of embedded links you can connect with the website. It is noticed that it delivers guaranteed impressions.
Hashtag Challenge
The most famous and engaging format is the hashtag challenge. Creators can come up with their own creativity and express their emotions freely with the hashtag. Brands invite all users to create content around the theme integrating the brand which will organically grow among the audience. The natural tendency of TikTok still remains, to create, share, and go viral. This will be a strong impact on increasing brand awareness and the engagement with users will go a long way. The setup can be seamless with just a few guidelines, media placement, and time schedules.
Branded Lenses
TikTok has been improving ever since it debuted in the social networking world as it’s bringing in engaging tools to grasp the user’s attention. And one of the potential projects of TikTok has been the branded lenses. They are similar to Snapchat’s 2D and 3D lenses for photos. Brands can design their own TikTok filter related to the theme and users can select the lens while recording the video. The filter is live for 10 days, then the lens is automatically included in the top 10 trending list and it comes in 2D and 3D.
Develop Influencer-Created Content on TikTok
Influencer marketing has been used by brands for a long time to expand your brand awareness among the audience. Like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, influencer marketing is a very big part of TikTok. Followers on TikTok grow at a very high pace, therefore the degree of influence keeps on varying. The ROI on gaining a larger audience is tremendous on TikTok.
One of the major factors to keep in mind is that brands approach a relevant TikTok influencer, and builds a strategic relationship that will benefit your brand. For example – A travel company should approach travel bloggers/influencers that have a niche audience that is interested in travel content. Always make sure that brand value gets aligned with influencer’s personalities.
Opt for Creative Content Tactics
TikTok has seen a massive rise since the beginning of 2020. We have seen celebrities, sports stars, and influencers taking part in creating original content and bringing out quality ideas. The key factor for a TikTok video to go viral is the original concept. Ultimately, originality is the driving force to attract users. Users’ reactions are the best guide to judge on what is the best perspective to influence buyers.
Come up With Quirky Hashtag Challenges
Hashtag challenges are an integral part of the platform and the influencer community too. The challenges create a wave among users to recreate and iterate the video with some new concepts and ideas. Brands like Nike and Adidas have taken full advantage of placing the right branded hashtag challenge and grasping the audience for their new launches.
Summing Up
To conclude, we would like to say that TikTok has proven to be an essential tool to integrate into your digital marketing plan. With the above tips, you don’t have to miss out on this amazing opportunity and get the best resources aligned for your brand.
