TikTok is popularly known as a destination for promoting short videos. It is an intuitive, user-friendly platform where anyone can sign up as a user and create an account. They can easily create and upload videos that can be up to 15 seconds in length. Of course, you can piece together several videos to create a piece of 60 seconds. What is attractive about this platform is the ability to incorporate music, filters as well as use a host of editing effects.
The rapid videos that this platform helps create are popular for lip-syncing or for dancing challenges. However, creators here also use the platform to campaign for different causes, discuss different subjects as well as educate audiences on different subjects. These can be as diverse as accountancy or healthcare.
Effectiveness Of TikTok
Many people are able to gather a large following by using TikTok. For instance, Taylor Price is known to offer financial advice to Generation Z. She has more than 830k followers. Suitably, it is called the fastest growing platform in social media. It is also one of the apps that have the most downloaded count, over the last two years.
It saw rapid growth especially during the COVID pandemic; that is because many users had more time in hand to explore different features that it offers. Also, it allows online audiences to connect in different ways. Q1 2020 recorded the highest downloads, for a single quarter, having 315 million installations in the social app category.
Today there are 800 million in its active user base. That makes it rank 9th in the category of social network apps. It is ahead of Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
Marketers will find this platform as a way to connect with younger audiences. The fast-paced nature of advertising on TikTok helps keep users engaged and for long periods of time. Statistics show that, on average, users spend 52 minutes each day on this app.
How It Works
Users of TikTok discover videos of different genres or categories, through hashtags. These are added to videos that users create and upload on this platform. Hashtags help users to find content that they are looking for. Each user also gets a home feed that is individually curated for them. That is what they find when they log into the app. It is called For You page. Here users can discover what new content has been added, in categories a user likes.
TikTok uses an algorithm that sends across content for viewing to the individual users, as per certain inputs such as:
- Individual settings such as the device being used, country, language.
- Video information such as genre, sounds, captions, hashtags.
- User interactions such as types of videos one watches, accounts they follow, those with whom users engage with.
Content often goes viral on this platform. That is also because content that is found engaging and interesting by individual users, is placed for them to find on the For You page. Hence, pranks, challenges, and dance routines often spread like wildfire. Hence, creators of such content can gain visibility easily, especially if they use a hashtag that is popular or associate themselves with one.
How Marketers Can Use TikTok
This platform can be a wonderful platform via which products and services can be marketed, especially to younger audiences. It provides a playful and creative marketing environment. Many memes on social media usually begin on this platform. Many brands can leverage such opportunities to boost the visibility of their new range of products and services. There is not much budget requirement for creating such content as well since effective videos can be created, even with ordinary settings. Many people promote commercial products, creating videos filmed in their gardens, car parks, living rooms, or bedrooms even.
Marketers will find a leveled playing field here for engagement as well as reach. There is another unique advantage that this platform provides. That is, even with zero followers, a new video can get millions in views, simply because of the algorithm that is used. This is what sets this platform aside from other social media marketing platforms like YouTube or Instagram. Engagement is easily obtained when content appeals to an audience.
Different ways that marketers can leverage this platform are:
- Start a Channel for Their Brand
They can create a page for their brand and experiment with different types of content. They can easily create content here and with hardly any budget involved. They can also follow hashtags that are trending and involved with memes that are relevant to their brand. The app has built-in effects, filters, editing tools, and sound-bites that are easy to use for creating and sharing authentic content.
- Collaborating with Influencers
This is another way to use TikTok as a social marketing tool. Here marketers can find influencer communities that can be leveraged. Influencers who have a high level of following usually have their content resonating through many circles. Brands can approach such influencers and collaborate with influencers, using their know-how and skills.
- Create Hashtag Challenges
Brands can start cultural trends or memes by posting challenges for users. Millions of users often create videos for such campaigns. An effective example in this category is e.l.f Cosmetics which launched a campaign #eyeslipsface which had over 4 billion in views and 5 million video contributions.
- Use TikTok as an Advertising Channel
It proves to be an effective advertising channel as well. It can provide good visibility, also because not many advertisers are on this platform. As a result, one can gain a good amount of clicks and impressions by using this as an online advertising platform.
Conclusion
If you are promoting a brand whose main customers are Generation Z, then this platform as a marketing base cannot be ignored. Marketers can put up in-feed advertisements, sponsor hashtag challenges or put up banner ads on the app’s home page. Advertisers can target different age groups or define them as per the location or other demographics. They can opt for the Business account on TikTok that allows them to run advertising campaigns with ease.