If you haven’t already downloaded TikTok, it’s because of one of these three reasons.
- You’re our co-worker Gabby Zuk
- You know you’ll be addicted so you’re doing it for your own good
- You don’t own a cellphone
Since its launch in 2016, TikTok has maintained a steady reputation as a platform geared towards younger generations. The app consists of up to 3-minute-vertical-video content and has grabbed the attention of almost every generation (yes, even our moms are on TikTok). Similar to the pattern of Instagram and Facebook, what began as a silly app for kids has now become a place where brands can easily become successful in digital marketing.
Unlike most social media platforms, TikTok offers a never-ending scroll feed of videos where new content is consistently queued up. With over 1 billion daily active users, it’s a no-brainer why people spend more than 10 hours a week watching content on the platform. The more you interact with videos, the more your ‘For You’ page will be catered to you. If you haven’t felt personally attacked by your FYP at least once, you’re not a true TikTok lover.
TikTok is where social media trends are created. If you want to be a cool kid who keeps up with the latest trends, you should probably download TikTok, like, yesterday. You might have noticed every 20-something female is dressing like it’s 2002 again or that there’s a fish shortage simply because everyone is eating salmon rice bowls.
TikToker Emily Maruko shared a simple recipe video of her making a salmon avocado rice bowl and it exploded on TikTok! It received 7.7 million likes, 80 million views, 211.7k shares, and for a moment in time, it was hard to find the ingredients. These random trends that have been emerging all come from TikTok.
Bring Your Business To The “For You” Page
TikTok currently estimates that about 40% of their 130 million+ active US users are over the age of 25. The platform has become a place for everyone, from large brands to small business owners. Individual TikTok users are welcoming brands to the platform and a study found that 99% of respondents enjoy watching video content from brands. TikTok is the ideal way to start. Brands have the ability to market through organic posting or use TikTok’s paid ads program.
Through organic posts alone, brands have gained traction with their audience and engaged at a higher rate than other platforms. The estimated average engagement rate for TikTok influencers is 18% and video content has been proven more memorable for consumers. On average, consumers remember 80% of what they see and only 20% of what they read. Users are also more likely to share visual content rather than plain text.
Brands also find that creating and promoting organic content is simple at zero cost and low time commitment. Trends rule the algorithm on TikTok, and brands can keep it simple by creating content that follows a trending challenge, uses popular audio, or recreates a viral TikTok video.
What about Paid Ads?
TikTok provides paid ads for brands that want to take their marketing a step further and put cash behind their content. Through Brand Takeover ads, brands can ensure that users see and internalize their content. These ads pop up when a user initially opens the app and they take the form of TikTok videos that take up a user’s entire screen. These branded videos often have high rates of engagement and easily reach a variety of users.
TikTok also offers branded, in-feed videos that mimic a user’s typical video feed. With the highly immersive vertical screen, users often watch and interact with the ad before scrolling.
Brands also have the option to create either branded lenses or branded hashtag challenges. Users are encouraged to participate in challenges or use brand-provided video features and hashtags to build their own presence and connect with a larger audience.
TikTok offers sponsorship programs for brands that facilitate interaction with popular TikTok influencers. Charli D’amelio is the most popular TikTok creator, with almost 132 Million followers. She became famous for her dancing and choreography skills. In most of her videos, you will catch her drinking a Dunkin’ coffee. Her love for Dunkin’ ended up turning into an official partnership. Fans of Charli can now get her special drink at Dunkin’ called “The Charli,” or ”Charli Cold Foam.” Fans are loving this collaboration so much that Charli and Dunkin’ dropped merch together too.
“Levitating” Organic Content
Before diving into the paid ads on TikTok, don’t be afraid to try creating a few original posts. The in-app video editing features are highly intuitive and when the entire content creation process takes place on the app, the video is more likely to be promoted by the algorithm. This method is completely free and easy to learn.
We’re also entering into an age where a new generation of consumers value transparency within a brand. Users are more likely to engage with a humorously relatable post than a polished and obviously paid ad.
A brand that’s crushing it on TikTok is DuoLingo, the language learning app. With more than 2 million followers, the brand’s green owl mascot is the star of their hilarious, out-of-the-box TikToks. Duo’s videos include throwing shade at TikTok users for not keeping up with their lessons or for using Google Translate. The owl also enjoys dancing and expressing their love for Dua Lipa. DuoLingo’s TikTok strategy is all about having fun and being relatable, not getting app downloads. Learning a new language should be fun, so that’s how Duo wants to portray their brand. We recommend checking out their TikTok page and seeing what all the hype is about. At the very least you’ll get a good laugh out of it (feel-good marketing at it’s finest,, right?).
The most essential aspect of digital marketing for brands is keeping up with the newest trends. TikTok has become a platform where brands can successfully launch campaigns, but the platform maintains its unique reputation for original content and high user engagement. This is something brands should take advantage of before the opportunity passes by.
Rebel can create a TikTok strategy for your business that will help you reach your brand goals and many “For You” pages. Check out our TikTok to get a behind the scenes look at life at Rebel. We’re always on top of the latest trends and continually expanding our knowledge across all social media platforms. If you want to learn more about what TikTok can do for growing your business, reach out to us at Rebel today.
