A few clients have asked me lately whether they should use TikTok to promote their brands, and so this article looks at who I think should be considering it – and not just dancing with the kids in the kitchen!
by Jeni Patrick, Noisy Marketing
TikTok is an app that lets users create short videos, upload them and share them with friends. It grew in popularity when it first launched in 2016 and is now a very popular platform with young people between the ages of 11-18 in the UK. TikTok is different than other types of social media marketing, as it focuses on very short videos, but you can’t share images or text. Many TikTok trends have come from the platform, like dance routines and acting out comedy scenes.
Some of the biggest consumer brands in the world (Like Disney and McDonalds) have leveraged the popularity of TikTok to market their products and services in a brand-new way: the massive move towards user generated content, can see a once forgotten brand be considered ‘on trend’ again within a few days and see huge growth in this highly influential teenage market.
While many brands have jumped on the TikTok bandwagon, it can be hard to know where to start and what type of content will resonate with the young audience. The key to using this app for marketing is to focus your efforts on creating compelling video content that is interesting and easy to follow. It is less about big budgets and more about the idea and the fun you are having. Get that right and watch your engagement levels soar!
There are a few ways that brands can advertise on TikTok. The first option is to create TikTok ads. These ads can be a great way to get your brand’s logo and product or service out there to a massive audience.
- Brand Takeover – ads that appear when a user first opens the app as a fullscreen video
- Branded Hashtag Challenge – encourage users to create brand-related content using a hashtag you select
- Branded Effects – offer users access to branded stickers, AR filters, and photo lenses
- TopView – appear as the first post in a user’s feed
- In-Feed Ads – appear with user videos in feeds
TikTok offers two budgeting choices. Daily sets how much you’re willing to spend each day, whereas Lifetime focuses on how much you want to spend in total for this particular campaign. Social media ads are most effective when targeted to the right audience. You can target TikTok Ads based on: Age, Gender, Location and Interest.
Overall, TikTok is a great social media platform that features a lot of interesting user-generated content. Get creative and consider whether your brand has a place in this market and how you can deliver engaging and original content that speaks to the new generation. It will be interesting for the rest of us to see how the platform develops, will its appeal widen to an older audience and bring with it advertising for a much wider set of brands?
