If you are not a fan of Tiktok, we have bad news for you…
There is no doubt that the rise of TikTok, among all the current social networks, over the last two years has been unprecedented. What started out as a fun playback and music application has evolved into a much more elaborate platform for content creators, reminiscent of the golden old days of Vine, yet with many more features than the latter. When we think of TikTok we think of Generation Z - those under 25 years of age - however, the use of the platform has developed and grown so rapidly that it is now used by more people than just teenagers and young adults. Companies have become aware of the importance of TikTok, not only of the importance of being present on the app, but of the importance of knowing how to communicate with their audience since TikTok comprises a new digital language that is ephemeral, visual, compressed, incisive, creative.... It is a type of language that awakens our attention, which is the main component that other social media platforms and companies are fighting for. Nowadays, there is not only the objective of selling products and services, the main objective is to get the attention of users. We live in a world of "infoxication" where we constantly receive new and exciting information. That is why new ways of consuming media, especially in social networks such as Tiktok, which are: restless, impatient, not very retentive, practical and changeable, are becoming more and more common. They have short, informal, ephemeral, addictive, data-driven formats...
There are several reasons why brands are investing more of their time and money in this application:
TikTok Content is more diverse than on other Social Media Platforms.
- Tiktok gives you license to experiment with new ideas that you wouldn't typically try on other social networks. TikTok is all about sound and video. It's hard for a TikTok post to be successful without interesting audio and eye-catching visuals.
- The most popular TikTok posts tend to fall into one of two categories: music, education and comedy. While there are serious posts, most people use TikTok to watch short, looping comedy clips or videos (mostly dance routines) set to catchy songs.
- Even if you maintain a very professional appearance on Instagram, you probably want to tone it down a bit and get silly for TikTok. The Washington Post is a great example of the distinction between Instagram and TikTok.
On TikTok there is a higher probability of going viral compared to other Social Media Platforms.
- In short, don't be afraid to get creative and step out of your comfort zone. Make content that gets people engaged, such as branded and unbranded hashtag challenges (free/organic), funny videos and short dance routines.
- If you really want your content to stick, make sure you keep up with the latest TikTok trends. This will give you a good idea of what songs and effects are popular so you can ride the wave with your content.
- It's important to note that paid ads on TikTok are more expensive than those on most other social media platforms. While you can run an ad campaign on Facebook or Instagram with an investment of just $20, the minimum cost to run an ad campaign on TikTok for businesses is $500. As a result, TikTok ads are out of reach for many small businesses. However, if you have a larger budget they can be a useful addition to your strategy.
TikTok is not as saturated as other Social Media Platforms.
- TikTok is still a very new platform. It was initially launched in 2016, and only started to hit the mainstream in 2018, when its parent company decided to merge it with the now defunct Musical.ly. TikTok for Business is even newer, having launched in July 2020.
- However, just because the market is not saturated doesn't mean it's easy to see success. It's quite possible that one of the reasons many well-known names haven't created profiles on TikTok is because they don't know what kind of content to make.
- What's the solution? Get on the platform, start viewing content and get creative. There are no rules yet, so try new things and see where it takes you.
Great examples of TikTok, Social Media and Brands
Gucci
Gucci has unique styles of visual lines on every social media account they have. The case of TikTok is really interesting as they do a lot of collaborations with many different artists and designers on their own platform to recreate content, trends and looks that instantly capture the viewer's attention.
The Washington Post's Social Media
It's a perfect example of a media company using a completely different tone and way of addressing its audience on TikTok compared to Instagram.
TikTok
On TikTok, the Washington Post presents its news in a more interactive and fun way, as you can see in this example:
While on Instagram, they switch to a much more formal setting and style of to announce their news:
TikTok is not just for Big Brands and Enterprises.
Wisdom of Qara
It is a great space for small companies and startups. To explain this point, let's highlight the example given by Daniela Aguirre, founder of Wisdom of Qara, a brand of vegan and natural cosmetics based on recipes from the Peruvian Amazon.
As she explains in this Tiktok, after several months of trying to promote her brand through Instagram and influencer marketing through the same social platform, she decided to explore Tiktok on her own. After receiving numerous responses from influencers with rates to make content with her brand with very high prices, she decided to be herself the image of her own brand through TikTok. In this way, not only did she save the costs involved in influencer marketing, she humanized her own brand, giving it a face, and as she says "there is no one who better to explain your venture than yourself" She also tells how following TikTok trends, daring to dance, leaving shame aside, she got, in less than two weeks, more than 1000 followers, 25 thousand views on her videos and, since then, she has continued growing and noticing how the algorithm favors her effort much more than on Instagram.
Key Points
TikTok and TikTok for Business offer many opportunities for your business to become a pioneer. Overall, there's no substitute for rolling up your sleeves and trying TikTok marketing for yourself. If you haven't already, download the app, check out some videos and see if it fits into your business' marketing strategy. You have to figure out what kind of content goes with your brand and be creative, more and more audio and video is what is consumed the most. In fact Instagram has just launched the redesign of its application to a full screen layout and favors more video posts than static posts, including templates to be able to create Reels in an easier way and make a more creative content. The future of social media seems to be in this new paradigm of multimedia content, with a certain addictive, fun tone that invites the consumer to be part of the brand's community, thus promoting User Generated Content. These are all strategies and trends that must be taken into account and that we must apply to our respective digital businesses or we will remain anchored in the past and we will not know how to move to the next stage of the digital transformation of social networks.
