Social media will never cease to amaze me. Just when we think that the Facebook (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp) and Google (Gmail, YouTube) families have almost totally monopolized the market, and social media user fatigue has started to kick in, we find that people’s need for expression and interaction can always make room to accommodate new apps and networks. This time it’s for a short-form, video-sharing mobile platform driven by a community of young, creative and eclectic users.
What began as Musical.ly, a social media network that became known for its users’ fun lipsync videos, has become a powerful platform renamed TikTok after its acquisition by Beijing-based ByteDance.
One of the most popular apps of 2018, surpassing the 1 billion download mark worldwide, TikTok continues to make waves as the most downloaded app on Google Play, and the second most downloaded app on the App Store, in the United States in Q1 2019. It has more than 500 million users in 150 countries and follows the same principle as Musical.ly: cultivate a community of engaged users who connect with each other and express their creativity using the platform’s tools. These include sounds and song snippets, filters and augmented reality effects. But unlike its predecessor, it is not only music-oriented. TikTok is much broader in scope, housing a variety of niche communities from dance, beauty and sports to food, fashion and comedy.
With the mantra that every user can be a creator from their smartphone, TikTok offers a glimpse at the future of social video, made up of quick, snackable bites that are both addictive and highly entertaining. The app, which has simplified video editing and creation, claims its videos garner 17 billion monthly average views with users spending an average of 46 minutes per day in the app.
But how can influencer marketing take advantage of this new tool?
The answer may lie in the large number of micro-influencers now active on the platform, especially the always-on Gen Z users. The app is a favorite of young people who are no longer attracted to the "big players" of social media and seek spaces more in line with their interests and expectations to freely express themselves. In less than 10 years, Gen Z will be as or more important than today's millennials because they will have spent their entire lives online. This also implies that new, forward-thinking strategies are needed in order to reach them.
Although influencer marketing is not yet a common practice on TikTok, many brands have realized its potential and have already dipped their toes in testing it as a new marketing channel. Guess launched the first-ever U.S. brand collaboration with TikTok with its #InMyDenim campaign, where it partnered with influencers to promote its denim. Other brands like Coca-Cola, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures and Google have already worked with popular TikTok users to raise brand awareness.
The platform should definitely be on your radar if your target is a younger demographic, as those between 16-24 years old make up 60% of the app’s monthly users. Brands interested in reaching audiences outside the United States should also closely monitor the app since it has experienced substantial growth in global markets.
Start by building a presence on the platform and a community around your brand. Get to know the app and what works well with its users before you begin to reach out and build relationships with influencers. Most importantly, understand that it has a quirky nature and an irreverent culture made up of real, amateur content. Gauge whether that is a good fit and a viable marketing strategy for your brand.
If there are effortless and genuine synergies between the way TikTok operates and your brand’s personality and audience, these are two ways to leverage the platform:
• Launch challenges and contests using a unique and personalized hashtag to generate a wave of user-generated content about your brand and to boost engagement. Perhaps you can do something revolving around your latest product launch or to announce a limited-time offer. Challenges, in general, work very well on the app.
• Partner with TikTok influencers directly, similar to how it’s done in other social media platforms, to feature your product or service in their videos.
With brand-influencer collaborations currently in a very manual and rudimentary stage, it may be too soon to predict if TikTok is influencer marketing’s next big thing, but I’d recommend keeping an eye on it. Although it’s still in its infancy as a social media marketing tool, it has shown ample evidence of having a highly engaged and loyal community.
Often described as a combination of Snapchat and Vine, the comparisons with this latter platform whose demise made international headlines are inevitable. But it is too early to sentence TikTok to a similar fate, especially as it sits on a foundation of 500 million worldwide users with popularity in China and a booming young user base in emerging markets. There’s also what appears to be a clear intention from the company to enable and foster the creation of content by openly supporting its rising stars.
TikTok has yet to formally launch monetization avenues for influencers, but it has, however, started testing native ads. There are also rumors indicating that it will soon incorporate more targeting options and viewability measurement tools.
Given the fact that the platform is currently in the middle of an aggressive growth phase, it may be a smart move for some brands to become early adopters and jump onboard before the demand is higher and costs rise. Right now, the benefits may be much greater than the risks involved. And entering this space before the volume of ads and branded content rises is also a good indication that your campaign will likely have a greater impact.
