Featured Image Source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/140988606@N08/40506142163
We are in the era of videos. Regardless of the generation they belong to, internet users across the globe enjoy and engage with video content. An infographic by RenderForest reveals that people spend 100 million hours on Facebook, consuming video content. 45 percent of people around the globe spend more than an hour on Facebook and YouTube videos per week.
Social videos are becoming an indispensable marketing tool, heavily influencing purchase decisions. A report by Brightcove shares that 46 percent of viewers made a purchase after watching a branded video on social channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat.
Source: https://www.brightcove.com/en/blog/2017/08/science-social-video-infographic
Over the past few months, TikTok has emerged as a popular short-form social video platform, earning 188 million new users in the first quarter of 2019. The app is a hype among the Gen-Zs as it focuses on creating and sharing experiences than passively consuming content. It allows youngsters to share meme-centric content effortlessly. With over 500 million monthly active users contributing short, fun, and creative videos, TikTok is triggering a new generation of micro-influencers and viral memes.
Source: https://www.oberlo.com/blog/tiktok-statistics
TikTok has a lot in store for businesses. It is the fastest-growing social channel with less competition as many brands aren’t on TikTok yet.
Source: https://influencermarketinghub.com/what-is-tik-tok/
Unlike other platforms, TikTok faces a huge content deficit (which is an opportunity!). Thus, businesses that build their presence on this channel get the first-mover’s advantage and don’t need to sponsor their content with ads. This also means that they can enjoy a high organic reach to a massive audience of 13 to 18-year-olds.
Visit Red Bull’s profile on TikTok to notice how it has already built a following of 3.2 million by sharing entertaining short video feeds.
Source: https://www.tiktok.com/@redbull
TikTok is definitely the wave of the future in the social world that no business should miss. Use the tips shared below to take full advantage of this trending platform.
1. Use Branded Hashtag Challenges to Your Advantage
Trending through hashtags on TikTok is a clever way to improve your prominence and gather the highest amount of views. You can also create a new hashtag around your new product launches or specific campaigns to urge users to share content.
Several brands like Nike, Guess, and Apple Music are testing the in-app contests and hashtag challenges to generate brand-related content. For instance, Guess introduced the #inmydenim hashtag challenge, encouraging users to persuade users to wear denim and share short videos of themselves. The brand generated more than 38 million views for this hashtag in no time.
Screenshot Source: https://www.tiktok.com/tag/inmydenim
Consider these tips to create a viral video and engage your with potential fans.
- Create a hashtag challenge that makes it easy for other users to participate in, encouraging them to share their own experiences.
- Use challenges, contests, likes, mentions, and comments to engage with your audience.
- Get creative and share videos like behind-the-scenes of your workplace to make your posts more relatable, funny, and entertaining.
- Remember – there are no best practices or rules. Don’t be afraid to experiment and try innovative ways to entertain your fans.
2. Collaborate with TikTok Celebrities
Like other social channels, TikTok allows businesses to collaborate with influencers and celebrities to promote their product to the intended demography. However, influencer campaigns much easier and quicker to implement on TikTok than other social platforms. All you need is an impressive 15-second TikTok video format and you are ready to roll.
Further, most influencers are still building their audience on TikTok. So, they charge low prices compared to mature social platforms like Instagram and Facebook.
By choosing influencers that have already built a solid relationship with your target users you can reach and engage them through a person or brand that’s trusted by them. Here’s how you can find the most suitable TikTok influencers for your brand and campaigns.
- Use tools like Upfluence, Neoreach, and Aspire IQ to look for influencers using multiple keywords, demographics, and psychographic factors.
- Perform a relevant hashtag search to see what’s trending on TikTok. You can then approach the potential influencer through Instagram or Facebook as TikTok does not let you send messages to them.
- Hire an influencer marketing agency that has the details of the top influencers for a specific hashtag. For instance, Fanbytes is a Gen Z marketing agency that has a huge network of influencers signed up.
Source: https://fanbytes.co.uk/
3. Use Duet Chains to Become a Trending TikTok Hit
The duet chain feature of TikTok allows you to duet with another TikToker (yourself, friend, or an influencer). The feature allows you to occupy a split-screen with another person to share entertaining video content alongside. For instance, you can share a makeup tutorial video with an influencer, massively increasing your reach.
Video Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4AL4bN-pIc
Duet chains allow you to create user-friendly with digestible and entertaining content which is one of the hottest trends in the content market. In fact, the best way to create viral content on TikTok is to post a duet challenge that opens up opportunities for creativity and user-generated content (UGC). Your brand can easily get the audience involved through UGC, boosting your popularity in this platform.
Video Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KTLVVrUHTM
Notice how DJ Khalid, the American DJ, drives overall engagement using this feature to establish himself as the Chief Motivational Officer to TikTok.
4. Invest in TikTok Ads
Though advertising on TikTok is in the beta phase, you can experiment with the following types of ads to promote your brand.
- Brand Takeovers – These are full-screen advertisements that appear when a user first opens the app (in other words, the takeover period).
- In-Feed Native Video Ads – These are ads that are placed into a TikTok video. These can drive users to your business website or app.
- Branded 3D/AR Filters – These allow users to interact with the brand and play with creative face filters or animated objects. When integrated with a hashtag challenge, it can boost audience engagement.
- Branded Stickers – Stickers offer a whole new level of creative capacity to your posts. They have the power to make a lasting impression on your target audience.
5. Test Your Brand Campaigns
Though TikTok is the most downloaded social media app in 2019, it has remained under the radar in the business world. Further, compared to Instagram and Facebook that are formal and create stress through social pressure or news, TikTok comes across as an easy-going entertainment platform. The platform doesn’t feel dominated by micro-influencers or experts. Instead, it has amateurs and fun-loving youngsters who want to create, share, or experience something cute, funny, and clever.
This makes it a low-pressure environment where you can test new campaigns and concepts to connect with your younger audience. Check out how Chipotle, an American chain of restaurants, taps onto the trending memes. It posted The Guacamole Song video by Dr. Jean with a caption, ‘TFW guac is free’ with #GuacDance on TikTok. This sparked a viral challenge, encouraging people to post videos of themselves dancing with avocados.
Source: https://www.tiktok.com/tag/GuacDance
This is one of the best-performing hashtag challenges on TikTok so far with more than one billion views.
The Way Forward: Get Your Brand Ready for TikTok!
Without a doubt, TikTok is a raving trend in the social media world. It can help your business establish its niche quickly by combining entertainment with information. Bonus: TikTok promises a low level of competition and substantial ROI. Thus, it’s about time you take advantage of this comparatively new social channel and boost your visibility.
Investing in building your brand on TikTok is certainly a win-win for you. If it continues growing at the same pace and gets bigger than other mature platforms, you will have gained a competitive edge against your competitors. On the other hand, if the app fizzes out, you would have at least generated enough awareness for your business at a reasonable cost.
So, go ahead and experiment with this new shiny social toy that gives you the opportunity to engage your young audience.
