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How to incorporate Tik Tok in your marketing mix

TikTok has undoubtedly become a major component of most marketing strategies today. With over 1 billion active users and some 2 billion downloads, it’s hardly surprising that brands across the globe are quickly turning to this increasingly popular video sharing app to market their products or services. More interestingly, while TikTok attracts younger creators and users, approximately 59% of its users are over the age of 25, and only 41% between 16-24 years of age. With multiple generations having fun on this social platform, it’s clear that businesses and organisations are presented with a unique opportunity to market to a highly diverse demographic. Yet, many marketers and brand managers are still uncertain on how to build a successful presence on TikTok, or whether the platform is even relevant to their brand.

So why is TikTok is a powerful marketing tool?

There are several reasons that TikTok is particularly effective for brand promotion across industries. More so in fact than other forms of social media marketing tools. A massive global audience is an obvious one. But there are many more subtle yet powerful characteristics that the platform possesses to drive sales and generate revenue. 

Let’s take its distinctive algorithm. Through it, the app can track the type of content a user likes to consume. It then uses this data (based on activity, likes and comments) to continue serving videos that the user is most likely to enjoy. These videos appear on what is known as the app user’s FYP (for you page), making for a highly engaged, almost personalised user experience. For a marketer looking to leverage trends on TikTok to grab the attention of their target audience, this data is key.  

1. Authenticity is another key quality of the video app. TikTok users want to be entertained, not sold too. They want to be informed in a way that’s less about being pitched too and more about relatability and emotive human interaction. This makes TikTok an effective platform for building community and connecting with people, regardless of where they are in the world. It enables a brand to showcase their offering authentically, without the need for expensive, highly curated ad campaigns. The internet, a device off which to record videos, and exciting content that resonates are all that’s required.
2. Audience size and people diversity on TikTok provide incredible opportunities for brands to target niche audiences worldwide. People of all ages use the platform, largely for fun and entertainment, and to follow their favourite influencers and brands. The exposure to new products or services combined with the feel good, euphoric aspect of TikTok has seen the app play a significant role in impacting consumer behaviours in countries worldwide, driving purchasing decisions across audiences and industries.
3. TikTok also has an exceptional ability to build brand awareness in new markets and drive website traffic. This is important for businesses of all sizes, especially for smaller enterprises who otherwise wouldn’t be able to reach larger audiences. TikTok can also be connected to other social media apps like Instagram, helping brands convert followers across their channels.

How do marketers and brand managers incorporate TikTok into their marketing strategies?

There are many ways for marketers to integrate TikTok into their activities. It requires using different tactics like influencer collaborations, TikTok advertising, and the creation of organic video content.

1. Reaching out to TikTok influencers

As TikTok continues to grow in popularity, having your brand seen by more people can become difficult. One way of mitigating this challenge is through influencer collaborations. Successful TikTok influencers typically come with a large niche following. Their voice usually holds a lot of clout within their TikTok community, and their content is consumed religiously. If one considers that some of the most popular TikTok influencers have tens of millions of followers, it stands to reason that their impact on the consumer habits of those people will be massive. Let’s not forget, while prospective customers today may have become more cynical about traditional advertisers, they tend to think of influencers like real life friends or family. This makes their words seem more credible, despite being paid to say what they are, something that consumers tend to forget.

2. Advertising on TikTok

TikTok ranked 1st globally for ad equity in 2021, with consumers favouring TikTok ads in 13 out of 14 categories. This demonstrates the benefits that TikTok offers brands across all verticals, relative to customer engagement, sales, and revenue. There are multiple ways a company can advertise their products or services on the platform. A variety of creative ad formats and user-friendly tools and templates allow anyone to create engaging ads without the need for editing skills. This includes image ads, videos ads or spark ads (boosting existing content).

Branded hashtag challenges are another popular way that brands advertise on TikTok. Hashtags play a huge role on the app, helping users find videos they want to watch or join conversations they want to be part of. A branded hashtag challenge requires a user to create a video performing a specific action relevant to the challenge and posting the video on TikTok with the corresponding hashtag. For the company sponsoring the challenge, this form of marketing provides an amazing way to boost exposure of the brand, drive engagement and attract more followers and fans. Particularly when done in collaboration with TikTok influencers, to increase appeal and target different audiences simultaneously.

3. Blending organic video content with branded promotional material

Other forms of TikTok promotion include the creation of branded promotional videos that blend in seamlessly with other more unpolished entertaining or informative content. Nobody likes to be overtly sold too which is why a balanced approach to the types of video content produced is vital. This could look like videos of people using your product or tips on how your service will benefit the viewer’s day to day. Throw in some humour and you’ve got a killer mix of ;

In conclusion

The power of TikTok cannot be underestimated. Its impact on culture and consumer behaviour outcomes worldwide is undoubtable. While a madly creative source of entertainment renowned for viral dance and lip-syncing trends, gender reveals and feel-good family and friend reunion videos, TikTok has also become the go-to marketing platform for global brands looking to compete with their industry peers online. All businesses, regardless of size, certainly stand to gain from leveraging TikTok’s insane ability to connect people across the globe to scale their sales, profitability, and customer engagement.