Are you older than 30? Don’t have children? Then you probably haven’t heard of the phenomenon of TikTok.
TikTok is a social platform targeted mainly to Generation Z, specifically school-aged children who share short videos of themselves dancing and lip-syncing to popular music or copying a #challenge set by someone famous…just look up Jimmy Fallon #dominochallenge …. this alone was viewed 4.8 million times. Generation Z loves the full immersive experience…. sitting at home watching traditional broadcast TV is too much of a passive experience. Generation Z prefers to be involved in the whole online viewing experience by creating and sharing themselves to the world.
The scope to reach this demographic for advertisers is huge!
To give you an idea of the tremendous popularity of the app, TikTok experienced over 1.1 billion installs as of March 2019. More than 500 million people globally use TikTok each month!
Due to the platform’s growth in popularity, there is now more variety in the types of videos people share. They are no longer just music. Up and coming comedians performing stand-up routines, skateboarders showcasing their skills, pranksters, dancers, fashion buffs, budding beauticians, and craft fans, all take the chance to share videos demonstrating their talent.
So, this brings me to the question, how can brands use TikTok?
- They can create their own channel and upload relevant videos through their channel
- They can work with influencers, to spread content to a broader audience
- They can pay to advertise on TikTok – however, it is very early days for TikTok advertising – there certainly isn’t a market yet like there is for YouTube, but there is huge potential.
Many brands do a combination of running their own channels and working with influencers to spread content to a broader audience, but the influencer method has proven to be the most successful.
Often all a brand needs to do is to encourage influencers to make videos showing them wearing or using the sponsor’s product. This will only work if the influencer is the sort of person who would typically use the product. There is little value trying to encourage an influencer to promote an inappropriate product. For example, you’re not going to sell retirement homes or hearing aids on TikTok successfully!
TikTok’s young clientele are far less interested in flash camerawork and high video production values. The influencers need to produce their videos their way – even if they look amateurish to a marketer’s eye as young TikToker’s are interested in originality and fun, rather than the quality of videos.
So let’s watch this space. Is TikTok changing the way brands can market to the next generation of online consumers?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Belinda Lock is our savvy social media marketing expert, an Instagram, Pinterest & Snapchat whizz who loves playing with the latest social platforms and learning how best to market through them for our clients.. Having over 20 years’ experience in traditional marketing and being a mum of three, gives her the knowledge of not only marketing to our generation but how to market to the younger generation.
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