Despite many controversies in recent times, TikTok is a world-famous social network with several assets. As a source of entertainment for young people, TikTok represents a real opportunity for opportunity for brands.. How to be effective on this application with 800 million monthly users? We explain it all below.
The rise of TikTok
What is TikTok?
TikTok is a social network based on sharing videos of up to 60 seconds, often with a humorous or artistic purpose. Growing rapidly since 2018, when it merged with Musical.ly, it is mainly used by a young audience, with 13-22 year olds making up the majority of TikTok's users, although the application also attracts some adults. It is extremely easy to use, allowing anyone to be creative. The community video format is also very addictive. However, TikTok is not free from potential abuse and malicious people, like any other social network.
Available in over 150 countries and with 800 million monthly active users, TikTok is one of the 10 most used social media applications in the world, ahead of Twitter, Snapchat and LinkedIn. It is clear that the containment of the coronavirus crisis has considerably increased the number of downloads of the application. In France, for example, in just two weeks after the start of the containment, TikTok was downloaded more than 93,000 times.
TikTok has grown so much since its launch that it has reached 1 billion users in just 2 years, compared to 4 for Facebook and 5 for Instagram.
Alexa: Illustrating the growing popularity of TikTok
Since the launch of Skill Alexa in the US, it is now possible for Americans to to activate and control via voice commands several features of TikTokfeatures, such as launching the application, starting a recording or searching, via voice commands. This new option makes it much easier to create videos.
No launch date has been set in France yet, especially as Alexa is not the most widely used voice assistant in the country.
TikTok for Business
In order to meet the needs of businesses, TikTok launched its advertising platform, TikTok for Business, in July. Until now, it was not possible to test the self-service format unless accompanied by a TikTok consultant. From now on, all brands are eligible and can invest on the platform independently.
Given its growing popularity, TikTok represents a real opportunity for brands wishing to target a young audience, especially since engagement rates on the app are currently very high (over 8%). However, brands need to be aware that the content on this application differs from that of other social networks, and therefore need to adapt their message to the informal tone of TikTok.
TikTok for Business aims to provide marketing professionals with the tools they need to increase their brand awareness, grow their audience and gain visibility within the TikTok community. The new platform also allows brands to track their performance in real time. The goal is to create new trends and interact with the community through immersive formats that adapt to the platform's codes..
On TikTok, brands have several advertising formats at their disposal, including Top View Ads (ads displayed in the user's personal feed), Brand Takeovers (full-screen ads that appear when a user opens the application for the first time), In-Feed Videos (videos directly in the user's feed), Hashtag Challenges (allow brands to create a video effect and send an invitation to the community) or Branded Effects.
As with other social networks, brands wishing to advertise on TikTok must define their objectives and the audience they wish to target. To do this, the application offers several criteria such as gender, geographical location, age or language.
Expert opinion: Sophie Bourdieu, Social Media Tigrz agency
Sophie Bourdieu, member of the Social Media Tigrz agency, explains why TikTok has become an indispensable tool for professionals.
Why do you think Tiktok has become an essential lever for brands?
First of all, it should be remembered that Tiktok is a strong community with a young audience, eager for fun and creative content. It is therefore an ideal platform for all brands wishing to communicate to a young target audience thanks to the video format, which is very powerful and highly consumed by this audience. In addition, the number of downloads of the platform exploded during the period of the COVID-19 lockdown. Tiktok is now the third most downloaded application in France. A strong increase that highlights its capabilities as a real virality lever that brands should take advantage of.
How can companies position themselves well on this platform?
Tiktok represents a real opportunity for brands as the costs of broadcasting are still low as few brands currently invest in the platform. Yet it generates a lot of engagement.
I advise them to set up an influence marketing strategy and target young people with video formats, which are much more impactful than a format accompanied by text. Several types of immersive formats are available: In-feed video, top view, etc.
The platform has a strong audience potential: affinity data from the platform, personalised audiences thanks to the implementation of a pixel on the client's site (site visitors, shopping cart abandoners, etc.), twin profiles of these personalised audiences. Tiktok can also satisfy a number of marketing objectives by directing brands towards several types of campaigns: awareness (reach), consideration (traffic, app installs, video views) & conversions.
Do you have any examples of successful collaborations with Tigrz?
Of course! I can mention the awareness campaign for the new ba&sh collection in collaboration with Reebok on the French and British markets, which was a great success.
Thanks to Sophie de Tigrz for enlightening us with her keen eye 🙂