In our earlier weblog, we mentioned the significance of making emotional engagement by means of authenticity and outlined, broadly, the right way to go about it. TikTok manufacturers itself as a social media platform constructed for authenticity, so may or not it’s an genuine channel for entrepreneurs to have interaction emotionally with their audiences? This week, we’ll dive deep into what makes this app tick and why it could be price utilizing it as a advertising platform in your model.
TikTok and the Quest for Authenticity
TikTok is rising quickly and is predicted to achieve a billion customers within the subsequent 12 months. An app that was as soon as thought-about the area of Gen Z, now hosts over a 3rd of customers who’re over the age of 30. There’s a large vary of customers with an infinite variety of pursuits. Primarily based on this alone, it’s a good suggestion for a lot of manufacturers to familiarize themselves with the platform.
For the uninitiated, TikTok is a social media platform that enables for fast and simple communication by way of video. A very good instance for somebody unfamiliar with the platform could be the sea shanty development that was doing the rounds in early 2021, which concerned numerous individuals including to previous seafaring “name and response” songs, creating stunning collaborative outcomes. In comparison with different video sharing apps corresponding to YouTube, TikTok movies take a lot much less time to make as a result of the platform gives customers with a variety of instruments to take action (together with filters and duet performance), leading to speedy content material creation and elevated engagement given the flexibility to work together with the content material of different customers.
Moderately than selling promoting within the conventional sense, TikTok goals to create an expertise of connection, co-creation, and leisure, and advertising efforts want to satisfy this standards. Consequently, manufacturers are members of the group and never advertisers. Because of this, on TikTok, manufacturers can’t fall again on conventional promoting methods. As an alternative, they should discover methods of making worth and inspiring inventive engagement from customers with their content material.
Whereas this can be a problem, TikTok’s analysis, in collaboration with Nielsen, has discovered that your onerous work will repay. Promoting on TIkTok was perceived as extra genuine, enjoyable, trustworthy, actual, and reliable. As well as, 60% of TikTok customers reported feeling a way of group on the platform and 75% agreed that they’ll categorical themselves brazenly on the platform.
Whereas this all sounds nice, there are some pitfalls to remember if you wish to give TikTok a attempt. It’s price noting that a separate UK survey discovered that customers didn’t discover TikTok notably genuine, however the identical went for any type of social media. Individuals are conscious that the media they’re proven is curated and never 100% real (to the extent that there’s at all times an agenda of types), however that doesn’t imply they’ll’t get pleasure from and interact with it. For those who do pull it off and garner thrilling, enjoyable engagement together with your model you then’re set. Nevertheless, in case your authenticity is perceived as performative and pretend, customers will activate the model. To keep away from this, you would possibly think about making use of an influencer.
Advertising and marketing with TikTok Influencers
Working with influencers is a superb possibility for advertising your model on TikTok. They’re extra keyed in to the tendencies and panorama than you in all probability are, and so they have a greater sense of what their viewers likes or doesn’t like. For those who work with an influencer, it’s also necessary to ascertain belief between the 2 of you and create a mutually useful partnership.
Influencers are prone to perceive what would possibly work and what won’t, in addition to what could be extra participating for his or her viewers. Additionally they want to have the ability to belief that you simply received’t power them to do something which may jeopardize their authenticity on the platform and lose them reputation with their viewers or harm their status.
It is very important do not forget that, on some degree, customers perceive that social media is inherently inauthentic. Its performative nature and the tendency for aesthetically nice and fascinating content material to take desire over content material that’s extra sensible implies that influencers are exhibiting a extremely curated model of themselves. This can lead to dishonest influencers who faux features of their lives with the intention to succeed. The invention of this dishonesty can lead to a considerable amount of backlash. An instance of that is actress Jameelah Jamil’s criticism of influencers who marketed FitTea as a wholesome weight reduction possibility. On this case, each influencers and the product have been harm by this public name for accountability.
Spectacular Examples
If this all sounds nice however you’re undecided the place to begin, listed below are a few examples of manufacturers which have nailed advertising campaigns utilizing TikTok for inspiration.
Earlier in 2020, Converse, the favored shoe model, challenged creatives on TikTok to customise a pair of Converse sneakers of their distinctive fashion and submit the outcomes with the hashtag #ConverseAllStar. This “Artistic All Star Sequence” not solely initiated model participation, however resulted in a variety of user-generated content material being made, resulting in over 50 million views. They added to this goodwill by commissioning work from a few of the creatives that took half within the problem and giving them entry to members and sources from the Converse staff so they might develop their very own careers. This confirmed compassion for the group that had so generously created content material for them, notably throughout the pandemic.
Italy’s Uffizi Gallery is utilizing TikTok to spark an curiosity in artwork from a youthful technology. Utilizing TikTok’s fast video format, they flip traditional paintings into humorous memes that drive engagement and collaboration from the group. Whereas it’s largely good enjoyable, it has additionally sparked an curiosity within the arts from a younger group that will not have had entry to data relating to the humanities or an curiosity earlier than.
Person Beware
As thrilling as this all appears, TikTok shouldn’t be with out its dangers. It has repeatedly been within the information for numerous security considerations, together with knowledge mining its customers and not doing sufficient to guard minors on the platform. The main concern is whether or not the Chinese language-owned app is sending or might be compelled to ship its knowledge to China. For that reason, the US army and employees for the US authorities are banned from having TikTok put in on work telephones.
That being mentioned, an investigation by the Washington Put up concluded that the app doesn’t mine any extra of your knowledge than Fb does. This isn’t reassuring, contemplating the scope of knowledge that Fb is ready to collect on its customers, nevertheless it does put issues into perspective. As with all app or social media service that’s free, it’s necessary to be cautious of the knowledge you’re transmitting and do all the things in your energy to guard your privateness.
In conclusion TikTok is certainly a platform to not be so shortly dismissed when discussing profitable advertising platforms and one to regulate on this ever evolving age of expertise.
