The rise of TikTok

Marta Peral Ribeiro – Communications Consultant –

15 seconds of fame: the brands on TikTok

TikTok is here to stay. Not only is it the social network that has grown fastest in the shortest space of time, it also reaches such a large audience that many marketers have already spotted the advantages of communicating on the platform.

Marta Peral Ribeiro – Communications Consultant –

15 seconds of fame: the brands on TikTok

TikTok is here to stay. Not only is it the social network that has grown fastest in the shortest space of time, it also reaches such a large audience that many marketers have already spotted the advantages of communicating on the platform.

One thing is certain: people arriving on TikTok may not grasp the concept straight away, but they quickly realise it's good fun.

This social network, built around short videos, was born in China under the name Douyin and became known worldwide as TikTok in 2017. It is present in more than 150 countries and has over 500 million active accounts.

Here in Portugal, we know that:

• It gained visibility at the start of the pandemic (February 2020)
• In August we reached 2 million users
• There are accounts with more than 1 million followers

But what lies behind this app's success? Who is on this social network and how do they behave? What is driving big companies to invest in it?

It all starts with the environment the platform creates and how that resonates with people — with the way they think, interact and entertain themselves.

The audience

This app represents youth culture in the digital age, and here that culture finds a source of content that reflects the needs of its generation. That was especially true during the social isolation we all went through.

Generation Z (young people aged 16 to 24) is behind a good part of TikTok's success, as they consume and share more videos than any other generation — even though they are not the only age group using the platform.

But one thing should not be overlooked: despite the informal atmosphere of the TikTok community, content has to be authentic, positive and aligned with a purpose.

And let's keep this in mind: within a few years, these young people will be the next consumers, the ones choosing which products and services to buy.

In any case, although it is made up of a younger audience, the TikTok community includes other age groups too.

How TikTok works

The platform is built on 15-second videos, which can be combined up to a total of 60 seconds, and to which music can be added.

Users interact with videos through the feed, where they can like, comment on and share content with other users, either by message or via other social networks. Or they can simply scroll through the videos in the feed.

Key points

Creativity, innovation and joy

It is a unique platform with new elements, whose mission is to “inspire creativity and bring joy”.

Authenticity

Content is generally simple and communicated in a genuine way, without filters.

Compared with the video, image or sound editing standards demanded by other platforms, TikTok is certainly lighter in that respect.

Community

The audience is addressed directly by creators, eye to eye, creating a sense of connection and community.

Challenges

Shared challenges are part of the app's dynamic culture, providing fun and entertainment for users.

Trends

Viral content is generated (songs, dance routines, challenges) that reaches global scale instantly, setting trends for a vast audience.

What does all this mean for brands?

This app represents enormous potential for many companies, especially in B2C:

• Its popularity is impossible to ignore, and it keeps growing.
• As well as having many users, each one of them spends a considerable amount of time on the app every day.
• Its content, 100% video, opens up new marketing possibilities, (re)positioning products and services in a dynamic way that speaks directly to the community.
• As a relatively new social network, competition is still low.
• Organic reach is higher at this stage, because more people are consuming content than there is content being created, which means whatever there is to see will be shown to whoever is active.
• It lets you enrich the conversation you already have with your community.
• You don't need to already have a profile on other social networks — although that can help. In other words, you can create a TikTok account and achieve exponential growth through this app alone.

That's how, in July this year, TikTok Business was born, offering marketing resources under the motto: “Don't make ads, make TikToks”. The challenge has been set for brands, because expectations are now higher.

Who for and what for

Entertainment, Fashion, Beauty, Sport and Food are the sectors that have enjoyed the greatest success on TikTok.

A study carried out with UK and US users aged between 16 and 64 shows their motivations for using the app, which are mostly about entertainment:

So, whatever the sector, TikTok is a platform used above all for entertainment, which means brands should use it with the genuine aim of building a connection with their audience, in a light-hearted and fun way, rather than to sell.

Where to start?

For anyone familiar with social media, posting a video on TikTok is intuitive: just tap the “Plus” button on the account's main page.

Then it's a matter of personalising the videos by exploring the editing options. You can set effects, video speed and hashtags, and experiment with augmented reality.

There are a few factors to bear in mind when creating content:

Clear message – The first 3 seconds of video should get straight to the point, to grab users' attention immediately.

Frequency – It's important to post at a certain rhythm, as the algorithm will take activity into account and show your content to more users.

Full screen – As this is a mobile app, videos filmed vertically have a 25% higher 6-second view rate. In other words, the idea is to take up as much of the screen as possible and so maximise visibility.

Music – Adding music to content is undoubtedly important, especially if it's a track linked to a trend, because it goes viral and therefore increases the chances of being seen.

Hashtags – Choose 3 to 6 hashtags that are relevant to the content. The algorithm shows users content related to their interests, and hashtags make that process easier. And when a user searches for a particular topic, they filter it through hashtags — so keep your persona in mind. The same applies to video captions.

Sharing on other channels – Although content created for other social networks doesn't work on TikTok, we can repurpose a lot of the content created on TikTok for other networks.

Conversation – Interact with the community in a genuine way, asking questions that add value and spark conversation. If you can bring in outside contributions, even better (comments from professionals in the field, for example).

More action, less talk – Generation Z has an activist spirit, so they want to see your mission translated into concrete actions.

Partnerships – Brands can team up with other creators to build more dynamic marketing campaigns.

“Inspiration” – This is a section of TikTok Business where you can see advertising strategies that have worked for other brands. You can search by industry, ad type and country, and you'll also find out the objective, the solution and the results of those campaigns.

Ad formats

TopView

Length: up to 60 seconds Image orientation: vertical Image type: video Aspect ratio: 9:16 Sound: with sound

This is the format that most easily captures a user's attention, as it works immediately as storytelling.

Example: Telecoms – Vodafone X

In Ireland, Vodafone has a mobile plan for students (the equivalent of Yorn here in Portugal) that offers free, exclusive access to an online learning platform. In this campaign, which ran at the height of the pandemic, Vodafone X opened up access to that learning platform to anyone. The result? In a single day, the ad generated more than 1.7 million impressions and over 350,000 clicks, and drove thousands of young people across Ireland to the learning platform's landing page.

Brand Takeovers

Length: 3-5 seconds Image orientation: vertical Image type: static or video Aspect ratio: 9:16 Sound: no sound

These can be a static image or a video without sound, with strong visual impact.

Example: Fashion/Footwear – Vans

To drive traffic to its online store, Vans created this short video that shows off its playful personality.

In-feed Videos

Length: 15-60 seconds Image orientation: vertical Image type: video Aspect ratio: 9:16 Sound: with sound

These appear in users' “For You” feed. Users can then like, comment, share, follow or record a video using the same music.

Example: Automotive – MINI

For the launch of the new MINI Electric Hatch in Australia and New Zealand, MINI created a campaign bringing the concept of fun and electric mobility to this new audience. The ad was viewed more than 1.2 million times during the campaign period, generating 4.6% engagement and a CTR of 1.24%.

Hashtag Challenges

With hashtag challenges, brands directly invite the community to create content around the theme of a campaign carrying a particular hashtag. You can boost this with sponsored hashtags (Hashtag Plus).

Example: Food and Drink – Lion

The Lion brand launched the #GetYourLionOut challenge to promote its cereal. With a simple track featuring the word Lion and energetic moves, the morning routine was recreated — cereal being a common breakfast choice among young people.

Lion not only gained a boost in awareness, it also won 25,000 new followers, and the video racked up more than 40 million views.

Brand Effects

Filters, special effects and stickers that make the ad more visually entertaining.

Example: Food and Drink – Halls

Halls, known for its sweets that relieve cold symptoms, created a simple ad with an effect that conveys the revitalising sensation you get from a Halls sweet.

Combined with a hashtag challenge, the video achieved 17 million views, 14,000 videos created in response, and brand awareness rose by 61%.

You can also look through all the details of the video formats the platform makes available.

TikTok Analytics

You can also measure your campaign's success with TikTok Analytics — you just need to upgrade your profile to a pro account.

That way you can find out more about your followers, which content has the highest interaction rate, the time of day when they interacted most, and where your followers are based and their gender.

All of this also helps you understand your target audience and how to engage them.

Conclusion

TikTok undoubtedly calls for a different approach from the one used on other networks, so communication needs adjusting in order to reach the community without compromising brand identity — otherwise we risk building a campaign out of challenges and dance routines that make no sense.

That's precisely why it represents an incredible opportunity for brands to position themselves on a platform whose popularity grows by the day, raising the bar in terms of creativity and humour.

After all, a brand's success depends in large part on its ability to adapt — namely, to meet its audience wherever they happen to be.