TikTok is the star child of the social media universe. In this article, you will discover how promotional strategies on TikTok should be crafted and explore some of the campaigns that have gone viral on this platform.
About TikTok
TikTok is rewriting the rules of the game and changing the way we engage with social networks. Its popularity increasingly influences the evolution of other social media platforms through new features that are remarkably similar to those on TikTok. With over 1 billion active users, TikTok attracts more and more active users every month. On average, a user spends approximately 52 minutes daily on the app, accessing it around 8 times a day.
The pandemic played an extraordinary role in TikTok’s growth. With much more time on their hands, people began to familiarize themselves with the app. Many were seeking entertaining, diverse, and different content. The fact that you don’t have to adhere to specific standards as a content creator has led to many videos going viral.
Anyone can be a creator or a trendsetter. This presents an extraordinary opportunity for individuals or businesses of all sizes to be discovered. This, I believe, is the truly interesting part. TikTok offers a level playing field where creativity and originality can shine, allowing anyone to gain recognition and influence.
What Content Can You Find on TikTok?
On TikTok, you can find an incredibly diverse range of videos: story times, clips from TV shows, movies, and podcasts, tips on learning a foreign language, solving math problems, quick cooking recipes, skincare routines, makeup tutorials, challenges, duets, and responses to other TikToks. And the list certainly doesn’t stop there. The content is so varied that it’s almost impossible to get bored. On the contrary, it can be quite addictive.
TikTok also offers some unique ways to interact with other creators, such as duets and video replies to comments.
Example of a Duet
@gordonramsayofficial #duet with @mythicalkitchen Maybe one day Josh you’ll get my #BeefWellington right….#ramsayreacts #tiktokcooks
Beyond these, the hashtags and sounds used play an essential role in developing trends or increasing the popularity of videos. According to a study, when brands use popular songs in TikToks, 68% of respondents said brand recall increases, and 58% said they were much more likely to talk about or share those TikToks.
Beginnings and Reluctance on TikTok
I still remember the hesitation many people had about using the app, let alone incorporating it into their marketing strategy. Anything unknown can be intimidating, especially when it evolves so rapidly. Initially dismissed as an app for kids, TikTok’s user demographics in Romania show that most users are aged 18-24, followed by those aged 25-34, indicating a growing purchasing power.
For many, TikTok also triggered a Fear of Missing Out (FOMO). Friends were using the app, discussing it, staying updated with new trends, and knowing songs before they hit the radio. It was like being left out of an inside joke. This social pressure drove more people to start using TikTok: out of curiosity, the fear of being left out, and the desire to stay current with what everyone was talking about.
Not long ago, promoting brands on TikTok was seen as superficial. Questions arose: Is it really necessary? Does it fit my business? To answer these questions, one must understand the app, recognize its potential, and see how to create adapted content. Simply repurposing standard videos from other platforms is not recommended.
Creating content specifically for TikTok is crucial. The platform’s unique style and user expectations mean that standard videos from other social media platforms may not perform well. Instead, businesses need to embrace TikTok’s creative, engaging, and often informal style. This approach can help brands tap into TikTok’s vast and active user base, making the platform a valuable addition to a comprehensive marketing strategy.
Why do we spend more and more time on TikTok and how does the algorithm work?
The TikTok algorithm is highly personalized and powers the „For You” feed, making the app addictive. Users engage, comment, and scroll through content that seems tailor-made for them: funny, educational, and adapted. Here are some elements the algorithm considers when suggesting new videos:
User interactions within the app: followed accounts, comments, likes, or shares of videos within the app, duration of viewing, content created on the user’s own TikTok account, etc.
Search history: sounds, hashtags, effects, trending topics
Geolocation, device used, categories of interest selected when creating the account
How does the TikTok algorithm work exactly?
When a TikTok is published, it appears in the „For You” section for a small group of users who are likely to interact best with the clip based on their app history. If they engage through likes, shares, or by watching for longer than the account’s average, the algorithm will show it to new users with similar interests and behaviors. The process repeats, and if positive feedback continues, the clip can go viral.
If the initial test group doesn’t generate much engagement, the TikTok will be shown to fewer and fewer users. It’s like a voting system that happens repeatedly until the values decline.
Although a clip posted by an account with a large number of followers may receive more views, this isn’t a direct factor in the recommendation system. That’s why TikTok is an extraordinary platform that allows rapid growth for small accounts due to the quality of the content.
In this case, brand awareness matters, but not as much as on other platforms, giving small businesses a chance to rapidly grow their community.
The For You page algorithm also analyzes other elements such as music, hashtags, or captions used, categorizes them, and uses them for recommendations of similar clips. This explains why the same user often sees clips with the same background music. The same system seems to work for hashtags as well.
Promotion Strategies on TikTok for Brands
More and more brands are recognizing the increased potential of TikTok for growing communities, building awareness, and attracting potential customers. Whether through their own content or partnerships with TikTokers, brand actions are becoming bolder.
Just like with Facebook or Instagram, users who recognized TikTok’s potential early on have grown their communities. They created dedicated, original content that went viral. TikTok filled a void over time, allowing for the extraordinary growth of content creators for whom other platforms might have been oversaturated. This principle also applies to brands.
The more brands focus on growing their communities on TikTok now, when competition isn’t as high and the display space isn’t as competitive, the more likely they are to grow rapidly.
At this point, promotion costs on TikTok can be 3-4 times lower compared to Facebook and Instagram if we’re talking about impressions, CPCs, or followers. However, for most brands, TikTok is an awareness-generating application, and we can’t compare the results with those from a performance channel.
Results also depend heavily on the type of business and the products being promoted. Those with very affordable prices can sometimes generate sales beyond expectations, competing with the conversion rates of Facebook and Instagram. An example could be children’s clothing stores with very advantageous prices.
Our recommendation is for the promotion strategy on TikTok to follow two directions: growing the community by attracting new followers and driving traffic to the website.
- For brands running campaigns to increase the number of followers, it’s recommended to use well-defined audiences at the beginning so that the new followers are informed ones. If they have large community growth goals through paid promotion, it’s essential to use a variety of videos in promotion that are rotated weekly and pay attention to the display frequency. Even if a video generates very good results and high engagement initially, due to the high display frequency, costs will increase considerably later on.
- Beyond growing the community, we also need to pay attention to the quality of the traffic generated on the site. For this, analytics data such as visits, average session duration, pages visited, and specific actions such as adding items to the cart or purchases should be closely monitored.
Brands that will inspire you for your TikTok strategy
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Vessi, a Canadian footwear brand, has grown its community on TikTok through giveaway-based content for user-generated content and increased engagement.
@vessi #duet with @agajillian Show us your #vessifootwear and you could win a free pair too! #giveaway #nomorewetsocks #waterproofshoes #tiktokwellness
- Elf Cosmetics is a good example of how we can use TikTok to increase brand awareness and generate content from the community. The brand created a song dedicated to a TikTok campaign, „Eyes Lips Face” after the brand’s acronym, and collaborated with several influencers for the viralization of the campaign, which had as a dedicated hashtag #eyeslipsface.
@kirakosarin Y’all need to hype me up #eyeslipsface
- Guess ran a challenge using the campaign hashtag #InMyDenim challenging the community to transform their outfits from a disaster into true examples of yes, using denim items.
@kuhleeuh Had a fun day #inmydenim ✨👖✨ @guess #style #OOTD
- Black Friday campaign by Walmart #DEALDROPDANCE
Black Friday is one of the star moments of the year when we talk about purchases. Against this backdrop, Walmart ran its first TikTok campaign encouraging users to post videos of themselves dancing and expressing themselves while shopping on Black Friday.
@aureliadobre 😂😘 #DealDropDance #contest #foryou @walmart
If you also want to grow your brand community on TikTok, but you don’t know where to start and what paid advertising strategy to approach, let us know.