If you want to laugh till you cry, you should download TikTok. Every time I open the app, I end up cry-laughing no matter where I am.
I have probably been seen as crazy more than once. This is why I’m usually alone when I scroll through the video clips on TikTok, on the bus or going to work. Why? Well, simply because people there are just wonderfully crazy and so funny. And these challenges, dances, duets, and hacks? It just itches in my fingers and feet. I just have to keep watching. It is so funny! Also a great distraction in these trying times.
→ Free Download: Social Media Calendar Template
But how is this related to you as a person and the brand – the company you’re working for? Is it an app for 12-year-olds only? You may remember Musically? In 2017, Chinese Bytedance acquired the company. The merger was launched in the summer of 2018 under the name TikTok and today TikTok is one of the world’s most downloaded apps.
Source: : https://sensortower.com/blog/top-social-media-apps-worldwide-february-2020
TikTok is a social media app where users post movie clips, miming, acting, singing, talking, and generally doing funny things for 15 or 60 seconds. It’s Iabout music. Lots of music. But not only. It is also about challenges.
It’s a flow of videos you view while you scroll. Like other social media apps, the algorithm is constantly updated and adapts to your behavior as a user. It’s not an app for 12 year olds anymore. During the corona crisis, TikTok has completely exploded and celebrity after celebrity started their accounts, and began to tackle challenges, hacks, filters and flows. This is happening all over the world now. Sweden’s very own super influencer Kenza has just started, wonderfully funny Chiara (one of the world’s biggest fashion influencers from Milan) and her husband Fedez already has a huge amount of followers even though they got started only now during the corona crisis. It’s crazy, messy and fun. You won’t like everything.
If you work with marketing and social media, it is a good time to download this app. And yes, you as a brand can advertise. You should. As a user, you can buy directly in the app. And as always, if you have the courage, as a company, to test first, then you will have a head start. It’s not perfect yet. The advertising seems to be in beta. Clearly, the time and place to start testing. That’s how Growth happens. To dare. To try. To test. And it is not overwhelmed yet with advertising. So the space is wide and open. How should you do it then?
Start by downloading the app yourself and start following different profiles.
Test around yourself so you start to get a grip. If you don’t understand. Check with your children.
- Follow people (accounts) you find interesting. Justin Bieber with wifey Hailey? Or Jessica Alba who forces her entire family to line up? Or a bunch of common maniacs, much like myself, who post video after video.
- Dare yourself and participate in a challenge. So you really start to understand how things are going. Here’s my first one.
- Start reading about how to advertise here.
- Is your brand’s target group on TikTok? A large part of Gen Z and also younger and older generations are already joining. So in all likelihood, the answer is yes.
- Be creative. TikTok is about engagement. It’s important to connect with their target group and just like other social media apps, a company’s presence works best with a mix of bought space, creative collaborations, and PR. Here’s a little inspiration on how Mercedes Benz did it.
- Create a relationship with TikTok, both privately and as a company.
- As a business leader, you and your staff can have a lot of fun with TikTok which can strengthen your ties. A Brilliant example of Lyko doing just that. Here you see amazing Rickard Lyko, CEO & Founder. It strengthens, builds, and engages. Both from a staff and target group perspective. And we all know what success Lyko is.
- There are already large companies and organizations on TikTok. Here you can listen to Cate Blanchett as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNHCR. She gives her best tips on informative content related to UNHCR’s work.
- Ad formats include Brand Takeovers, In-feed ads, and Hashtag challenges.
- Join the party!
Download 10 social media reporting templates here.
TIKTOK has over 500 million downloads. The number of impressions combined is hardly possible to count anymore. It’s in its cradle. TIKTOK is “the app” of today and will be an important channel for companies in their channel mix today and tomorrow. “Fortune favors the brave” – so it’s time to start testing.
If you need help, you can reach me as Head of the Advisory Board for Digicon, a Growth Marketing Agency.
Have fun darlings!
//Therese
+46 702 225 095
