From lip-syncing music videos to dance challenges to educational video content, Tiktok has it all. For those of you who are new to the scene (like me, ha!) Tiktok is a platform that allows users to create and share 15 or 60-second videos with different filters, snippets of sounds to lip-sync, and other types of effects. While Musical.ly was initially famous for its lip-syncing 15-second videos, Tiktok soon gained popularity globally and had bought over their competitor. The app, which is quite popular among teenagers and Generation Z, has recorded over 1.5 billion downloads and growing. All you millennials out there might want to take a second and read our article on why you should consider incorporating Tiktok in your digital marketing strategy (or not, the choice is up to you really).
An app that has over 500 million active users worldwide (as at 2018) is definitely a social media platform you would want to sign up for as a digital marketer. Given its easy-to-discover framework (a continuous swipe-down explore page), Tiktok allows your content to be discovered easily and can potentially reach a higher audience. As a digital marketer for a company or shop owner trying to gain a strong online presence or even an influencer, Tiktok could possibly be the easiest way to improve brand awareness.
Tiktok paves the way for AUTHENTIC content. It’s interesting to note that younger generations cannot be swayed into buying products by advertisements. While we fondly remember “You are not yourself when you’re hungry” advertisement by Snickers, teens and Gen Z do not like anything that looks or feels like an ad. Instead, they prefer content that they can relate to and find it entertaining as well. As a digital marketer of today’s world, you need to go the extra mile to make your branding subtle and approachable as possible to your younger audience. With Tiktok, it’s easier to create authentic, relatable content that appeals to this target audience. One brand that is really taking advantage of the platform is Chipotle, a famous Mexican fast-food chain. A comical Guacamole promotional video by the restaurant had sparked a viral dance challenge called the #GuacDance challenge, which in turn led to thousands of teens participating in the dance challenge and upload it on their personal accounts. One funny idea led to effortlessly marketing for the Mexican restaurant.
Lastly, higher engagement with your younger audience is guaranteed with this platform. As I pointed out before, the younger generation appreciates and follows more content that is unique. By creating intriguing and personal video content around your brand, coupled with Tiktok’s easy-to-discover explore page, it will be quick to build a community around your brand that actively engages with it. Another brilliant example is Jason Derulo’s Savage Love dance; this not only made the new song and his brand popular but improved his follower base, engagement rate, and content reach to newer audiences.
While I’ve listed out some major reasons as to why you need to incorporate Tiktok, here are some facts about Tiktok’s backlash. At the time of this article being written, Tiktok along with 58 other Chinese apps were banned in India due to rising political tension between the two nations. Prior to this, Indonesia had banned Tiktok in 2018 citing that the platform promulgates controversial content such as pornography until the company agreed to censor published content thus having the ban lifted in 8 days.
Despite the accusations and issues surrounding the platform, its global popularity seems to be growing by the week. As a digital agency, we recommend that your brand leverages as many digital platforms as possible. It’s always best to consider the ones that are trendy within your region or country. For example, in Sri Lanka platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Tiktok are popular among internet users whereas Twitter is not widely used. In a nutshell, all brands should consider being multiplatform because one way or the other video content is going to take a foremost place in our consumption habits. We used to say content was king, now and in the future video content is king.
