From a music dubbing app to a content creators playground, TikTok has taken over the world. Harry Gardiner tracks its meteoric rise, and explores why your brand should be taking notice.
World Leader
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’d have heard of TikTok by now. Some of you (myself included) might have even taken the plunge during lockdown and downloaded the app. The good news is, you’re not alone.
Despite concerns on privacy, data sharing, and inappropriate content, TikTok continues to be the most downloaded non-gaming app worldwide, having held on to a Top 10 spot for over a year and a half.
Business Growth
Of course, a high volume of downloads means more users and more business opportunities.
According to an independent study from Neuro-Insight, brands on TikTok see higher levels of receptiveness to messaging, CTAs and breakthrough.
TikTok’s in-feed ads reportedly achieve 23% higher detail memory than television ads, while their ‘TopView’ ads outperformed TV by a whopping 40%.
Small businesses are also booming on the app. Related hashtags like #smallbusiness, #entrepeneur, and #smallbiz are all attracting billions of views.
With detailed insights and seamless link implantation, it seems as if TikTok is the perfect place for businesses to thrive. However, it’s not as easy as simply uploading a video and watching the views roll in, there’s a lot of planning needed to create successful content – especially when it comes to an audio-first platform like TikTok.
The Power of Sound
Rather than the soundtrack being something that you consider after the content is ready, with TikTok, the sound is more often than not the inspiration for the video. The app allows you to search through songs or sounds that are currently trending, see how others are using said sounds and gather inspiration for creation.
This is a gamechanger for advertisers. Whereas we’ve been previously told that on the likes of Facebook and Twitter, no one listens to ads with sound. A joint report from Kantar and TikTok revealed that 73% of users will “stop and look” at ads on TikTok with audio.
Unlike other apps, sound is considered ‘fun, appealing and engaging’ on TikTok with a massive 88% of users finding it essential to their experience on the app.
The sounds you use in your creatives and your sonic branding (the sound associated with your brand), should be at the forefront of your campaign planning. So next time you’re struggling to find inspiration or are creating video content for mobile, why not take a browse through the trending sounds section of TikTok first?
Made to Create
TikTok truly try and make it as easy as possible to create content. The app has recently announced new partnerships with both Vimeo and Canva to provide even more ways for marketers to build better campaign creative in each respective app.
Soon you’ll be able to create templates and drag and drop assets into your videos using either Vimeo’s or Canva’s creation tools.
As if that wasn’t enough, the app regularly provides instructional videos, blogs and resources explaining how users (and businesses) can get the most out of his creative toolset.
They’ve also published the ‘ultimate how-to guide’, providing detailed creative solutions for brands. Some key learnings include:
- Authenticity is key – As with all online activity, the brands that provide authentic, user-led experiences, are the brands that succeed
- Big stories don’t require big budgets – The joy of TikTok is that the app is built for gonzo, low fi style content. You don’t need a studio and film crew in order to create binge-worthy content
- Always-on & always intentional – the key to winning at TikTok? Continuously share fresh and diverse content. The app recommends posting a whopping four times per day to test how different types of content are received
Getting started on TikTok
So you’ve heard a sound you enjoy, have a creative idea in mind and you’re ready to start a Tiktok account. It’s as easy as that right? Wrong.
Before you create an account and get posting, there are a few key strategy points you need to consider.
- Who – Who is it you’re creating content for? 60% of UK TikTok users are Gen Z, meaning you might not even be talking to the right people even if you creating great content.
- What – Are you able to create up to four vertical videos per day? Do you know (and understand) what the latest trends are on the app? You’ll need a video-first strategy locked down before you even start to build an account.
- Where – Have you thought about how you’ll repurpose the content? A short-form, vertical, video-led content plan means you’ll have assets that are ideal for other platforms such as Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
- Why – Nothing successful has ever come from doing something ‘just because everyone else is’. TikTok is an incredibly exciting platform, but you’ll need to consider all of the above in order to build a winning profile.
- How – Inspired to jump on the app and start creating content? Give us a call. Our social team are TikTok trained and ready to create high performing videos for your brand.
Call us at 0207 052 8888 or email hi@nexuspr.com to talk all things TikTok for your brand.
Photo by Mateus Campos Felipe on Unsplash