TikTok, a Social Media App known for its “tween” users posting cringey music videos (usually while pulling funny faces). A passing trend, right? You may be wrong.
Some of us may not know that TikTok is one of fastest growing non-paid apps in the market, closing in on Social Platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. The app has gained a whopping 188 million users in the first quarter of 2019, as well as grossing an overall revenue of US $80 million from in-app purchases (source).
What does this mean for Digital Marketers?
The emergence of a new Social Platform poses great opportunities as well as risks for marketers. Marketers are constantly looking for creative ways to reach their target market, and TikTok is nothing short of just that. A study conducted by GlobalWebIndex revealed that 66% of users enjoy watching other people being creative on the platform, while 60% of users enjoy being creative in their own videos (source).
Brands such as Sony and Red Bull have begun marketing on the app, with a goal of exposing their brand to a younger age group, rather than creating a direct sales channel. Other brands such as Nike and Coca-Cola have created verified profiles, currently looking at a more organic, un-paid approach to their TikTok marketing.
Even German Football Club Bayern Munich have created an account. They’re also taking an organic approach, posting four to five weekly clips of players mainly performing viral dance moves. This has proven to be successful, with the team’s profile gaining 75,000 fans, 4 million views and 400 likes – from a mere 11 posts.
Advantages of marketing on TikTok
- There is hardly any competition for early-adopters, posing a cheaper alternative than established platforms (Facebook, Instagram, etc).
- The uncrowded platform sees greater potential for effective viral videos (with greater engagement than crowded platforms).
- TikTok Influencers are generally cheaper than Influencers on other platforms, presenting great opportunities for brand collaboration, reaching a huge and interactive audience.
Disadvantages of marketing on TikTok
- TikTok is yet to offer intricate targeting and measurement tools for marketers, posing huge doubt for marketers investing a lot of money for limited results. This encourages brands to collaborate with TikTok influencers instead, with greater potential for reach and engagement.
- As the platform is still in its early stages, brands are yet to know the effectiveness of ongoing marketing campaigns, unlike established platforms (Instagram, Facebook, etc).
Can you see TikTok staying relevant in the coming years? Do you see brands focusing Digital Marketing efforts towards TikTok as they do Instagram and Facebook?
Let me know in the comments below!
The Digital Dig 
Thanks for the interesting read! Although I personally can’t see the appeal of TikTok, I think that brands would be foolish to ignore the app in digital marketing efforts, considering all of those advantages you listed! I do think that working on their intricate targeting efforts could help build faith for potential marketing investors though! I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of TikTok in the coming years!
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Definitely! When more intricate targeting is developed I think marketing could be really valuable for brands with younger target audiences. Thanks for reading!
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I had no idea what TikTok was until recently! But it’s interesting to see how all these new platforms are being created and marketers are jumping onboard as soon as they can to take advantage of these new ways to reach customers. Thanks for a great read!
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It’s crazy to think that a social app we may be obsessed with in the future hasn’t even been created yet! I’m really interested to see the development of TikTok. Thanks for reading!
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Super interesting read! Ive never used Tik Tok and its not something I would have ever thought could be used as a marketing tool. But maybe these are the sort of creative ideas that companies need to think of to ensure that they are not marketing in a very saturated market like Instagram!
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Exactly! These niche marketing tools could be used to reach millions of impressionable users. Thanks for reading 🙂
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Although I’ve never heard of the app, I think the benefits you listed are define something brands should take notice of! Very interesting read!
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Thanks so much for reading, Demi! 🙂
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great post! personally, i think that tok tok is not as appealing as instagram or facebook but I could see it potentially grows since there is a lot of people are using it to create content and funny videos
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Thanks for your insight Tiffany! Absolutely, perhaps if we were 10 years younger it’d seem more appealing! The fact that an app with such a young and therefore restricted target audience is doing so well is impressive.
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TikTok might die like vine did, can’t take the platform seriously based on all the ridiculous and funny content/videos i’ve seen!
Loved how you had subheadings to really give a clear & Informative read 🙂
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Thanks so much for reading! I too can’t take it seriously! I’ve never seen engaging content on it that’d target me personally. 🙂
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Great post! I can’t be sure as to whether TikTok will continue to dominate much like Instagram or Facebook. Nonetheless, I do think that brands need to be aware of these new and emerging forums and take advantage of the hype that surrounds them, while it lasts.
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A great point, Sophie. We can see from our digital past that most social platforms (MySpace, Snapchat) have a limited lifespan. Do you think Instagram and Facebook will continue to exponentially grow, or is their lifespan coming to an end?
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I think the fact the Facebook and Instagram are continually updating and adding new features is what helps them stay relevant. I think because they are such a diverse platform they have more to offer than Snapchat or TickTok which could be seen as limited in their potential to grow and change.
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A really great point, Sophie! I personally don’t use Snapchat anymore, and I assume that’s because they couldn’t keep up with consumer trends! Thanks for reading 🙂
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I’ve honestly never heard of this platform before – kinda reminds me of vine though, I can’t see it being relevant into the future! Great post 🙂
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Yes it’s quite a similar concept as Vine! If it is at all as successful as Vine we know it won’t be around for much longer! 🙂
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I have seen videos on TikTok shared on Facebook, I feel like the concept is similar to Vine where they also post short funny videos for people to enjoy, but I don’t think it will reach to Facebook and Instagram levels compared as seen an example to what happened with Vine.
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That’s a great point. I agree, levels of popularity like Instagram and Facebook are unlikely to be reached, as all age groups operate on these popular platforms unlike Tik Tok!
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This leaves a lot to think about. It reinforces the idea that targeting such saturated platforms such as Facebook may not always be the best strategies. It poses the question of what other platforms are growing and should marketers continue investing in platforms where they are not seeing high ROI simply because they are perceived as reputable?
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Thanks for reading Elena! While untapped platforms can pose great opportunities for marketers targeting specific markets, I think in this case, marketing not being able to directly measure ROI is a worry when considering the service.
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