Does my business need TikTok?

There is a new social media sensation on the block. It is called TikTok. What is popularly considered as the replacement for the now defunct micro video platform Vine, the app was introduced about 2 years ago and has consistently taken the world by storm ever since, with over 900 million downloads so far.

The app is a hit with Generation Z, with 41% users between the ages of 16-24. The app lets users create video bytes ranging from 15-60 seconds in duration. The overall vibe of content on TikTok is that of no-fuss, quirky, and at times cringe-worthy, creativity. Lip syncing videos, short videos, and reaction videos are predominantly created on/uploaded to TikTok. There are a variety of cool features to choose from, such as recording a reaction video while watching another TikTok video, using audios from other videos, an extensive music and miscellaneous audio file library, etc.

At first glance, it may seem like TikTok does not qualify as a platform that can be used for business activity. However, they say appearances are deceptive and they are right in this case. The truth is that TikTok packs massive marketing potential. The added perk is that for the most part it is still mostly unchartered territory for the purposes of marketing, branding, advertising, and customer-business interaction.

Sometime last year, TikTok actively launched 4 in-app advertising formats, which are infeed native content, brand takeovers, hashtag challenges, and branded lenses. Infeed native content is quite like Instagram or Snapchat story ads. It must be 9-15 seconds long, plays on the full screen, and can be skipped. The tools for measuring the ad’s success, as far as native content goes, are tracking clicks, impressions, click-through rate (CTR), video views, and engagements.

Brand takeovers allow brands to take over the app for a day by offering users branded images, GIFs, and videos. Also, brands can incorporate links to their landing pages. Brand takeover campaigns can be measured with impressions and CTR.

Hashtag challenges are the most effective and popular form of advertising on TikTok. It’s when brands introduce a hashtag for a video challenge on the platform and urge users to participate in the challenge by creating and posting relevant content and using the brand’s hashtag. If a brand incorporates giveaways/prizes/a certain end goal for “winners” of the hashtag challenge, then nothing like it. Lastly, TikTok also offers brands to introduce branded lenses, which are similar to Snapchat/Instagram filters, and can be utilised by the App’s users while creating content.

In India, Voonik was among the first to launch a campaign on TikTok. Thereafter, Pepsi, Myntra, Shopclues, and Snapchat followed suit. Since their target audience is young, edtech startups like Cuemath and Masterclass played it smart and ran successful campaigns on TikTok. Other notable brands to join the club were video streaming companies Voot and Viu, hyperlocal delivery company Dunzo, dating service TanTan, social commerce platform Meesho and, surprisingly, even fellow short video social network Vigo.

Now, it should be amply clear that TikTok does have a business use angle to it. To add to the above, what makes TikTok all the more interesting is that it can be leveraged for influencer marketing. This is because TikTok is armed with numerous content creators that have a huge (and loyal) fan base. Another key takeaway is that the App is a rage with youngsters aged 16-24 years, which means that if your brand’s target audience falls within that age range, TikTok is an effective, unique, and unsaturated platform for your marketing content to reach them. Let’s not forget that TikTok is immensely popular in India (with 20 million active users in India as of June 2019), especially in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. The Economic Times reported that users in rural India use TikTok for an average of 106 minutes daily, and for about 7.5 minutes in urban India.

The clock’s ticking and it’s time for brands to take marketing and advertising on TikTok seriously!