Hey strategist, what about Tik Tok?

Last week I was in a coffee shop responding to some emails when all of a sudden one of the twenty-something employees burst into a choreographed dance à la Beyonce while one of his colleagues filmed it with a phone. I have to admit that the young man was certainly good at it and in fact by now I’ve gotten used to seeing this kind of “dance shows” in public. So I asked myself “Is it really true that short videos are becoming the way to interact with Generation Z?”

It’s true that in today’s fast-moving world what mattered yesterday is already history tomorrow. The premonition of the digital gurus has been fulfilled, short videos have become one of the biggest pieces of the social media cake and new generations have confirmed this trend. Generation Z is not afraid of being in front of the camera and Tik Tok is proof of that. According to Sensor Tower, TikTok is one of the most downloaded app WW in 2019. 

We are therefore faced with a unique opportunity for brands to interact with consumers in a new way. But is it really useful to include Tik Tok in your social media marketing strategy? The answer may seem simple, if your brand's target is within the age range of 16-24 it’s almost a no brainer to include Tik Tok in your strategy. But let’s not forget one important factor: time. If we look backwards we can see how micro-video sharing apps like Vine had a short-lived success before falling by the wayside, so be aware of putting all your eggs in the same basket.

Unlike their digital successors, Tik Tok has been all about engagement since the very beginning. For example, a one-time campaign can bring great results with a simple hashtag challenge and the help of a few influencers to kickstart it. If a hashtag challenge on TikTok is successful, users engaging with the challenge effectively become content for your brand.

Being Tik Tok famous has become a status symbol in the Gen Z community, and it’s certainly much more important than being an influencer on Instagram, Youtube or even Twitter. Thanks to the algorithm of this platform followers are a thing of the past, making creativity and up-to-date content the new keys to success, i.e., getting views and good engagement. Democratization has come to stay, thanks to Tik Tok anyone can be famous and produce viral content, making this a golden opportunity for brands.

It's no coincidence that brands quickly learned how to take advantage of this social network under the premise of entertaining first and selling second. A very good example is the video created by the popular restaurant chain “Chipotle” to celebrate its first Tik Tok anniversary. With a few tortilla chips, some guacamole and Adele’s song “Someone Like You” overlaying the clip, the brand went viral with a content that connected with a big percentage of its target—Millenials and Gen Z.

It’s interesting to see how Tik Tok has started to take part in the digital strategy of premium brands like BMW. Why would a luxury brand focus on such a young target to promote its products? The Global Head of Digital Marketing at BMW J?rg Poggenpohl said that its strategy focuses on promoting the brand by “tapping into a young, digitally savvy target group” that could become a client in the future.

To promote their new 1 Series, BMW started #the1challenge along with 3 influential Tik Tok users by asking the community to dance in the form of a short film based on a predefined choreography. This campaign has received a lot of love in social media and was embraced by the Gen Z community on Tik Tok. 

Thanks to this campaign I learned first-hand about the opportunity that brands have on TikTok. The #RetoPastelokis challenge got more than 19.5 million views on the platform but the most interesting part was that we only sponsored a few pieces of content, the rest of the job was done by users. Totally worth it.

We certainly know that human beings, regardless of age, like challenges—being competitive is in our nature after all. If we add to this the fame factor that TikTok offers its users we find ourselves with the perfect platform for brands to connect with Gen Z in the most effective way. Without doubt Tik Tok is changing the way social media works.