Sound the alarm: TikTok is the latest social media sensation

If you’re over age 35, you may have recently started hearing about TikTok. If you have tweens or teens, however, you may already be tired of hearing about it.

Regardless of your age or affinity for the app, it’s undeniable TikTok’s time has come. And as the latest social media sensation to take off with social media users, it has marketers asking themselves whether it’s worth their attention and resources. Here’s an overview of the basics — and what, if anything, your company should do about it.

What is TikTok?

Sometimes called “Vine 2.0” for its similarities to the former video-sharing app owned by Twitter, TikTok is an app that allows its users to create and share short videos. It rose to popularity in the U.S. after its parent company, China’s ByteDance, purchased Musical.ly for a price approaching $1 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. As a result, TikTok is commonly associated with lip-syncing videos, but it’s now being used much more broadly.

TikTok has recently seen rapid adoption, especially among younger audiences. It’s estimated that TikTok has 800 million monthly active users, including an estimated 60 million in the U.S. Approximately 80 percent of its users are 16-34 years old and 41 percent are 16-24.

How is it affecting businesses?

It’s always been true that where you find an audience of young consumers, the advertisers will follow —and TikTok is no exception. For now, this is limited to big brands like Apple, Chipotle, Guess, Uniqlo and major celebrities. In addition, the NBA and NFL have partnerships with the app, and Jimmy Fallon has both helped increase the app’s popularity and benefited from its ability to connect him to a younger fan base.

TikTok only recently introduced advertising options in the U.S., but brands are creating channels and uploading videos in hopes of gaining traction organically. Other brands are partnering with influencers or launching “hashtag challenges,” which encourage users to play along.

Should you pay attention to TikTok?

TikTok has earned more than its share of the usual social media hype. Gary Vaynerchuk has called it “so important” and TechCrunch says “it’s time to pay serious attention to” TikTok. However, for most businesses, the approach to TikTok should be the same as for anything new:

• Keep your eye on TikTok and be willing to learn — especially if you strive to reach younger consumers. Anything that’s popular with your audience deserves at least some notice, and you’ll want to follow TikTok’s growth closely. If nothing else, watch how it impacts Snapchat and Instagram if you have a toehold in either of those platforms since TikTok may — and, I stress, may — challenge them over time. As always, the most important social media skill is adaptability, and TikTok is just the latest platform that’s allowed us to field test our ability to adapt.
• Unless you’re a megabrand, however, don’t get distracted by TikTok. Yes, TikTok may become a priority for companies of all sizes, but it’s not there yet. In fact, it’s not even there yet among the big brands and not even close to there for the rest of us. Most small-to-midsize businesses I work with have challenges just focusing on the top priorities they’ve already identified, not to mention opportunities that are just emerging. Putting too much time into learning or even investigating TikTok, at least for now, is worse than not putting in enough time.

One more thing: as social media has stabilized somewhat, impossible-to-ignore phenomena are becoming more rare, so kudos to TikTok for breaking through. However, while TikTok poses a challenge to existing social media sites, it’s more likely to increase fragmentation in social media use and not displace any of the existing players. The most interesting thing TikTok’s growth may reveal, then, is the simple fact that social media continues to evolve.