Taking TikTok to the Teens – How NETFIT achieved over 27.5 million views in 30 hours for Netball.

TikTok is a craze that was already a force to be reckoned with even prior to COVID:19 amplifying it’s presence. I’m constantly blown away by the fact that the NBA has several full-time employees entirely dedicated to TikTok, with 3.8 million fans on the platform. Such is it’s ever increasing influence amongst the participants that all sports wants to speak to most, those at the grassroots.

TikTok. The Facts*

TikTok has over 800 million monthly users

To date TikTok has recorded over 2 billion downloads of it’s App

TikTok users average 52 minutes per day

60% of TikTok users are Gen zers

So how does a digital netball-focused activation company achieve more views for it’s sport than there are participants playing the game worldwide?

Mid last-year, Kim Green, my business partner at NETFIT, pointed out to me that this new entertainment App, TikTok, was worthwhile making a play in to further engage with our community. As a team we individually and then as a business created accounts and decided to test the waters of TikTok. Navigating through the unknown we used our Instagram nouse, a social tool that initially and still does play a huge part in the growth of our business, and created parodies, jokes, dances and shout outs and it was embraced, immediately. From our own data we knew that our community were heavily active in this space. We too were aware of some of the potential downsides of an up and coming social media platform, particularly around healthy imagery and innuendo. We had a strong desire to use this social tool for the right reasons in promoting health and fitness with a strong focus on designing inclusive, well-being and fun-related content. 

We took TikTok into our campaign world, in September last year, and tested the market through a brand-partner, QV Skincare, who embraced the challenge. We felt instantly rewarded, achieving 1.2 million in a dedicated campaign “Queen of the Court”. The content was amazing, our engagement through the roof and the reach, amplification and conversation around the brand delighted both our team at NETFIT and also our commercial partner QV.

Fast-forward to COVID:19 and what seems to be pop-up, after pop-up of iso-fitness work-outs and Facebook Lives, the team at NETFIT and I are so proud of what we have achieved in being amongst the “first to market” in en-masse delivery of iso-workouts, health and wellbeing focused content in partnership with Netball Australia and Suncorp through their Team Girls initiative.

We proposed to Suncorp, when they came on board as the main broadcast sponsor, that we should use their “Team Girls” promotion and amplify its reach through our TikTok accounts and experience. What started as a concept developed into an unstoppable beast that we had to unleash! So with meticulous planning, design, care and creativity, Kim, myself and the NETFIT team managed to develop and promote in partnership with Suncorp, Leo Barnett and Netball Australia the customised TikTok Team Girls Dance Challenge, where the best entrant won a free Zoom session with an Australian Diamonds netballer.

Press play on the campaign and our unique hastag #TeamGirlsChallenge has hit 27.5 million views in just over 30 hours, with entries received from all over Australia and as far and wide as Scotland, Singapore, America, Brunei, South Africa with the list going on! 

Netball has again been first to market in promoting their youth and have gained valuable reach for a brilliant Netball sponsor and fan in Suncorp, who were brave enough to commercially embrace the TikTok phenomenon. 27.5 million is no mean feat and speaks to the power of TikTok and the language that the team at NETFIT can speak in-line with our membership base, who have accessed the content on our NETFIT App with over 100,000 downloads in 23 countries around the world.

We’re already working on our next TikTok campaign and love the move of brave businesses. To learn more about how we achieved this reach, or to discuss how we might be able to amplify your brand please contact me through LinkedIn or via email - [email protected]

*Statistics courtesy of www.wallaroomedia.com.au, last updated 29th April, 2020.