What Does Marketing Without TikTok Look Like?

The TikTok U.S. ban has been upheld by an appeals court. What now for marketers?

All in all, it’s just another brick in the wall.

An American federal appeals court has upheld a law that could lead to TikTok being banned in the country next month.

"Consequently, TikTok’s millions of users will need to find alternative media of communication."

- Douglas Ginsburg, U.S. Court of Appeals court judge

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., this morning ruled unanimously that the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) can remain in effect, citing national security concerns about the Chinese-owned app.

The law requires TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to sell its U.S. operations to a non-Chinese company by January 19 or its app must be blocked from app stores in the country.

TikTok argues that this law unfairly targets the platform and violates the First Amendment, which protects free speech.

Decisions for Trump ahead

This decision poses challenges for President-elect Donald Trump, who previously tried to ban TikTok.

Recently, though, he’s been on TikTok’s side after saying he didn’t want to help Meta, which he felt suppressed his ability to communicate with the electorate.

The ban is set to take effect one day before his inauguration.

While he can’t cancel the law, he can use an executive order to have the Justice Department not prioritize enforcement.

Most likely going to the Supreme Court

In reality, the app is most likely to survive a few more months.

A 90-day extension of the deadline remains on the table for the Biden administration, which would leave the issue in Trump’s hands.

What’s more certain to happen is that ByteDance would appeal the court decision today and take it to the Supreme Court next, which is expected to take the case and issue its decision later next year.

A succulent Chinese deal?

While all this consumes the news cycle, at least two American investors are trying to put together a deal with TikTok’s Chinese owners to buy TikTok, potentially allowing it to continue operating in the U.S.

Marketing without TikTok

Truth is, Meta and YouTube both copied TikTok’s popular vertical format so early and so well, that the impact on the marketing community could be less than previously thought.

But…

1. If a whole lot of advertisers suddenly have to move their media spend to those two platforms, the increased competition could have an upward impact on prices.
2. TikTok’s “Shop” has been a huge success, and with catalogs, CAPIs, pixels, and other technical pipes delicately connected, replicating that setup on another social media platform’s commerce system would not be an easy task.

How This Affects You

For marketers, it’s a reminder to keep your content and ad strategy diversified. In particular:

1. Ensure you’ve got a brand presence on the “competing” apps — Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

2. Identify and collaborate with influencers who have a substantial presence across multiple platforms to maintain campaign continuity.

3. Prepare for a possible uplift in ad prices, if TikTok buyers suddenly flee to Meta and other platforms.

Thank you for reading!