TikTok is great for marketing
And …in case you haven’t heard of it, is a social video sharing platform – and it’s huge.
So huge, in fact, that independent content creators dwarf the big brands in terms of influence and followers. Take Loren, for instance, who now has over 40 million followers on TikTok.
By comparison, MTV UK has just 332,000 followers.
Does this suggest that the newest social upstart isn’t much of a player when it comes to marketing? Surely, if it rivalled YouTube or Instagram, brands like MTV would be working far harder to raise their follower count, no?
Before we get started, you’ll benefit from a relatively good understanding of what TikTok is, if you’re not already aware. Check out this guide for the lowdown.
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TikTok is a young social media platform; it has a long way to go in terms of maturing as a marketing channel. As such, the businesses and brands who have found success on TikTok are either taking a punt or understand that it’s ideal for their audience.
When assessing whether or not TikTok is a viable marketing channel for your business, it really does depend on who you are and what you do.
For instance, ‘cool’ industries such as fashion and music are perfectly suited to the platform. It excels at short, music-themed clips that draw in a young audience – perfect for those kind of markets.
But what if you offer business analyst services to corporate clients? Well, TikTok probably isn’t going to cut it in that instance. Whether or not it will in the future remains to be seen, but the TikTok audience would have to change considerably if so.
Examples of Brands Smashing TikTok
Let’s look at two brands which are making brilliant use of TikTok.
Clothing and fashion brand ASOS currently has just under 100,000 followers on TikTok, and uses it to promote both its products and influencers. They do so by picking current hits as the soundtracks for their posts and featuring models wearing clothes or trying out the products they sell.
It’s simple marketing, a bit rough and ready but absolutely key to the TikTok experience, and each post garners thousand (sometimes, tens of thousands) of views.
Workout gear store Gymshark is really flexing its muscles on TikTok with 1.7 million followers eagerly anticipating every post.
As you’d expect, most of their content features people wearing Gymshark clothing while working out, but there’s always a challenge thrown in for good measure and plenty of references to any current economic or sociological situations. You may even spot the occasional star from sport in there, too.
When Will TikTok Be a Viable Marketing Channel for Everyone?
It may not. TikTok is likely a marketing channel that will remain specific for a very tightly defined audience.
This is fine. In fact, it’s rather refreshing. If we look at the top TikTok accounts, we can see they’re dominated by real people, rather than big brands.
Wait… is this the future of marketing? Is TikTok actually signalling a sea change in the way audiences are defined and the method by which content is delivered? Let’s keep a close eye on this marketing channel, shall we?
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