Lauren Shur, Account Executive
As marketing professionals begin to look for opportunities to market their product or organization, they must be aware of the fast-growing social platform, TikTok. This application has grown at an exceptionally high rate. According to Kelly Taylor on ragan.com, the app currently has over 30 million active users in the U.S. alone. Out of these users, 69% are 16-24 years old and spend about 45 minutes or more on the app per day.
About TikTok
This app is a video application in which anyone can post a 15 to 30-minute long video. The app uses an algorithm to find videos that are specific to what the user likes and puts them on the “For You” page. The videos tend to stem from a viral trend of dancing and singing, sometimes incorporate memes. Many celebrities are joining the trend and posting videos, some of which have been viewed thousands of times. A majority of this platform’s users are currently 16 to 24-year-olds, which makes it a great place to advertise to the younger generations that are harder to reach via other social media platforms. With the number of users growing each day, a company should start advertising as soon as possible.
According to Mikey Dunn with Social Media Today, there are multiple different ways that marketing teams can invest in advertisements on this platform:
1. In-Feed Ads: While scrolling through videos, users will see advertisements in place of where a video would be. These ads are short and video-based, just like a TikTok video. These will catch the eye of the average user who might want to see something different after scrolling for 30+ minutes.
2. Brand Takeover: An organization can also pay to have an ad that appears as soon as the app is opened. This ad can bring customers to a website or other external link from just a tap/click on the screen. However, only one organization can use this per day (Social Media Today).
3. Hashtags: On the app, users can find videos by typing in or searching for hashtags. An organization’s marketing team can create a hashtag that will bring traffic to the page. This hashtag can be used in a challenge where others will have an incentive to post a video while using the hashtag. An organization can also sponsor the hashtag and the name of their company will appear on the hashtag’s page (Social Media Today).
4. Lenses: TikTok also has lenses that are similar to Snapchat and Instagram AR lenses. Companies can invest money into creating their own branded lenses that the users of the app can play with. This can spark their interest and will most likely lead to more sales for the company.
Each of these four ways can get a company or organization seen by younger generations that they might not normally reach on other social platforms. In the communications industry, everything is constantly changing. TikTok is a great opportunity for an organization to stay current and successful by using this new application.