Social media has always been a fast-paced environment.
Propelled by the increasingly powerful thrust of technology it is both driving and being driven by rapidly changing social trends. We have come to expect everything instantly – and apps deliver; from live news and streaming entertainment, to cold beer and hot food. Now, with the throttle already open full-bore and many people wondering how much faster things can get, TikTok has engaged warp-drive.
The fastest growing social media app in history
Streamlined and purpose-built for exponential acceleration, TikTok’s rise in popularity has been nothing short of phenomenal. Heads spun. Companies who thought they were agile, scrabbled to imitate in a futile effort to keep up. In a relatively young industry fuelled by a high-octane mix of venture capital and innovation, even the leaders started to look like plodding dinosaurs.
Breaking every limit
The engine that powers TikTok was developed in under 200 days. Within a year, it had 100 million users1. It launched internationally on 1 September 2017 and after just 4 months, was the most downloaded app in several countries. Its owner ByteDance gave it a boost when it acquired Musical.ly’s 100 million users in 2018 and quicker than you can say “organic reach” TikTok shot past the 3 billion download mark with over 1 billion monthly active users2. To put this in context Facebook and Instagram took over 10 years to achieve these numbers. The pandemic had slightly less effect than a bug on the windscreen, and in 2022 TikTok is still growing and broadening its user base. At speed.
What makes it Tik
TikTok is a short-form video-sharing social network. How short? Think 15 seconds. Where YouTube and Vimeo had average lengths of 10 minutes or more3, TikTok’s quick clips instantly appealed to the ‘now’ generation. While the strict 15 second limit has been removed, TikTok continues to specialise in short, fun, instantly gratifying clips. In the time it takes you to watch one episode of Squid Game, you could scroll through thousands of videos on TikTok. It’s a heady, addictive experience and here’s why:
Infinite personalised scrolling
Download the TikTok app, make an account and you’ll be presented with the ‘For You’ page. Here, TikTok’s algorithm serves you up a completely bottomless scroll of videos. The more you engage and watch, the more it learns. Keep scrolling and engaging and the content you see will become more personalised to your interests. Also, the majority of videos take up your whole screen.
Broad content types
Musical.ly was primarily a lip syncing app – generally younger users singing and dancing to pop tunes. This quickly grew to allow a much broader range of content creation. When its users were added to TikTok there was explosive growth in the variety of video types. While music remains a cornerstone, now there is every type of content imaginable – from tutorials and challenges to dance videos, magic tricks, stunts and puppy videos. There’s even a feature which allows users to record their reactions to videos – so people can watch people watching TikTok.
Too easy
Much of the platform’s success comes from its accessibility. Due to the short format, neither the video-creation nor the watching process takes much time or effort. Literally anyone can instantly create, share, and view content using their phone. To help creators TikTok offers a wide selection of sounds and popular song snippets, along with the option to add special effects, transitions, and filters. Users are always updated on the latest trending videos so they never run out of ideas.
Localised content, global scale
Despite being global TikTok has a strong focus on localised content. The app often offers regionalised contests and challenges and locks on to local trends through the use of hashtags. An example is the ‘1 million audition’ contest which runs across several countries, separately. This leads to the creation of thousands of videos for each country where it is held and helps TikTok gain even more recognition and followers.
15 seconds of fame
TikTok makes good use of celebrities and influencers to drive buzz around the platform and generate viral content. Celebrity Endorsements have helped drive the app’s popularity with both organic and paid partnerships in various regions. For example, in 2018 US comedian Jimmy Fallon started a ‘challenges’ section on his TV show and used TikTok as a platform. It gained over 10 million engagements. The idea took off and challenges of all kinds found their way into TikTok’s most watched content. Today virtually every celeb on the planet posts to the platform – along with all the celebrities the platform itself creates.
What’s in it for you?
Due to its stellar growth, many brands are now realising the potential of TikTok as a marketing channel. The platform has matured and is no longer the exclusive domain of teens. In 2020 Australian stats4 showed 41% of TikTok users were aged between 16 and 24 – but there’s a growing older audience. People in their 40’s now make up 16.8% of the app’s user base5.
How can your brand leverage TikTok?
It’s possible to put display Ads on the ‘For You’ page and in feed, however TikTok rewards content that comes across as user generated and doesn’t look like advertising. This is constantly evolving but right now that means you’re better off creating your own videos. As fast, unpolished, authentic content works best, you don’t need high production values. Plus you’re not paying for Ad space so most of the budget can be put towards paid promotion. The only difficult part for brands, is learning to let go. You can’t take yourself too seriously, you need to be flexible, willing to experiment and have fun. Your content plan will be fast and furious and could change at a moment’s notice based on trends.
Another way in which brands can use TikTok is to collaborate with creators to post brand-specific promotional content. This is similar to any other influencer marketing, just within the very short TikTok video format. Several brands have utilised techniques like TikTok challenges and contests to get users to generate brand-related content. Brands are also leveraging hashtags in a similar fashion as on other social media platforms.
Professional help
At Insight we’ve had our eye on TikTok since its Musical.ly days and think it has enormous potential for our clients. We set Deadly Choices up on TikTok in April 2020. Deadly Choices is a health promotion initiative that aims to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to make healthy choices for themselves and their families. To date it has been some of their most successful content across any platform with their first video on TikTok generating more than 145,700 views. Just four weeks later they had their highest viewed video on social media ever with 218,400 views. Their following on TikTok now sits at 10,500 and this growth isn’t slowing down any time soon.
We see TikTok becoming a Mature channel – the same way it does everything: FAST. And, as its audience base broadens, we believe more and more brands could benefit from moving Ad spend to the platform.
So what are you waiting for? The clock is Tik’ing. Check out our TikTok, give Insight a call to talk about what we can do for your brand!
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Content creators are forging more relevant connections with consumers than many other sources.The ever-changing world of digital marketing is no longer about mass reach. Relatable connections are a must, and the next big shift is afoot. Is creator marketing the next big thing for brands? You bet!
Plan like a boss and tie content to key events like you’re living your best year yet, with our 2024 Social Media Calendar. If getting your social media plan into shape and creating stand-out content are on the top (or bottom) of your 2024 must-do’s, we’ve got you covered!
There’s more to life than CPA’s and ROAS. We all love measurability. Apply your budget, get results, adjust and repeat. There’s a danger that if you focus solely on CPA’s and ROAS your brand awareness will suffer and long-term, you’ll struggle to maintain growth.
Content creators are forging more relevant connections with consumers than many other sources.The ever-changing world of digital marketing is no longer about mass reach. Relatable connections are a must, and the next big shift is afoot. Is creator marketing the next big thing for brands? You bet!