ACTION INSIGHTSCOMPANY NEWS
let’s talk about TikTok
We can’t pretend anymore; by now, we all know what TikTok is or we have at least heard of it. We have logged into our app stores and downloaded it, we regularly snack on “quality” content on it, and a few brave souls amongst us have begun to create content on this mega app.
Long story short, TikTok is here to stay, and we have seen a mass migration of users from larger platforms like Instagram and YouTube to this short-video format platform. Shortened attention spans aren’t to blame anymore; TikTok now plays home to content beyond song, dance and skits and is already far ahead of its Musical.ly and early-Douyin roots. People actively visit the platform to discover new content based on their varying interests – something the Instagram discover page was meant to have perfected by now.
Statistically speaking….
If you are easily convinced by numbers, TikTok became the most downloaded app on the Apple App store in early 2018, surpassing Instagram, WhatsApp as well as YouTube. As of July 2019, TikTok had over 500 million total installs on the Google Play Store. Today, the app is available in 150 countries and has over a billion users worldwide, with 4.2 million users in the UAE alone; that’s nearly 46% of the country’s total population.
What’s drawing us bees to the honey?
The biggest draw of TikTok is that thanks to its in-platform editing tools, it empowers anyone with a smartphone to create content. The app allows you to create and publish just about anything and everything, be it recipes, travel videos, music, photography, dance, fitness-related clips, interviews or live content. Unlike Instagram, the For You page, which is essentially TikTok’s organic discovery feed, is the first thing a user sees upon opening the app. This automatically makes content more “discoverable” and boosts organic reach. Soundtrack and skit-based trends also contribute to an increase in reach and engagement, making TikTok the top performer social media channel in terms of organic statistics.
How are brands reacting?
By now brands have realised the potential of this growing network and with an abundance of marketing opportunities available, they are quickly jumping aboard. TikTok videos are now being added to monthly content calendars and are regularly outperforming posts shared on Meta’s platforms in terms of organic reach and engagement. Big brands with large marketing budgets across the UAE, including CAFU, Emaar, McDonald’s, Aldar and Dubai Tourism were early adopters,closely followed by competing hospitality, retail and food brands who were quick to realise that even limited marketing spend could reap big rewards on this platform.
How do you bring your brand aboard?
So how can companies leverage TikTok’s popularity? A simple introduction to the brand and business can go a long way especially when it is coupled with an appropriate and trending soundtrack. Content on TikTok does not necessarily need to be linked to large campaign messages. Everything works, including short videos of staff, product reviews, explainer videos as well as interview snippets. Bringing well-vetted influences onto your brand’s page also serves well, and even more so when the influencer is within the same conversational space and has an active follower base. Finally, joining a hashtag challenge – or if budgets permit, sponsoring a hashtag – is yet another way to up your game. TikTok states that more than 50% of creators join hashtag challenges at least once, making this a tried and proven way to gain organic reach.
Give your brand the audience it deserves without brilliant pieces of content slipping through the cracks due to reach-limiting algorithms. Every statistic and learning from reports and studies over the last three years points to the platform’s success and its capability in keeping people engaged and hooked. Now is the time to leverage this uncluttered platform before nearly every brand migrates over from the Metaverse; the clock is ticking!
let’s work together
