Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple years, then surely you have heard of the app Tik Tok. It’s the app that has people from practically every age group doing short dance and singing videos. In this article, we are going to do a deep-dive into Tik Tok and analyze why this app has been considered one of the best marketing strategies for brands all over the world.
Launched in 2018, Tik Tok was created in China as a video-sharing app, mainly targeted towards the so-called Z generation. At first, the app seemed to be a little strange since we haven’t seen anything like this before; however, it quickly made the headlines around the world. Today, it’s one of the most successful apps, especially popular among teens. What’s more, its fame seems to be growing by the minute since many celebrities are using it to share their dance moves and fun times. A few years ago, the app bought out Musical.ly, which practically helped migrate users to the new, very well structured, and combined Tik Tok social media.
But apart from teens and celebs, can companies grow on the platform and attract potential customers there? Keep reading to find out!
Do you know that Tik Tok has already generated billions of installs? Well, it sure is a huge milestone for Tik Tok’s marketing team, although they’re just at the very beginning of becoming the next massive social media, used by everyone.
The success of the platform is so huge that it absolutely outshined Google Play and other apps. Only in March 2019, TikTok made over 1.1 billion downloads, and each month it makes about 500 million installs. With such exposure, businesses should definitely consider experimenting with its features and functionalities. Youngers mainly use it, however, it’s specifically popular among celebrities as well, promoting their or somebody else’s brand. So, can you make money there? Of course, you can! There’s always room for experiments and tests, especially when there’s a new tool, social media, app, etc. Wondering how to get started? Here are a few ways to do it properly.
People love playing games, especially with hashtags. Need some proof? If you know Jimmy Fallon’s late-night show, then you must know how huge this thing is.
For the rest of you, though, who have no idea what this is all about, here’s how it goes. Let’s say that the hashtag word is #myworstdate, and then people start sharing stories with this hashtag. With TikTok, though, hashtags challenges are usually accompanied by videos, which is the core of the platform. And, as we all know, videos are one of the easiest, cheapest, and most entertaining way to reach more people.
What’s more, teens are more prone to taking part in such games and fun activities, so the viral effect is almost guaranteed.
Such challenges and games are actually what made Tik Tok such a fun, exciting, and desired place for people. It came out of nowhere, making everybody scratch their heads in confusion, but now it’s the most viral app in recent history. The hashtag challenges work for both celebrities, being in the role of influencers, and also for new or famous brands. These challenges could be done in different ways. Some may require to have a particular inherent talent, while others may be just for fun. Whatever the purpose, the main focus should be making people want to engage with your brand and participate in your games! Celebs have already found the way to do it. Need an example? Why not check out Jennifer Lopez’s challenge video?
A year ago, the famous soccer club B. Munich signed up for the new social media channel with the primary goal of reaching more young followers. At first, it seemed a bit odd for a soccer club to be on this type of platform; however, they had something in mind when releasing clips of their team.
Generally, the app is all about spreading viral, short clips of people doing funny or quirky things; but the soccer club decided to film a video of their players dancing on the field. Since the club signed up for the platform, it has reached over 80 000 new fans, and it only took them about a few posts per week to get over 4 million views in total!
The app may still be a baby, but there’s always some opportunity for growth if you have eyes for it! One of the most significant benefits of Tik Tok is that it’s still a new one, so there’s really not many advertisers there; and it’s certainly not as crowded as Facebook, Instagram, or even Snapchat. Also, your top competitors are probably not there yet, so now is the perfect time to get more exposure and fans.
By the way, if you want to venture into ads as well, do it now while it’s still cheaper. Although, if you ask us, start with organic posts first to test the waters and build from there. Generally, the app offers endless opportunities to be more creative, so gather your marketing team and think of a way to reach more fans with entertaining content.
Note that, according to statistics, 53% of Tik Tok users share video content. Maybe this is why Taylor Swift got the attention so quickly.
Although the use of ads on this platform is still pretty much new, you can try it and see how it works for you. At least you will get the attention of the users, and the ads are still relatively cheap. Similarly to other social media channels, you should pay attention to key metrics, such as impressions, clicks, reach, etc. These takeover ads can be used for your brand’s landing page as Tik Tok offers a special package for categories. In other words, you can take over a specific category per day, which sounds very good. These takeover ads could be images, GIFs, or videos. Your choice!
Another form of ads is the so-called branded ads. One of the first brands that were brave enough to use them was Guess. The brand came up with the #InMyDenim challenge, and everyone who opened the app was instantly directed to it, eventually getting over 36 million views.
It’s a form of sponsored hashtag challenges that are like banner ads on the discover page. When clicked, it directs users to a challenge page with instructions for the challenge itself, with some original content that addresses the hashtag. This luxury will inevitably cost you some cash, but it’s 100% worth testing!
In-feed native video ads are an effective way to catch people’s attention while scrolling through the feed. The format is still being tested, as it shows sponsored videos in the main feed alongside a “learn more” button. When clicked, the button encourages you to tap to get more info. According to Tik Tok’s creators, this button could be customized to fit your needs, but it’s still being tested, so there could be some limitations. The native video ads are about the same length as the regular TikTok clips (between 9-15 sec), as the test ad runs for only 5 seconds.
The ads are full-screen and are similar to Instagram Stories ads, but can be skipped by users. The format also supports call-to-actions for app downloads and site visits. As for analysis, marketers can measure the effectiveness of an ad by total video views, video engagement, click-through rate, average video duration, etc. But to find out whether it’s the best format for your brand, there’s no other way but to run a few tests.
Which TikTok strategy would you implement first?
Well, if you ask us, you should test the waters by experimenting with all of them. If you can’t find a way to get started, you can always check what other brands are doing. Generally, Tik Tok makes a fantastic way to promote your business and expand your marketing activity.
It’s a relatively new social media platform, and that’s the beauty of it – it’s not as crowded as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, etc. So, get your team together, sign up for the app, and think of ideas for fun videos, challenges, and content in general.
Last but not least, make sure to keep an eye out for the trends out there. Be active, check other people’s profiles; see what celebs are doing and how they communicate with their following there. But most importantly, make your brand visible for others on TikTok. It may be a completely different experience for your brand, but it can also bring you many benefits. Whatever strategy you come up with, remember this: be active on Tik Tok, engage with people, and don’t be too shy to explore new things on the platform.
Andriu is a full-stack digital marketer who is originally from Venezuela. For the past 5 years, he has freelanced on everything from PPC to copywriting to SEO. Now he writes his insights, guides, and tutorials on Internet Marketing Bro.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple years, then surely you have heard of the app Tik Tok. It’s the app that has people from practically every age group doing short dance and singing videos. In this article, we are going to do a deep-dive into Tik Tok and analyze why this app has been considered one of the best marketing strategies for brands all over the world.
5 campaigns you wish you thought of
The strategic and creative possibilities offered by mobile devices are the future of advertising and marketing. People spend more and more time on their smartphones and less time watching TV. As a logical consequence, promoting a brand means to rethink the allocation of advertising budgets between old and new channels of communication, even if things seem to be moving at a slow pace: while 37% of the total time dedicated to media was spent watching TV and 24% on mobile, advertising spending on TV remains at 41% compared to 8% on smartphones and tablets (source: KPCB). (more…)
I was in the shower this morning, considering the impact that Twitter and Facebook have had on Google’s search results. After reading Rands test results from Twitter links versus traditional text links in ranking pages within the Google search results, it is clear that Google is placing significant weight on links from Twitter and Facebook. Based upon this information, one would assume that if Facebook and Twitter no longer permitted Google-bot access their websites, Google’s algorithm would have to be seriously adjusted. It would probably end up in pushing Google search results to displaying only yesterday’s news and information, instead of real-time search results currently based upon the linking patterns Google-bot gets from Twitter and Facebook.
I was just reading a blog post on searchengineland about Twitter being acquired by someone, whether it be Google, Microsoft or Facebook. I find this concept interesting: Whomever buys Twitter will have the most updated real-time content online. I believe that the acquisition of Twitter must be made by Microsoft. This would give Microsoft its first leg up on Google in search. Microsoft could probably license the access to Twitter to Google for hundreds of millions of dollars.
The facts are quite simple that without Twitter and Facebook links, Google’s sort of screwed. Unfortunately Google’s recent behavior has created a bit of industry anger towards its online business practices. I think this is why Groupon did not sell to Google.
I wanted to mention that this blog post was written with the assistance of NaturallySpeaking by Dragon. If you have hesitated in using speech-recognition software, I would say now is the time to give it a try. I think that using this software will make it much easier for me to blog from this point forward.
While I’m getting NaturallySpeaking a plug, I may as well mention the really really cool viral marketing tool they’ve built on their website. It’s called Fingers of Fire.
Beside the big and known Google, Yahoo, Bing, Blekko and Ask.com and the local leaders Baidu and Tandex, there are several other, “little” search engines – such as HotBot and DuckDuckGo. The latter was launched in 2008 and has a very, very limited market share with about 2.5 million searches a month. However, everyone is trying to gain ground these days – and if this is done on expense of Google – it is even better.
DuckDuckGo tries to gain users by emphasizing their pretty unique approach – they do no store search data. Either this is done on purpose or the company simply does not have the necessary resources, the manner is now advertised as being solely correct.
In an aggressive marketing campaign, the company specifically highlights “the Google way” of “invading your privacy”, stating that with little effort, your search history associated with computer IP and, stored at Google servers can be tracked down to you in person. Next goes your personal data, credit history, insurance policy etc.
Although the campaign (as most advertising campaigns) is not entirely correct, purposely exaggerating the “big brother” threat of in its quest of “making the privacy aspects of search engines understandable to the average person” (quoted is DuckDuckGo founder, Gabriel Weinberg), it might have an effect on certain privacy-concerned users. Will they switch to DuckDuckGo or go elsewhere? That is another question, of course…
Twitter has been here for quite a while, but it has really grown in the recent two years. And lately, with the people tweet to share their ideas and opinions as well as notify their friends (aka followers) about the current news, almost every business is using Twitter constantly for promotion offers and other valuable information.
The competition in the online world is pretty severe, and Twitter is no exception. The users need to become more and more creative to make you follow them. Another important task is preserving the follower’s base. And one the ways to achieve that is to let them share an opinion with the “big brother” – the brand. That’s what Twitter Chat is about – allow followers (aka customers) to ask questions and offer personal opinions. Although it is doubtful that any of these ideas will be actually heard in the company HQ (although some certainly might), the “round-table” definitely present a certain level of satisfaction for the clients.
Additionally, this emphasizes a very important thing in the internet era – there are actual people behind the brand. @username is not a tweeting robot; it is a living human being that can chat with you from time to time.
Telemarketing was never a part of Google business strategy. The idea was to spread the information, get recognizable and make the clients come to them, asking for services. That’s were the sales managers stepped in, offering a variety of products, bargain deals and impressing the customer.
However, according to latest news, this has recently changed. Several hundreds of telemarketers are employed by the company, their task being to sell Google Boost and Google Tags services to local businesses at several markets in the US.
It seems the Rubicon has been crossed and Google has now “recognized” that some niches and companies should be addressed directly rather than by advertising. The next question, which should be probably answered in few months time, is whether they will expand their own telemarketing group (reportedly currently measuring 300 employees) or try to purchase an established sales force.
After all, with Groupon denying “the 6 billion offer”, Google has some money to spare…
OK, let’s be honest right off the bat: most press releases received by most media organizations go right into the recycling bin. But that doesn’t mean yours will. For one thing, the good press releases have a few things in common, and for another, “media” now includes bloggers, ezines, streaming content producers, and freelancers. Whoever you plan to send press releases to, do some research on them first and make sure that your press releases would be a good fit for their organization. It’s the 21st century version of the old “don’t send a dog article to a cat magazine” rule.
The press release is by no means dead, and is in fact very useful in many situations. Your press releases should be sent to news media for the purpose of letting the world know about company developments and newsworthy items. Concentrate on the word “newsworthy.” The number one reason journalists toss press releases is because they so often consist of self promotion dressed up to appear newsworthy.
So really, the first thing you should ask yourself when you’re thinking about sending a press release is “Should I be sending a press release? Or is this just an exercise in vanity or wishful thinking?” Use the “so what” test, because this is what journalists and publishers do. If your press release says, “XYZ Widgetry, Inc. recently hired Dr. Joan Thingity to be head of their engineering development department,” the first thing the journalist is going to think is, you guessed it, “So what?”
Ah, but if your next sentence tells about how she won a MacArthur genius grant for her work on desktop plasma widgetry (or whatever) and that she was at one time part of NASA’s astronaut corps, then you’ve got an answer for the “So what” question. If your press release cannot answer the “So what” question, then don’t send it. Wait until you have something meaty.
While a successful press release ought to be newsworthy, you may have to make the tie-in to the news yourself. Journalists are busy enough that they’re not going to automatically realize that the release of your new phone app coincides with the latest iPhone release. You’ll have to spell it out.
Here are some ways to make sure that your press release is newsworthy and therefore less likely to be chucked in the recycle bin.
You get the idea.
You may wonder why you should bother at all with press releases, since they have such a high chance of disappearing into the gaping maw that is the editor’s office, never to be seen again. But it’s all a part of your overall marketing strategy. SEO has a place, plain old advertising has a place, and media relations has a place too. Once you do get a press release or two picked up, consider contacting the editor or reporters you have traction with and offer to send them exclusives. If they know that they’re the only game in town getting your press releases, they may just take you up on it. But none of this can happen without first mastering the press release. You’ll get nowhere unless you have correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation, plus the compelling writing necessary to stand out from the rest of the herd.
competition research using bit.ly service
URL shorteners are sweet, they help turn those really long URLs into nice neat URLs, but besides from this basic service, some URL shorteners also provide great data services.
Have you ever wanted to find out how your viral content is spreading? or how many times your blog post was retweeted, emailed or IM’ed?
Even better, what if you could see this data for your competitors shortened URLs and not just your own? Would this give you an extra advantage above your competitors? Yes I would think so.
So now that I have your attention, lets introduce Bit.ly into the picture.
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