Clocking Time on the Newest App: TikTok

Have you heard of TikTok? It’s the latest social media app that’s used to create videos, and it’s creating a craze among Gen-Z (and celebs)!

TikTok’s content is largely comedic and ranges from lip-syncing and dancing to random talents. The platform’s laidback and unsophisticated tone presents an opportunity to showcase the fun, candid and expressive side of your company. 

Below are four ways you can use TikTok to promote your brand:

1. In-feed Native Content: Companies can promote content through full-screen advertisements. Similar to Instagram Story ads, these are 9-15-second videos. The success of in-feed native content ads can be measured through engagements, video views, click-through rates and impressions.
2. Brand Takeovers: TikTok gives companies the opportunity to take over the app for the day and create images, videos and GIFs. Users can also embed links to their own brand sites for easy access. And since analytics are key, the companies can evaluate brand takeovers through impressions and click-through rates.
3. Hashtag Takeovers: Companies can create their own hashtags, often in the form of a challenge, to encourage participation and engagement. Dreamwork Pictures and McDonald’s have both utilized this feature in their TikTok digital marketing strategies. Dreamwork Pictures promoted its new Netflix show by challenging users to create TikTok videos of themselves dancing to the show’s theme song. Users were asked to post their videos using the specific Dreamwork hashtag. The campaign reached more than 34.4 million users with more than 2.6 million engagements.
4. Branded Lenses: Similar to Instagram and Snapchat filters, companies can design custom lenses that users can select to overlay or filter their videos. Featured under the “hot” and “trending” categories on the platform, this new element can live for up to 10 days on TikTok.

Bottom line, because the platform isn’t saturated by influencer presence and heavy marketing (yet), your approach to TikTok, as with any other successful strategy, should be guided by authenticity. But the clock is ticking, and this app has the potential to become a favorite; so jump on board early to have some fun and see if TikTok is right for your brand.

Looking for ways to get your brand noticed? We can help with that! Drop us a line!

By Haylee Hicks, Clairemont Intern and junior at NC State University.

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