THE fascinating thing about TikTok is that while we are all enthralled by it, many of us don’t understand enough about it to make it work. Nevertheless, it remains a Holy Grail in social-media because of numerous TikTok success stories.
- The Chipotle restaurant chain, according to Investopedia, ran a Halloween “Boorito” coupon giveaway campaign encouraging TikTok users to dress up for the holiday and post their images. The campaign scored four million views.
- e.l.f. Cosmetics teamed up with a few social media influencers to create an online reality show and contest called #eyeslipsface. The ad campaign got more than 3.8 billion clicks.
- Uyi Omorogbe, 23, posted his first viral TikTok video in April 2020, and his clothing brand NASO sold out its minimalist African inspired collection less than 72 hours later. The video now has 6.5 million views and Omorogbe now has 3.3 million TikTok followers.
Just what is TikTok and what makes it so magical? According to Investopedia:
- Tiktok is a popular social media app that allows users to create, watch, and share 15-second videos shot on cellphones
- The app was launched in 2-16 by the Chinese technology company Bytedance
- 69-percent of TikTok users are between the ages of 13-24. Only 7.1 percent of TikTok users are age 50 or older
- Now available in more than 150 different markets, TikTok has offices in Beijing, Los Angeles, Moscow, Mumbai, Seoul, and Tokyo
- The app has about 1.1 billion active global users by early 2021.
With its personalized feeds of quirky short videos set to music and sound effects, the app is notable for its highly addictive quality and high levels of engagement. While potentials are huge and it’s a great way to promote your business are different from other social media platforms. In an article in Inc.com, Joely Simon shares with us 3 Strategies for Making Your Business Go Viral on TikTok.
1. Make people laugh
Omorogbe’s first viral video, Pissing off my African Parents Part 1, featured the young founder singing a punk rock song to his father, and his father’s resulting confusion. It helped showcase Omorogbe’s personality, and made him relatable to his target audience—16- to 35-year-old first-generation Americans.
The video’s generational clash hinted at NASO’s brand story, which bridges Omorogbe’s Western upbringing with his father’s Nigerian upbringing. And humor had a lot to do with its success.
“I made content with the intention of creating something that people want to share,” he says. “If people laugh about it, they engage with liking and commenting, assuming the algorithm is driven by engagement rate.”
Simon also quotes Art Lightman, a digital media and marketing professor at Carnegie’s Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business, who says that on TikTok, humor and sarcasm sell.
But he warns not to go overboard as humor can backfire if the company doesn’t really understand the topic, audience, or social platform.
Lightman’s advice: “Hire 22- or 23- year-olds and put them in charge of your creative and social engagement.”
2. Be transparent
Traditionally, a founder or CEO’s inspirational success story is the cornerstone of a company’s branding. And this has been a winning formula through the years.
However, there are also times when candidness and openness could make a difference. Simon’s case in point: Mimi Shou, whose jewelry company sales increased 380 percent after sharing a TikTok job termination and failing new business.
While New York-based Shou, 26, did not originally intend to promote her eponymous jewelry company, she now has 40,000 followers.
Her unlikely formula? In her videos, “she makes fun of herself, especially in regards with her single lifestyle, and, at first, the lack of success of her jewelry brand.”
Simon points out that her first viral Tiktok used hashtags like “small business,” “for you page,” and “girl boss,” but rather than showing an inspirational story, she showcased her business flop.
Her flop soon turned into skyrocketing sales as she sold out her inventory, and then sold out again on her preorder inventory. “People really related to my viral Tiktok, because there are a lot more people that did get laid off and/or quit their job to launch a business,” Shou says. “Sometimes some transparency and honesty can really be comforting during these times. So, I try to offer that throughout all aspects of my videos, including my dating and family life.”
3. Be subtle
AS suggested by her high school employees, Marissa Tilley, 31, started a Tiktok for her business, Lady Black Tie, a dress shop located in Andover, Massachusetts, that also sells on an ecommerce website.
Before plunging into this, Tilley says she began using the app itself to understand relevant trends and sounds. In short, how it works.
Then, Simon says, “she went viral, hitting 6.9 million views on a video that barely took any time and energy to create, a race to dress a mannequin.
“We weren’t really selling anything,” she says. Not only was the video novel, as viewers in the comment section noted they had never seen anyone change a mannequin, but Lady Black Tie asked the question—“Who do you think is gonna win?—spurring crucial engagement.
Our TikTok takeaway
1. Mastering TikTok begins with knowing TikTok. Lightman says that the first step in your TikTok strategy must be to spend time on the platform. Marissa Tilley has shown us the way by sharing with us that she began using TikTok itself to know more about it before she started campaigns for her business Lady Black Tie. And she was successful.
Marketing on TikTok is still in its infancy, but a growing number of agencies are eager to help brands create the kind of quirky content that gets clicks. There is still much especially those of us who are not digital natives can learn about it. And the best time to start is now.
2. Conventional advertising that stresses a product’s superior qualities doesn’t work in TikTok, says Deborah D’Souza in an article in Investopedia. “Light, fun campaigns set to music hit the spot,” she says. “The ultimate goal is to go viral on the site and spur imitations by TikTok users.”
Lightman adds that, “if a medium is to entertain and to educate, overt advertising messages don’t work. Subtle advertising messages can work out very effectively by building out community awareness.”
3. Age does Matter. Lightman’s suggestion to hire 22- or 23-year-olds and put them in charge of your creative and social engagement in TikTok makes a lot of sense when reaching out to a very young demographic. Otherwise, we would appear trying too hard and out of touch.
In fact, celebrities themselves have come to realize this, as we see Kim Kardashian joining her daughter North West’s TikTok.
4. Make the Match. As mentioned earlier, TikTok is perfect for reaching out to a very young demographic. We may use other formats and media for campaigns that reach out to other markets.
5. Keep humor, transparency and subtlety in mind when working on your TikTok videos.
PR Matters is a roundtable column by members of the local chapter of the United Kingdom-based International Public Relations Association (Ipra), the world’s premier association for senior professionals around the world. Millie Dizon, the senior vice president for Marketing and Communications of SM, is the former local chair.
We are devoting a special column each month to answer the reader’s questions about public relations. Please send your comments and questions to askipraphil@gmail.com.