It was the most downloaded app in the world in 2018, with over 45 million downloads in just three months. It beat out giants like YouTube, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram. TikTok invites users to share 15-second homemade videos of whatever is on their mind. It is similar in some ways to Instagram as there are still influencers who use the app to push various products and lifestyles, but the difference may stop there. TikTok’s users are looking for one thing that is lacking on many other social media sites, AUTHENTICITY. The TikTok platform is not the place for the perfectly filtered and cropped photo from your exotic, once in a lifetime vacation. It is the place for your real-life moments and the perfect spot for you to show off your own personal style.
Users agree that TikTok is the place to come for support and to see what is trending and important to others. The app depends on its target market of Gen Z’ers to upload video content and respond with their own video.
TikTok is still the baby amongst social media sites, and in an effort to gain a little maturity, it made a big push this year at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity. Executives for the app were selling its focused ability to share personal content with millions, and not just make connections. This strategy has led to the apps growing popularity with large brands and artists such as Chipotle, the NBA, and Kesha. Brands are cautiously stepping into the TikTok advertising waters by creating calls to action with their #HashtagChallenge and asking users to create their own content in response to the brand’s videos. Feedback from these campaigns has been positive so far and as Stefan Heinrich, head of global marketing for TikTok, states “For me as a marketer, I feel like TikTok is a new level of engagement. If I go as a marketer to another platform, I get likes, shares, or comments. If I get a video on TikTok, I get 20 to 30 minutes of a person’s time to create and share. I’m turning someone into a brand ambassador to start a conversation.”
Let the memes, hashtags, and challenges continue!
References
Beer, J. June 21, 2019. Sorry, ads are coming to TikTok [Article]. Retrieved on July 28, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.fastcompany.com/90367516/sorry-ads-are-coming-to-tiktok
Flynn, K. November 28, 2018. Ahead of ad products, TikTok is the hot new app that ad agencies are eyeing. Retrieved on July 20, 2019. Retried from https://digiday.com/marketing/tiktok-hot-new-app-ad-agencies-eyeing/
Huang, Z. May 8, 2018. The world’s most popular app isn’t Facebook or WhatsApp [Article]. Retrieved on July 27, 2019. Retrieved from https://qz.com/1272285/bytedances-music-video-app-douyin-tik-tok-is-the-most-downloaded-iphone-app-in-2018s-first-quarter/
Lanigan, R. July 23, 2019. How is TikTok changing beauty standards for gen z [Article]? Retrieved on July 27, 2019. Retrieved from https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/vb99em/tik-tok-beauty-standards-e-girl-make-up