Tik Tok is the fastest growing social media platform worldwide with over a billion users globally.
Particularly popular with Gen Z and Millennials – it is a platform for entertainment. Some scroll, some post, some do both.
Launched in 2017, when Chinese company ByteDance bought Musical.ly, where pre-teens lip synced to music, it has rapidly become a replacement for TV, Google, other social media channels and more, because rather than users making their own choices, the algorithm tracks the person’s mood and makes them ‘For You’.
How is TikTok evolving?
For 2024, Tiktok needs to look at how it broadens its appeal to Gen X, beyond Gen Z and Millennials.
It also bears the question as to how the social media platform might evolve in terms of it acting as a search engine, backed by recommendations from brands users trust unlike Google which is dominated by advertising.
In terms of organic evolution, new trends keep TikTok fresh and different things can trend at any different moments making it very exciting and fast moving.
There will always be topical hashtags from cat talk to book talk and a lot of modern-day popular culture has developed out from TikTok, so it continues to be a powerful tool in to 2024.
Why is TikTok so successful?
One very strong aspect is that everyone’s ‘For You’ page is unique to them. It is also highly successful at keeping users engaged due to its authenticity and trust is fostered which creates a personal connection with a regular person through commonality and shared interests. Users can choose to interact with TikTok in a number of ways, passively by just watching and swiping or actively engage by liking, commenting and seeing if creators reply.
Part 2’s, follow-ups and more, all drive the engagement even further and keep users returning for more.
How should brands get the most from it or whether to be on it at all?
TikTok is so massive in the UK, a person or a brand can become famous overnight.
However, many creators now expect to be compensated for all of their hard work, as well as being more mindful as to whether their recommendations might lose followers and focus is more on whether their values align with brands.
TikTok is very much built so users are drawn to the personality of the creators rather than the brands or products, so it is useful to think about how to leverage people – whether that be your staff or influencers to get your brand noticed.
Tiktok’s ad revenue is also on the rise following big names in the food service, beauty and technology taking the lead – with many encouraging their staff to post company information – examples in the US are Sephora, Wendy’s and Dunkin’ Donuts.
In spite of this, there are many, many brands who still have not even touched TikTok, but the good news its TikTok is far away from the early days of the platform and now even BBC News has a presence on TikTok.
There really is no product or service that cannot be marketed on TikTok now, but to get it right brands need to understand that TikTok is less an advertising channel and more of a communication channel.
Before a business starts, it needs to think about what their brand identity is and what makes their company interesting. Take a look at this Finnish roofing and ventilation company – it’s the people working for the business that have captured the imagination of so many users rather than the products themselves – they have masterly marketed their business almost completely avoiding a sales pitch.
TikTok Newsroom is also a great place to bring yourself up to speed with its global impact to date and the opportunities there are for businesses.
About SCS Marketing & PR
If your business would like to find out how TikTok can help increase the reach of their product or service please contact our team on info@scsmarketingandpr.co.uk or complete our contact us form here.
