Am sure everyone by now has heard of TikTok, even if they haven’t used it personally yet.

TikTok has exploded on to the social media scene is currently one of the fastest growing social media platforms globally. It allows users to create short videos with music, filters, and other neat features that keep getting added regularly. TikTok was initially launched as Douyin in 2016 in China and almost immediately became its most downloaded app. In 2017 the app was launched by ByteDance for markets outside of China.

Combined, TikTok and Douyin have 1.29 billion active users worldwide, making it already almost half as popular as Facebook (2.8 billion users). Just as Facebook has become an incredible marketing tool, TikTok too has become a popular marketing platform.

For many people TikTok appears to be filling a void left by Twitter’s Vine video platform, but there’s much more to TikTok than just short videos, TikTok provides a platform for users to express themselves in a very creative way. But it is perhaps TikTok’s algorithms that result in users spending so much time on the app that may be its most unique feature.

 To date The TikTok app has been downloaded over 2 billion times on the App Store and Google Play with 62 percent of TikTok users in the US, between 10 and 29 years old.

When it comes to the daily time spent on TikTok, users spend an average of 52 minutes per day on the app. 90 percent of all TikTok users accessing the app daily a pretty high number compared with most other social media apps.

With these numbers and with the type of user engagement TikTok enjoys, it makes sense that brands globally are testing various marketing strategies to determine what drives the best performance. Some of the latest TikTok marketing trends include:

Memes are very frequently used on TikTok and are extremely popular amongst Millennials and Gen Z, who make up a large percentage of TikTok’s user base. Memes tend to be funny and often experience high levels of sharing. And so brands are now taking advantage of memes to boost engagement, and many have enjoyed excellent viral amplification of their marketing campaigns. 

 TikTok, like many social media platforms feature influencers who have large followings. As TikTok’s popularity has continued to increase, so have the number of influencers and their followers. As I am writing this charli d’amelio ranks as the top TikTok influencer with 111 million followers and over 9 billion likes. That’s huge. So obviously more and more brands are now using TikTok influencers to help promote their goods and services. And the larger the following, the more power the TikTok influencer has to influence TikTokers to use your product or service. And usually, the higher the cost too. So, he key is to use influencers with enough followers who are relevant to your niche and who you can afford to work with. 

 As with other social media platforms, User-Generated Content (UGC) on TikTok is becoming a more and more popular strategy for marketers who understanding how to best use the TikTok platform. User-generated content is content that is generated by customers and users and is great for marketers because it is free. Also because it’s created by regular people that customers tend to trust more it converts five times higher than brand-sponsored posts.

A Branded Hashtag Challenge has proven to be very popular on TikTok. A Branded Hashtag campaign is when a company creates a hashtag and then asks followers to submit videos that are related to that specific hashtag and that feature the hashtag. There are many reasons why branded hashtag challenges have been so effective as a TikTok marketing strategy. The first is because they have the potential to attract a lot of attention and go viral. For example, Elf Cosmetics was able to get over 3 million user-generated videos and over 4 billion views for its #eyeslipsface branded hashtag challenge. This challenge encouraged people to submit their own videos for a song called “Eyes, Lips, Face” that went along with the challenge. ICYMI, creamy coffee–or Dalgona coffee, as it’s truly called–has been dominating TikTok as one of the most delicious drinks to whip up. The hashtag #dalgonacoffee has 10.7 million views on TikTok. Check out some other brands that are absolutely killing it on TikTok for some more inspiration!

In addition to having viral potential, branded hashtag challenges are an excellent TikTok marketing strategy because they create fun experiences for followers. They also engage followers in a highly effective way. One further reason why these campaigns can be so effective is because they can help draw people to your brand who may not have even heard of your brand. They can come for the hashtag challenge and end up following your company because they discover that they like your brand after checking out the hashtag challenge.

TikTok hashtags are important, get started with your hashtag strategy here.

Duets are another highly successful and unique TikTok marketing approach. Duets involves a brand creating a video and then letting TikTok users match or duet that video with a side-by-side video, with the two videos played simultaneously in a split-screen. This is another great way for brands to engage their followers and create exciting, new experiences for them. Another reason why duets have proven to be a such a strong marketing trend on TikTok in 2021 is because it gives brands an opportunity to showcase their products in a way that feels organic and fun to follow. Duets allow followers to participate in something with the brand instead of just get shown ads. This participation helps followers to get much stronger engagements with the brand, which results in increased customer loyalty. 

As a brand if your target audience are on TikTok, and if you are not exploring it yet as a marketing platform for your brand, then 2021 is probably the time to do it. TikTok like most social media platforms will continue to evolve and the sooner you jump in and begin to earn how best to use it for your brand the sooner you can start to see benefits from it. And don’t forget to have fun in the process!

 Contact us should you wish to schedule a free call to discuss your TikTok video content strategy.