TikTok is a relatively new social media platform. It
has seen significant growth in the past two years and
now has about 500 million active users per day. Its
popularity has grown in international markets, including the
United States. Some marketers have been very successful with
the platform, while many others have failed.
TikTok is a small format video sharing application that allows
users to create and share 15-second videos on any topic.
TikTok maintains a separate application for the Chinese market,
known as Duyin, which has more than 300 million monthly
active users.
TikTok has no room for traditional image ads and does not
even compete with other social media platforms, in the sense of
being a marketing channel. However, due to its rapid growth
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and growing popularity, many brands are realizing TikTok's
potential as a marketing channel.
Several brands have used techniques, such as challenges and
TikTok contests, to get users to generate brand-related content.
Brands are also taking advantage of hashtags, more or less
similarly to other social media platforms, to promote their
TikTok marketing campaigns.
Take, for example, the Guess brand campaign #InMyDenim.
On September 1, 2018, the Guess brand took control of TikTok
and invited all TikTok users in the United States to the hashtag
challenge #InMyDenim. The contest encouraged users to create
video content by wearing jeans (of course) and using the hashtag.
This was the beginning of TikTok brand partnerships in the
USA.
Another way for brands to use TikTok is to collaborate with
TikTok celebrities to create brand-specific promotional content.
This will be similar to any other influencer collaboration,
only with the 15-second TikTok video format.