While Instagram’s success is already consolidated, TikTok is also making a name for itself. By the end of 2019, TikTok had 800 million active users, and it was the second most downloaded app of 2019, with more than 1.5 billion downloads over the year. With such impressive figures, TikTok is the hot topic of the moment, and brands are struggling to understand if they should be making their presence noticed on this platform and, if so, how to do it.
For those trying to understand TikTok, you probably already know by now that the app is (still) mostly dominated by Gen Z since 41% of users are 16-24 years old. This success among “the kids” is largely due to the type of content they like to consume, which makes it harder for those over 25 to understand why the app is so popular.
To explain it in a few words, TikTok is an entertaining short-form video content platform. The rationale of the app is totally aligned with research on consumer behavior, according to which the average watch time benchmark of a Facebook video is 10 seconds, and video ads have much higher abandon rates when they’re longer than 15 seconds.
For this reason, TikTok is already one step ahead because it primarily shows video content that is 15 seconds in length. But what really explains the app’s success is that it manages to do so and still be very entertaining. In fact, that’s what TikTok is all about: If you cannot be entertaining in 15 seconds or less, you probably won’t make a big impact on this platform.
Being entertaining can come naturally for individuals, but brands that want to tap into TikTok as part of their marketing mix will have to think more thoroughly when deciding which creative approach to take in order to make their content entertaining.
Here are five tips on how to make entertaining content, inspired by brands that are doing incredibly well on TikTok:
1. TikTok-ers love a good old challenge. So, you can’t go wrong with branded hashtag challenges, as they are one of the main engagement drivers on the platform. Take Guess, for example, which successfully pulled off its #InMyDenim challenge, where users transform their outfit from “a mess” to “best-dressed.” The hashtag currently has 41 million views.
2. Less talk and more music. Remember TikTok came from a lip-syncing app (Musical.ly), so it’s only natural that a lot of its users are into this type of content. Chipotle smartly combined music with humor in one of its TikTok campaigns, inspired by the viral #HariboChallenge. The brand used chips (instead of gummy bears) to sing along with Adele’s “Someone Like You.”
3. Giveaways are huge engagement drivers on TikTok. Because this platform is not as commercially explored as Instagram, its users do not see giveaways very often, making them very engaging. E.l.f. Cosmetics is one of the brands that took advantage of this opportunity. The brand offered a chance to win $250 worth of products to those who posted their best self-confident moves under a song specifically commissioned for the brand’s TikTok campaign. The hashtag #eyeslipsface has around 4.5 billion views on the app.
4. Your content should be tailored to the app’s rationale. Posting everything you share on other social media apps won’t work for your TikTok audience. Give your followers what they want to consume according to each platform. NBA is one brand doing a great job in this respect, since it splits its content across its social platforms: You can go to Instagram for NBA highlights, Twitter for NBA news, and TikTok for NBA comedy, memes and motivation. This way, they keep their audience on each platform targeted and engaged.
5. Tap into the values and beliefs of Gen Z to make sure your content or challenge is relevant among this target audience, making it more likely to be picked up. MAC is one of the brands that has successfully adopted this approach. For its #YouOwnIt campaign, the brand worked with influencers where the focus was on diversity, a topic very close to Gen Z’s heart. The campaign was a big success on TikTok, with more than 2.3 billion views.
Whether it is funny or emotional content, or in the form of a challenge or lip-syncing, the aim of TikTok is to build content creatively in such a way that audiences feel drawn to it and want to engage with it. Remember that the key to a successful TikTok campaign lies in being entertaining. Only by leveraging the entertainment factor will you be able to deliver real value to TikTok’s audience.
