Tuesday, March 28

The Rise of TikTok and What It Means for Digital Marketers

TikTok

Since 2020 TikTok has become the hub for more than 90% of businesses that are invested in social media marketing. It has been named one of the fastest-growing platforms of all time, and the reasons are not far-fetched.

TikTok, as a social media platform, comes with a vast user base that allows brands to promote themselves and gain more customers. It is not just enough that most people use the app to let off steam from the day’s work or make funny videos. More people are finding purpose with TikTok and discovering incredible ways to make money doing what they love.

As a digital marketer, getting ads that convert to sales can be an extreme sport, especially when social media platforms and algorithms are not always designed for you to earn from them. However, TikTok as a platform is like a breath of fresh air, provided you use the right TikTok ad specs. This article will show you the broad reach of TikTok as a social media platform and how digital marketers can take advantage of this advertising goldmine.

How Did TikTok Grow So Fast?

The key to TikTok’s growth is the increasing attraction among Gen Z and Millenials. They make up 80% of Tiktok’s user base. This generation became used to Tiktok during the lockdown period of the 2020 pandemic, as the app’s daily usage increased by 41%. The statistics have changed since then as more people are discovering the app and relying on it more for premium entertainment, even as they go about their daily activities.

The social platform has gone on to beat Facebook and YouTube in having a growing user base despite both copying the hallmark experience of TikTok. The major success of TikTok lies in the algorithm, which allows a single video to go viral even without having a lot of followers like other social media platforms.

How Does TikTok Work?

With TikTok, users can view videos from their feeds, shown mainly by algorithms and hashtags. The algorithm is influenced by factors such as location, country, language, user interactions, etc. It has a For You page that allows you to discover new content creators and users to follow and interact with.

Does TikTok Have A Specific Age Bracket?

It may be true that TikTok cuts across all age brackets. That is, the old and young can enjoy the app. It is, however, more popular with Gen Z and Millennials simply because of the hashtag challenges that frequently come up. Many businesses promote their brands using content that engages viewers, which brings followers. Then they turn these followers into customers. So many established and popular brands use TikTok to launch their influencer marketing campaigns, and their engagements are mind-blowing.

What Does It Mean for Digital Marketers?

TikTok creates an excellent opportunity for marketers to advertise their brand to a wide range of audiences worldwide. The most appealing part is that they don’t have to use the common officious advertising strategy used on other platforms. Here, marketers can engage their audience with a fun and creative approach that is often attractive to the users on TikTok, which often results in a huge sales conversion.

From memes on social media to the latest TikTok challenges, many startups and established businesses can use various tactics to retain the interest of their audiences and turn them into faithful customers. TikTok also builds brand awareness and gives them a solid online presence within the same audiences while maintaining a single budget.

Making an ad on TikTok doesn’t cost you a lot as most of the rates are affordable and allow marketers to use the platform without restriction. The viral nature of TikTok makes it easily the leading social media platform and the best to monetize. This is because, with a thoughtful marketing strategy, one can make it big and gain more followers in a few months.

When TikTok releases its updates, it offers digital marketers a wide range of advertising opportunities that benefit them. These opportunities are broad and inexhaustible.

Brand Effects– With brand effects, your ads stand out amongst other business owners doing something like yours. It highlights the brand’s Unique Selling Point (USP) and critical elements that need viewers’ attention.

In-Feed Ads– This is pretty similar to paid ads on other social media platforms. It is identical to regular videos and pops up through your feed like the ads you’ll typically see between Instagram Stories. It is trendy and increases the chances of your video conversions up to 90%.

Hashtag Challenges– When you make ads using a trending hashtag challenge, there’s a greater chance of your ad getting to more people than without the hashtag. Creating hashtags challenges for your brand can also work, especially if they are easy to remember and pronounce.

Collaborate with influencers – Working with influencers on TikTok is another established way of putting your brand out there. This is because influencers have higher followings through the content they churn out which the majority of their audience can relate to.

One beautiful thing about TikTok that has not escaped content creators and brand owners is that it is not limited to one industry alone. Irrespective of the particular industry that you might be in, TikTok is a free for all platform that can be used to promote all the services you offer. As long as your content and services are quality and worth a lot of hype, you’ll be surprised to discover how many people engage with your brand.

As the year progresses, more digital marketers are discovering TikTok for themselves and its incredible benefits. The growth is tremendous, and the possibilities are endless, but the key is to consistently create good content, share it and keep it focused on your brand while you engage your followers