TikTok is not just a Gen Z dancing app, but a powerful marketing tool with much potential.
Its power is driven by explosive growth (four billion total downloads by 2023), a mysterious algorithm based on “sub-linear computational complexity” (we don’t know what that means, either), and a low barrier to entry.
When we say TikTok has a low barrier to entry, we mean low.
Take the most-liked TikTok of all time by Philippine-American Bella Poarch, which is 10 seconds and has 66.3 million likes. In it she lip-syncs to a diss track [aka ‘send’] by a Blackpool grime artist called Millie B.
According to Vice, “Blackpool grime is a 2016-born internet phenomenon that started with sends (diss tracks) between predominantly white school kids using shockingly vulgar language.” Bella’s TikTok made Millie B’s song, ‘M to the B’ skyrocket to global fame. Yet the original Millie B video was shot in a Blackpool KFC one night after school in 2016; the only lyrics we can possibly repeat here are: “saying s*** about people’s mums that’s tight, Sophie Aspin do you want me a fight?”
That 10-second TikTok resulted in over seven million other TikToks created using ‘M to the B’, helping Millie B’s song make it onto Spotify’s UK and global viral charts. It also made the recipient of the send – fellow Blackpool grime rapper Sophie Aspin – TikTok famous. And, of course, Bella herself.
What a time to be alive.
How TikTok has changed content forever
TikTok’s algorithm prioritises content based on user preferences and engagement instead of followers or likes.
Between 30% and 50% of videos TikTok users see are recommended based on their prior engagement. TikTok has set the trend in how we consume content; instead of following brands users follow content based on interests and communities – like #BookTok, #fishtok, and #CleanTok (among a myriad of others). TikTok’s complicated algorithm monitors every interaction and serves content you show interest in – it doesn’t matter if the creator has two followers or 20 million.
This all means TikTok is a massive opportunity for digital marketers and businesses alike.
However, some are still apprehensive about this new world of content consumption and creation. Part of that is due to:
- The misconception that video content is difficult and expensive to make. It’s not, plus video is the best way to capitalise on attention in the digital age.
- Believing that TikTok is only for Gen Zs and not a space for businesses. Sure, the bulk of users are Gen Z (for more on them, see our article on how to market to Gen Z) and they’re now using TikTok more than Instagram, but a third of TikTok’s users are 25 to 34, and 16% are 35 to 44.
Why TikTok is a powerful digital marketing tool
With advertising capabilities and targeting, TikTok supersedes Meta by a long shot.
The targeting goes into granular detail. For example, for parenting it covers every interest a parent could possibly have, and its detailed categorisation of content means its SEO is extremely powerful, too.
The beauty is that as a business, you can also advertise without having a TikTok profile. You don’t need to post monthly content and keep organic engagement up to run paid media on TikTok.
It’s also not just a video content platform; ads can be carousels and still images with CTAs can link each image to a different link. We like to run the same ads on Meta and TikTok, and we’ve found that TikTok ads have a lower ad spend and higher conversion rate because targeting is better.
The importance of influencer marketing on TikTok
Along with user-generated content (like Bella’s), influencers play a crucial role in enhancing business reach, because influencers and affiliate marketing add a level of authenticity lost on other social media platforms.
But it’s more about brand evangelists and ambassadors than paid guns. You can’t pay someone to do something if they don’t believe in it because it will show.
Collaborative posts also get more bang for your marketing budget’s buck. You can sweeten the deal as influencers can make content for you; it often works out cheaper to pay them to make the content and post it, plus it’s far more authentic. And video doesn’t have to be highly produced, either. Subtitles with typos, AI voiceovers, and bumpy phone cameras: in a TikTok world, no one cares if the messaging is real.
As with any platform, TikTok success depends on how you integrate your brand and how content relates back to the business’s objectives and yields results, whether that’s brand awareness or sales.
TikTok isn’t for every business, but we believe there is value to be found in its infinite corners. As the Washington Post’s article ‘How TikTok ate the internet’ points out: “If you have not used TikTok, you are rapidly becoming the global exception.”
We reckon Millie B, Sophie, and Bella would agree with that.
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