Keys for a brand to succeed on TikTok

TikTok has revolutionized media consumption and entertainment. With more than one billion users worldwide – 90% of them accessing it daily – it has become an ideal place for companies to connect with their audiences through content. However, despite this great potential, not many companies are currently succeeding on this platform. Why? What should they do if they want to succeed? LLYC gives some keys in the report ‘TikTok: A New Brand Opportunity‘, prepared by the Deep Digital team.

“To succeed in TikTok you have to understand the codes of this platform well, understand that we have evolved from user-generated content to entertainment that gestated a community and for this a company has to be able to put on the suit of creator and participate. How? By providing authenticity, value and an original personality of its own,” says Carmen Gardier, Senior Director of Deep Digital America at LLYC and one of the authors of the report.

TikTok competes much more against television or streaming platforms than against social networks. It is the golden dream of any communicator or marketer because its users are “hooked” on this application for more than 60 minutes a day. Whoever is on TikTok, is on TikTok, something that in the attention economy is pure gold. And it’s not just teenagers: 67% of users are over 25 years old. In other words, it is a versatile communication tool for all ages and should therefore be used by brands to uniquely transmit valuable information in the form of knowledge or engagement actions with their target audiences. 

Experience shows that there are no magic formulas but there are effective practices to make content work better on TikTok, to make it go viral or to make the algorithm play in our favor. To begin with, this is a platform that puts the content in front of the creator and uses a different language. Elements that are important in other networks, such as the copy or the video thumbnail, are no longer fundamental here. In TikTok it is important for the video to be agile, dynamic, with music and highlighted texts.

In order to focus the contents well and make them work, they must have four fundamental elements: 

– Authenticity: contents must be original and creative. A very typical mistake that brands and companies make is to try to differentiate their content from the rest of the users so that it is “noticeable” that it is a corporate channel. But the secret is to participate in the platform as another user in an organic way.

– Structure: even if the content is agile and brief, it must be properly structured. This makes it easier for the user to understand what you are going to transmit and how you are going to do it. It also facilitates the retention of information and interaction. In this sense, the first few seconds of a video are essential. In them, you must “catch” the user and make clear the expectations of what you are going to tell them. 

– Simplicity: the platform itself advises that content should be cheerful, simple and informal. For this, emotions are fundamental to transmit that good vibe.

– Entertaining: TikTok is a social network for entertainment and most users come to it for this reason. Therefore, content should be focused on helping users discover new things through learning or curiosity. 

TikTok’s algorithm is the best kept secret but thanks to the learning provided by content that goes viral, we are beginning to understand how it works. We know that the algorithm benefits how a video is reviewed, how long it is viewed, how it is shared, interactions and its anchoring to topicality. 

The report collects three examples that show the impact this platform can have on society: through activism, through a specific business (real estate) and in leadership.

Read the full study by clicking here.