Create Trusted TikTok Advertising Campaigns with Influencers
TikTok recently hit 1 billion monthly users. If there was any question of its importance as an advertising and branding platform in the social landscape, the answer is a definitive yes to its value as a marketing tool. This is especially true for brands that intend to market to Generation Z and Millennials.
According to Influencer Marketing Hub, Instagram and TikTok are the top two 'networks of choice' for influencer marketing campaigns, with 68% of brands prioritizing Instagram and 45% prioritizing TikTok. This is big news for TikTok, which has jumped from being categorized in the 'Other' last year to second place this year.
If you're worried about how to develop a TikTok marketing strategy — worry no more. Here's how influencer marketing works to inspire your next TikTok advertising campaign.
What is TikTok, and Why Should You Consider It?
Just in case you aren’t a TikTok devotee or have one in your house, here's a recap of what it and what it can do. TikTok is a popularized video-sharing platform that allows users to get creative and drive trends. The short videos are often personalized and equipped with different creative genres, including dancing, singing, educational content, DIY, comedy acts, and much more. For marketers this offers a series of creative solutions and tools aimed at increasing collaboration between creators and brands.
The New York Times attributes TikTok's success to the fact that it has "stepped over the midpoint between the familiar self-directed feed and an experience-based first on algorithmic observation and inference. The most obvious clue is right there when you open the app: the first thing you see isn't a feed of your friends, but a page called 'For You.'"
Its influence and popularity are undeniable, especially in the younger generations. According to Statista, 47% of TikTok users in the U.S. are aged between 10 and 29. Of their one billion users, the average user spends at least 52 minutes per day on the app, and 90% of all users access the app at least once a day.
What's more, the platform has also started getting more popular among adults as well. The Oberlo report also noted that "In less than 18 months, the number of U.S. adult TikTok users grew 5.5 times."
Why Are Brands Using TikTok Advertising Campaigns?
The answer is simple — businesses are creating TikTok advertising campaigns because it's where their target audience is. This has been the case for some time now for brands targeting Gen Z and Millennials, but studies — like the previous stat from Oberlo — show a steady increase in generations like Gen X and Baby Boomers, too!
According to SeatGeek Director of Influencer Channels, Ian Borthwick, TikTok is enticing because there's so much untapped potential. "What's exciting about TikTok is the unknown," DigiDay reports Borthwick saying. "Marketers are trying to figure out the platform. If you do a video, there's a chance that the video can go viral. And if you're working with influencers, there's a chance those videos could rack up a significant amount of views."
Let's face it — going viral is enticing, especially since you have a chance to become a social media staple and get in front of millions of potential viewers. DigiDay also reports that brands like Chobani, Verizon, Alaska Airlines, and more already use TikTok influencers. In fact, many of them are preparing to even prioritize TikTok marketing over Instagram and allocate more of their marketing budget to TikTok advertising campaigns.
Yogurt company Chobani has chosen to target communities in the TikTok world by working with the app’s influencers, designing special TikTok-only products, and creating hashtag campaigns. The brand’s goal is to target younger consumers through the app.
In 2021, the yogurt company dropped a limited-edition product, Chobani Flip Cookie Dough, only available through TikTok. Using the hashtag #SwitchTheChobaniFlip, the brand created a challenge for TikTok-ers. Using the hashtag, video creators had a chance to win the limited-edition yogurt. The campaign, which was a mixture of influencer marketing and paid media, received billions of views.
Gen Z and Millennials: Your Target Audience For TikTok Marketing
Gen Z and Millennials make up the majority of your consumer audience. They will dominate for years to come as the Millennials take over as the older generation (down the road) and the Gen Z's continue to pour in. Right now, we're looking at an age range of 25 to 40 for Millennials and nine to 24 for Generation Z.
Representing nearly $44 billion in buying power and influencing an additional $600 billion of family spending it’s time to start marketing your brand to them if you aren’t already. Some characteristics to appeal to in your marketing include:
- Diverse
- Open-minded
- Gender-neutral
- Changemakers
- Dreamers
- Independent learners
- Do-gooders
You can appeal to these characteristics in several ways, including adding more purpose to your brand, promoting your values, and interacting with them in more meaningful ways. This includes participating in major TikTok trends Gen Z is interested in, like dance-offs, comedy routines, and response videos.
How Does Influencer Marketing Work?
Influencer marketing is an advertising strategy where a brand works with a content creator to meet their audience's goal (increase awareness, website traffic, sales, etc.). This often comes in the form of promotional posts and videos or 'unboxings,' where the creator raves about your product/service to their fans.
Using influencers for TikTok advertising campaigns and on other social media platforms is become highly effective because fans trust their favorite creators to drive their purchasing decisions. HubSpot reports that "49% of consumers today depend on influencer recommendations for their purchase decisions [and] 60% say they've been influenced by a recommendation when shopping in-store."
Brands are catching on quickly, too. Not only have "Google searches for 'influencer marketing' grew 1500% in the last three years," but 80% of marketers have confirmed that influencer marketing has been effective in reaching their objectives.
Different types of influencers include:
- Celebrities
- Micro
- Blog
- Social Media
- Key Opinion Leader
How To Develop a TikTok Marketing Strategy with a Media Partner
Developing a TikTok marketing strategy can take some time and effort — but what doesn't? After all, nothing worth pursuing is ever easy. Fortunately, your campaign will be well on the way to success if you do the following:
- Decide on campaign goals — every great campaign begins with a primary purpose(s) to give it focus and help you measure how well you met those goals in the end.
- Define target audience— know who you're targeting. After all, you can't reach and resonate with an audience you don't have a thorough understanding of first.
- Set a budget— know how much you have to spend so you don't overspend on the opportunity.
- Choose influencers— keep them relevant to your brand (i.e., if you sell cookware, you'll want a popular cooking influencer — not an expert on science or a music enthusiast).
- Create messaging— craft messaging to serve the purpose of your goal while using your target audience's language, interests, and likes/dislikes as inspiration.
- Set expectations with the influencer about objectives— like with any partnership, you want to clarify what you expect to ensure they are up for meeting (or hopefully exceeding) your goals.
- Measure campaign results (and adjust accordingly) — as always, you'll never know where you need to improve or where you're kicking butt if you don't track and measure. This also allows for adjusting and improvement in areas that need it.
About the Author
@Janine Pollack, MNI Integrated Marketing Director and self-appointed Storyteller in Chief, leads the brands commitment to generating content that informs and inspires. Prior to MNI, Janine worked with Fortune 500 companies and world-renowned education institutions on numerous research and white papers, podcasts and thought-leadership and education campaigns.
