What is Tik Tok and Who is Using It?
Our world has changed thanks to social media and we are connected more than ever to people across our cities, states, even countries. Social media giants such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram have been integrated into our lives to post what we are up to, interactions with friends, family and even celebrities. Instagram is important to PR professionals to build brand trust, reputation, and communication with all of our publics. Social media allows us to develop trends and awareness of our brand. There is a new competitor to Instagram which is TikTok which rose in popularity due to the pandemic. In this post, we will explain what TikTok is and how brands can benefit from posting on this social media platform.
Tik Tok is a short- video social media app that has users from across the world. TikTok was originally Musically but merged with Bytedance in 2017 which created TikTok. TikTok is a popular social platform with over a Billion active users worldwide. In America, millions of users use the app everyday to create and watch content. Content creators can upload videos as short as a few seconds long or up to 3 minutes long. TikTok is popular amongst Gen-Z and Millenials with 69% of U.S. teenagers regular TikTok users. This exceptionally high popularity should influence brands to start creating videos to capture a new, younger audience's attention.
The possibility of going viral is higher on TikTok. Songs, dances and challenges make up a majority of videos. Both small creators and large creators can hop on trend using a popular sound or dance. Brands have participated in trends to create awareness about their product or service in a fun way. Popular videos land on users “For You Page” and have a high chance of reaching new audiences of different age groups. Here are some examples of brands engaging in popular trends to create awareness and brand recognition:
The Adult swim challenge was popularized in early June 2021. This challenge uses the sound Running Away - VANO 3000 and ends the video with the iconic [adult swim] logo. Adult Swim is marketed towards adults and has wacky elements of the commercial which makes it a distinct trend on TikTok. There was interaction with users to create their own content using VANO 3000s song. Under this sound there are over 676.2K videos. Here are two examples of the [adult swim] challenge. The first video was created by @cyrilroyplamer which has 2.8 million likes and 31.8k shares.
The next video was made by @bru.cie and has over 777.6 k likes and 10.0 K shares. The adult swim challenges small creators introducing the brand to a larger audience.
Couch Guy challenge started at the end of September following a girl surprising her long distance boyfriend walking into a dorm room sitting with three other girls who were not excited to see her. The song featured is from “Ellie Goulding - Falling for you”. The original video amassed over 63 million views and there are countless parodies of the original videos. Larger organizations can participate in the trend to promote their work such as in the case of Lionsgate. Lionsgate participated in the trend using a scene from Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn: Part 1 of the #coachguy trend which can promote users to watch the movie to understand the context of the video. The Lionsgate Coach Guy video has over 1.4 million likes and 67.0K shares.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDx-0gWKGIU
Tik Tok challenges do not have to be viral but good for consistent posts such as from the official Scrub Daddy. Scrub Daddy posts videos multiple times a week to promote the cleaning product creating user engagement with over 575. 1 k followers and has over 9 millions likes. Scrub Daddy promotes scrubbing products and brand recognition by posting comedy videos with popular sounds. The first sound is from actor Sarah Paulson from American Horror Story: Asylum shouting “Help me! The killer is escaping! Help me!” Scrub Daddy posted a life-sized Scrub Daddy Scrubber rolling down the stairs (4.74.8 k likes over 4.4 k shares, 2.7 million views).
Another video by Scrub Daddy is from Scream Queens voiced by Emma Roberts “You can pack your things and leave. There’s the door!” This single video has thousands of 5.5 million views, 1.2 million likes, 21.7 k shares.
TikTok has made it possible to make popular sounds from the app from the small screen of phones and tablets to television commercials. In October 2021 Burger used a sound from Tik Tok made popular with a hand dance sound called The Magic Bomb (Questions I Get Asked) by Hoang Read has over 3.7 million videos under this sound. The Burger King commercial promoted 2 burgers for a $6 deal at participating restaurants.
Tik Tok superstar Charli D’amelio holding “The Charli” drink from Dunkin Doughnuts.
Brands can transcend from promoting on social media to reality by using influencer marketing. Brands can merge with social media influencers which can promote brands and sales. Social media megar star on Tik Tok Charli D'amelio who has over 100 millions followers collaborated with Dunkin Donuts as a brand ambassador in September 2020. The drink named “The Charli” is a Cold Brew that could be customized with different milks including dairy-free milk alternatives. “The Charli” showcases how Tik tokers can be used to support brand ambassadors to encourage their followers to try new products.
https://news.dunkindonuts.com/news/the-charli-dances-onto-the-dunkin-menu
Overall, Tik Tok can be incorporated into PR because of high user rate and the possibility to go viral. A larger audience reach can land on FYP and can build trust with different audiences. TikTok will be an important platform for brands to incorporate because of higher engagement rates and to work with influencers as brand ambassadors to build trust from newer audiences.
Keywords: Public Relations, Students interested in Public Relations, Digital Media Strategy, Influencer Marketing,
https://blog.hootsuite.com/influencer-marketing/