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TikTok is dominated by Generation Z, which makes any marketing effort a difficult feat due to their disdain of anything that resembles an advertisement. That’s why its important brands avoid coming across as too sales-driven when running TikTok influencer marketing campaigns. Like influencer marketing on any other platform, understanding the audience is the most important aspect. For example, clothing brands targeting teens would find a lot more success than similar clothing brands that primarily target adults.
TikTok also allows companies to run marketing campaigns without using influencer marketing. Sponsored posts can populate on users’ “For You Pages”. However, these are clearly marked as advertisements, distancing the brand from the user.
@sponsoredcontent84134 Isn’t this amazing? Car insurance at a Wal-Mart price!
Brands have found more success on TikTok through a more personal approach. By using influencers in their marketing campaigns, they’re able to get their message in front of the right audiences in a friendlier way that doesn’t seem overly sales-driven. This helps build a relationship between brands and prospective customers, which should be the primary goal of any marketer.
How do brands find influencers?
Most brands find influencers in one of two ways. The first, and simplest way, is to reach out to influencers individually. However, finding the right influencers can be a time-consuming task that many inexperienced social media marketers struggle with. It also takes time to build a relationship with the influencers, so some of the more popular names might not show interest.
The more common solution is to go through an influencer marketing firm. These firms have extensive databases that help companies instantly find the best options to connect them with their desired audiences. They also have established relationships with influencer networks that give smaller brands a better chance of working with big talents.
Top TikTok Influencer Marketing Campaigns
1. Chipotle
- #ChipotleSponsorMe
- Total Views: 1.4 billion
@daviddobrik Follow @chipotle , make a video explaining why Chipotle should sponsor you and use #ChipotleSponsorMe and #contest to enter! #sponsored
It’s no secret David Dobrik is one of the top influencers across all platforms and Chipotle is one of the most popular restaurants among teens anywhere in the U.S. That’s why Chipotle teaming up with Dobrik for a lifetime of free Chipotle giveaway just made sense. Dobrik already has one of the magical Chipotle cards himself, which he commonly refers to in his vlogs. With the one-of-a-kind unlimited card, he never has to pay.
Five lucky TikTok users, who make compelling videos of why they deserve the unlimited card with #ChipotleSponsorMe, will be selected by Dobrik. The challenge is still going on, but it has already done numbers through user-generated content. Each time a hopeful card-winner makes a TikTok, Chipotle is getting brand exposure.
2. Kool-Aid
- #OhYEAHChristmas
- Total Views: 1.98 billion
Kool-Aid’s innovative TikTok challenge came around Christmas time in 2019. They offered $10,000 to the best post using #OhYEAHChristmas. They started the campaign by teaming up with rapper Lil Jon on their page (@koolaidmanofficial). It resulted in almost 2 billion total views across over 10,000 pieces of unique, user-generated content.
3. Kroger
- #TransformYourDorm
- Total Views: 897.7 million
@miafinney which Kroger button are you in need of the most? 😂 i need all of them tbh ad #TransformUrDorm
Wanting to find an affordable way to reach college students looking to decorate their dorms, Kroger created the #TransformYourDorm campaign. Students posted videos of their dorm’s decorations with the hashtag that led viewers to a custom tab linked to Kroger’s website of dorm decorations and supplies.
They used four influencers: Joey Klaasen, Cosette Rinab, Mia Finney, and Victoria Bachlet, who were able to get up to 3 million views and kickstart the trend.
4. Gymshark
- #Gymshark66
- Total Views: 186.8 million
@twinmelody WE’RE 6 MILLION😱❤️SOMOS 6 MILLONES!Feeling Great on our @gymshark outfit #gymshark66 #twins #slowmo
Gymshark wanted to attract a younger group of customers, so they took to TikTok with their “Change Your Life” campaign. Through six influencers, they started a 66-day challenge that encouraged people to work out every day 66 days in a row. They promised the best transformation video a year’s supply of Gymshark clothing. By associating their brand with a fitness trend, they were able to get their #Gymshark66 over 186 million views.
5. Sony Music
- 100 Bad Days
- Total views: 208.9 thousand
@maxandharveyofficial Use #100baddays to meet us & #AJR at their London show! T&Cs: smarturl.it/tiktok100baddays-tcs
Sony Music wanted to put the AJ Brothers new song, “100 Bad Days”, in front of a younger crowd. They took to TikTok through the famous duo Max and Harvey, who have 5.9 million followers on the app. Their song was featured in one of the duo’s posts, amassing over 200 thousand total views.
The Importance of Hashtags
Something the highest performing influencer marketing campaigns all have on TikTok is a clearly defined, brand-related hashtag. This allows users to interact with the content more easily. On TikTok, searching for hashtags brings up a page that lists every video made with the tag in order of popularity.
TikTok is also a hotspot for user-generated content. By creating challenges that encourage the use of specific tags that relate to a brand, companies are able to multiply their campaigns’ audiences. The interactive experience makes it seem like more than just a sales-driven advertisement to the younger audiences, resulting in TikTok influencer marketing campaigns that do big numbers across the board.
