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There’s no lie when saying that TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media apps out there, some people are even calling it the new Vine. TikTok is a video-sharing app that allows users to create and share short videos. Focusing on video content creation, TikTok provided creators a platform with all the tools needed to create their short videos. The app has grown from only having marketing potential to the premier social media platform, making campaign TikTok strategies invaluable.
Since launching in 2018, the app’s popularity has skyrocketed and was the most downloaded video app on the App Store (Apple). Now TikTok has over 1 billion users worldwide. Due to this, brands have started to realize that TikTok could be a successful marketing channel for their brand, and having well-thought-out TikTok strategies can increase brand awareness.
The Key Strategies
The number of brands spending money on TikTok is growing. The key to success amongst these brands is to have a well-thought-out TikTok strategy so that your sponsored content can reach its full potential. Do you have too much sponsored content or too little? Who should be involved?
Here are some key TikTok strategies:
1. Content Creation
With quick videos every 15-60 seconds, the key to TikTok is posting engaging content. You want people to not only watch your full video but also engage with it through likes, comments, and sharing. This will result in the TikTok algorithm showing your video to more people. You want to jump on trends, create informative videos as well as humorous ones.
2. Creator Partnerships
With billions of app users comes thousands of new influencers. When picking influencers for your campaign, you need to have a good understanding of the platform and the community. The influencer needs to be able to produce content for your brand that will entertain the audience.
@todrick #ad Deals so good, I HAD to get up and PrimeDayDealsDance. @amazon #ad#PrimeDayDealsDance
Picking the right platform is just as important as the right influencer. Check out our TikTok vs Instagram breakdown here.
3. Break Up Content
As with all social media platforms, when using them for marketing it’s important to balance the type of content you share. Typical TikTok users normally scroll quickly past the ads on their FYP, so building your credibility before releasing promotion videos is important. When credibility is earned it’s also key to remember to not always post sponsored content to break up your feed.
4. Branded Hashtag Challenge
Branded Hashtags involve brands asking TikTok users to film themselves doing a certain challenge whether that be a dance or skill that relates to the product. The video is then shared with a specific hashtag. When users click on the hashtags, it leads them to a page on TikTok and a collection of other TikTok videos with the same hashtag challenge. Branded Hashtag Challenges create engagement and build brand awareness.
@franky_ok That kink..  @bangenergy @bangenergy.ceo #bangenergy #ad
5. In-feed video ads
These ads are short videos that blend and appear in the user’s FYP, just like any other TikTok. Creating an in-feed ad needs to be attractive to stop users from scrolling past. With that being said, if the video is engaging some users may not even notice they are watching an advertisement.
6. Brand Takeover
TikTok brand takeover ads have proven to be a good strategy to increase awareness and drive sales. These ads pop up right as users open TikTok and take over the full screen for a few seconds then turn into a FYP video that users can skip.
These ads contain hashtags and links that lead users to a website or a collection of TikTok’s from the same challenge.
7. TopView Ads
Similar to a Brand Takeover, TikTok TopView Ads are displayed full screen however they don’t cover the screen as soon as users sign in. These ads can be 60 seconds long with auto-play and sound, helping increase brand exposure.
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TikTok Strategies from Major Campaigns
Here are some examples of some major brand campaigns. All these major brands use different TikTok strategies to adhere to their audience in order for their sponsored content to reach its full potential.
1. Bang Energy
Bang Energy is an American brand of energy drinks and is the third highest-selling energy drink in the US. Bang Energy describes itself as fun, energetic, and constantly on the move so TikTok was a great app for the brand to reflect itself.
They have a huge TikTok presence, especially with the younger generation. As the app began to grow Bang Energy saw an opportunity to connect with its consumers.
@davidrosenberg LED Cloud Mirror 😱 this turned out so cool!! @bangenergy @bangenergy.ceo #BangEnergy #ad
With that came the Bang Influencers program where any influencer can sign up to work with Bang Energy to create viral promotional content for the drink. They utilize creator partnerships and branded hashtag challenges to build their audience.
Bang Energy ads on TikTok look like every other trending video with the key factors being engaging and fun except for one thing. That was product placement, making sure viewers knew they were watching a Bang ad without the TikTok creator even mentioning the brand name. The #BangEnergy hashtag is always used and so far this tag has over 12 billion views and is still growing.
@stephanygonzalezs2 📞⏰👀 @bangenergy FOLLOW THE INVENTOR @bangenergy.ceo #BangEnergy #ad
Bang Energy is successful as they don’t force the ad down the audience’s throat and let each influencer create the relevant content around the Bang Energy brand. They align the videos with their brand values and most of their videos portray the drink as fun and energetic.
The Bang Energy TikTok account has accumulated over 1 million followers and is continuing to grow. The page is constantly filled with content from dancers, artists, and various entertainers.
See the full Bang Energy campaign teardown here.
2. Amazon
Everyone has probably heard of Amazon, if you haven’t Amazon is a billion-dollar company that focuses on e-commerce.
Dating back to 2015, Amazon Prime Day is an annual event for members that includes two days of exclusive deals on a variety of products from all categories including technology and appliances.
This year Amazon took to TikTok to advertise the annual event.
It has been seen that TikTok has a massive control on the music industry with popular sounds used during trends also rising on the charts. Amazon took advantage of this by collaborating with rapper Snoop Dogg to create the catchy song ‘Prime Days Deal Dance’.
@snoopdogg #ad Just another dogg havin his prime day @amazon #PrimeDayDealsDance
Along with this Amazon brought influencers into the mix, collaborating with the big names on TikTok the influencers create a dance to the song they would do when their Amazon Prime Day packages arrived. Each video included the #PrimeDayDealsDance hashtag along with an amazon tag.
This encouraged users to create their own dance when receiving their Prime Day Deals and post it under the hashtag.
The purpose of this campaign was to show Amazon the feeling you get with you score sweet deals on Amazon Prime Day. Users even got the chance of getting a Snoop Dog comment on their post if he liked their dance. The attention these TikTok brought drew more attention to Prime Day and encouraged more people to visit the site and make purchases.
To this day, the hashtag #PrimeDayDealsDance has accumulated over 8.5 billion views and is still growing despite Prime Day being over the year.
