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As people transitioned into lockdown, most had nothing to do but watch YouTube, do work, and watch TikTok. This is when viral TikTok Brands got their time in the light.
As TikTok grew, the interest in it from the marketing perspective grew. Many brands started to build their profile and develop new strategies for marketing. With failure and success, they started to understand what worked and what didn’t. In this article, we will be analyzing strategies brands use to build their viewership and brand awareness.
Chipotle
- Followers: 1.7M
- Average Likes Per Post: 654.5K
- Average Comments Per Post: 222
- Engagement Rate:1.33%
Chipotle is an example of one of the viral TikTok brands that companies should emulate. The first example of a genius marketing campaign was the #ChipotleLidFlip challenge, which was started by an employee.
@mvnnyrose here are some lid flip fails for y’all 😂#ChipotleLidFlip @chipotle #foryoupage#foryou
Next was the #GuacDance. This resulted in 250K video submissions and 430M videos in 6 days.
The Last campaign occurred not in real life but in the new metaverse. In 2021, Chipotle started #Boorito, which was an event where people bought items in a virtual chipotle store on Roblox.
Want to read more about marketing on the metaverse? Check out our full guide to the new webspace here.
We’re Really Not Strangers
- Followers: 4.2M
- Average Likes Per Post: 2M
- Average Comments Per Post:5K
- Engagement Rate: 8.69%
This new card series is all about asking your friends and significant partners questions that are deep and foster a relationship on a more personal level. But how did it become one of the best viral TikTok brands?
Along with the great product photography and usage of brand color to create product association, this brand used user-generated content to boost its sales and recognition.
In their TikToks, they encourage users to choose a card and answer it in response to their TikTok account.
@werenotreallystrangers what do you wish you could tell them?
Spikeball
- Followers: 1.3M
- Average Likes Per Post: 534.5K
- Average Comments Per Post: 154
- Engagement Rate: 4.19%
This viral TikTok brand is fairly new and involves a group of people spiking a small ball onto a trampoline. The aim of the game is to keep the ball from touching the ground.
By far this is one of the most successful uses of TikTok to blow up a brand. Their TikTok page is chalked full of people showing off their highlights and best moments. By using user-generated clips, they amplify their popularity, show off how much fun the game is and challenge others to try to make good plays in the game.
@spikeball This rally just keeps getting spicier and spicier 🌶🌶🥵 (via @howtoroundnet)
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Gymshark
- Followers: 3.6M
- Average Likes Per Post: 354.7K
- Average Comments Per Post: 403
- Engagement Rate: 1.12%
Another Viral TikTok brand is Gymshark, and its campaign strategy is genius. If you go to any college campus, you’ll often hear those at the gyms hoping they can get enough views and likes to be sponsored by the brand.
@gymshark We still can’t believe that @demibagby did this last year! 😱🤯 #gymshark #gymshark66 #flips
Their content is about showing off their clothes on a wide variety of individuals, and in recent years they have become more body-conscious and include plus size models (Though this may be in response to intense criticism by the internet community at large).
Redbull
- Followers: 6.6M
- Average Likes Per Post: 69K
- Average Comments Per Post: 276
- Engagement Rate: 1.05%
Redbull boasts 6.6M followers and a high engagement rate per post. How does this happen? A lot of it can be attributed to their excellent internet presence. This brand transcends beyond being just an energy drink company and makes their brand all about humans accomplishing great feats. Think about how they sponsored the man who skydived from space, or how they sponsor events from NASCAR to e-sports.
Their usage of TikTok is just as ingenious as the rest of their online branding. Their hashtag #Givesyouwings has been used over 1 billion times. If you go onto their TikTok you aren’t blasted with product placement but rather engaging videos about intense and crazy feats. This is how they managed to become one of the top viral TikTok brands, by prioritizing entertainment over product placement content.
@redbull Look at all those flying Dutchman and women👀💪 #givesyouwings #fierljeppen #dutch #netherlands #blahblahblah
Duolingo
- Followers: 4.3M
- Average Likes Per Post: 429.3K
- Average Comments Per Post: 7.5K
- Engagement Rate: 11.45%
This mascot-centric Viral TikTok brand is both famous and infamous for its edgy and new-age humor. Their TikToks are all about creating brand awareness and making the audience go, “Can they post that?”
This strategy of unconventional postings has been a massive success for the brand, with it garnering 4.3M views. No Language app has received quite the same brand awareness as this one, as they don’t focus on creating brand awareness the same way.
Again like Redbull, their strategy is not product-oriented, but rather entertainment-oriented, with subtle nods to their app that many of their users find humorous and relatable. Of the many viral TikTok brands that we’ve seen, this one stands out because of its understanding of Gen Z humor.
@duolingo plastic girlies plz rise #Duolingo #DuaLipa #LoveIsland #imhot #comedy #trend #Dulapeep #emo
Read the full breakdown of Duolingo’s success here.
Taco Bell
- Followers: 1.9M
- Average Likes Per Post: 66.4K
- Average Comments Per Post: 1.2K
- Engagement Rate: 3.5%
This brand is a household name., but recognition isn’t always a plus on TikTok. For bigger brands, it might be harder to gain traction on TikTok as they have an established corporate image in the eyes of many younger users. Taco Bell, however, utilizes pop culture and user-generated content.
For example, Doja Cat released a TikTok where she made a song to bring back the Mexican pizza. Taco Bell reacted by bringing it back and partnering with Doja Cat.
@dojacat All this time being a #TacoBellPartner was worth it for this moment 🥲 Finally got my mexicanpizza. Thanks @tacobell
If you want to learn more about the top brand collabs that just make sense, click here
Guess
- Followers: 111.9K
- Average Likes Per Post: 2.4K
- Average Comments Per Post: 14
- Engagement Rate: 2.11%
From high schoolers to college students, Guess clothing is a pretty recognizable name. But this brand should be known by marketers too for their use of TikTok to garner attention.
Their #InMyDenim campaign was where they made huge gains. This challenge involved people changing from their old and worn clothes to new Guess clothing and finding confidence. They then created another campaign called, “LoveGuess” to drive more content and interest. This campaign, like #InMyDenim, prompted users to show off their Guess stylings.
@ourfire Don’t you wish getting ready was this easy? 😂❤️🔥 #inmydenim #sponsored @guess
