Yes, it’s time to hop on the TikTok bandwagon.
TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms around, and it has the potential to unlock so many opportunities for your brand – if used right. From being seen by your target audience and generating conversations with them to creating an active online community that will support your brand, the benefits of this ever-growing video app can be monumental.
But, how can you make the most out of TikTok and stand out from the crowd? We’ve curated a round-up of different tips and tricks to help you utilise the platform, as well as provide insight into how major brands are taking advantage of its perks:
What is a TikTok Trend?
First, you need to be able to identify a TikTok trend. It can literally be anything, whether it be a hashtag, sound, challenge or dance. Even how you edit your posts can become trends, for example, using certain filters or transitions. And once a trend starts to generate popularity, TikTok users “hop on it” by recreating these themes or videos.
Note that there is no real difference when it comes to TikTok trends for creators and businesses. Any trend that arises is fair game for whatever type of user you are, and businesses and brands often adapt certain trends made by creators.
In fact, trends were made to be modified, as you’ll notice when you scroll through the app. You’ll find you can always identify a trend, whether the videos are different or not. And it’s the recreation of these trends that offer the most benefits, as they are often rewarded by the algorithm for shattering conventions.
Advertising on TikTok is Not Slowing Down
Hootsuite’s 2022 Digital Trends Report showed that internet users aged 16 to 64 spend 2 hours and 27 minutes on social media, on average. That’s a lot of screen time you could be using to your advantage, advertisement-wise.
And the media company Kantar found that ads on TikTok are “seen as more inspiring, trendsetting and enjoyable than on other platforms.” For example, 21% of the people surveyed said that they found TikTok ads to be more trendsetting than those on other social media platforms. Which means businesses, entrepreneurs and brands can capitalise on this popularity by – you guessed it – hopping on the trends. So, by creating an ad that blends in with current trends, you’ll have more of a chance of being noticed by the masses.
Look Out For Trends That Centre Around Current Events
One of the major TikTok trend types is hot topics. This means trends that are based on current, popular events. For example, cast your mind back to the day after the Super Bowl, when TikTokkers took to the platform to reenact the performance by The Weeknd. This is a perfect example of a current event taking on a new life form within social media.
In order to incorporate a current event trend into your marketing strategy, you need to make sure it reflects your values, brand, and aim as a business. Don’t try and jump on a trend for the sake of it that has nothing to do with your product or service, as users will see right through it.
Check the TikTok Discover Page
This trend type involves already active trends that you come across on your Discover page within the app. TikTok updates these daily, and they include sounds, effects, hashtags, and branded trends that have been paid for by businesses. Whatever the trend, you can find out how many videos have been recreated based on the original. So, it might be a good idea to focus on the videos with the highest number of adaptations (again, make sure it can relate to your brand in some way) and create your own recreation using your products or service.
You can regularly check the Discover page by tapping on the magnifying glass button at the bottom of your screen. But as beneficial to your business as these trends may be, take note that they will only remain popular for around three to four more days, due to them already being extremely prominent. So, if you are going to utilise one of these trends, be sure to act quickly, otherwise, users will be moving on to the next thing.
Prioritise Use of Sounds
For TikTok, the use of sound is undeniably important, and 88% of users have confirmed that it plays an integral part in their overall experience on the app. This appeared on the platform’s ‘What’s Next’ report, which also revealed that sounds increased video view rates in 2021 on the ‘For You’ page by 47% compared to hashtags.
And it was also discovered (by Invideo’s TikTok Brand Marketing Report) that 80% of the app’s top videos featured music in some way. Top tip: upbeat music took the crown when it came to video popularity.
So, when creating marketing videos for TikTok, you should ensure that you prioritise using the right sounds to increase your presence on the platform.
Be Able to Spot Up and Coming Trends
This trend type can be a bit trickier to spot than the already active trends, especially with attention-span time decreasing. For example, back in the day, trends would last around a week to ten days, but now, it’s only between three and five before people get fed up of viewing variations of them on their ‘For You’ page. Which means you have less time to identify them and recreate them.
However, once you know how it can be relatively easy to do, and they have the potential for huge marketing growth.
So, how do you spot them? Every user’s ‘For You’ page is different, as the videos recommended are curated based on the type of content they engage with and watch. If your engagement is mainly on small businesses, your ‘For You’ page will mirror that. But in order to spot early trends on a larger scale to benefit your brand, you need to be able to find out what’s about to be hot on a wider scale.
You can do this by creating a new TikTok account where you don’t post anything or engage with any videos. Purely neutral, this account will generate the most popular content on the whole of the app – much more than you’d see on your tailored ‘For You’ page.
Spend time daily scrolling through this section trying to identify any repeating bits of content, whether it be music, text or actions. If you hear a sound that doesn’t look like it’s been picked up yet, or you notice a theme that’s generated a few lip-syncing videos, tap on the sound at the bottom of the content. You’ll be able to view the original date it was posted, along with other videos that use the same sound, ranked by popularity.
Brands That Use TikTok Well
Now you’re in the know when it comes to scoping out trends and how to react to them, you might want to take a look at some of the biggest brands that really know how to make the most out of TikTok. From launching their own trends to partnering with influencers, the below brands have all achieved extreme success from working with the app.
ASOS
Along with its agency, Byte, ASOS took advantage of one of TikTok’s most successful branded solutions, a Branded Hashtag Challenge Plus. Byte planned the hugely profitable #AySauceChallenge, which asked their community to “channel their ASOS vibe”. The challenge invited them to show off their three favourite outfits in the form of outfit changes over a course of three weeks. All videos were set to custom music with the help of an interactive augmented reality – TikTok For Business’ Branded Effect.
@lorengray all of the sauce ✌🏻🌶️ #AySauceChallenge #ASOS #Ad ♬ Ay Sauce – Cashino
The campaign went viral and recorded more than 1.2 billion video views globally in only six days. There were also 167,000 TikTok users that took part, leading to 488,000 videos being created overall.
Gymshark
Gymshark, the fitness apparel and accessories brand partnered with TikTok influencers to enhance their digital reach. They launched the highly successful ‘66 Days | Change Your Life’ challenge, which saw them collaborate with six major fitness and dance influencer accounts to promote the campaign.
@kimterstege It’s the glow up for me 👀✨ @gymshark #gymshark66 #weightloss #girlswholift #gymshark #gymsharmwomen ♬ This to this – <3
The influencers posted related videos to the campaign on their TikTok accounts, which collectively targeted 19.8 million users. The videos received almost 2 million likes, and more than 12,000 comments and Gymshark’s hashtag garnered over 45.5 million views.
Lounge Underwear
Lounge Underwear used TikTok’s ad format, Spark Ads to help them generate more sales on Black Friday. The format combines targeted algorithm efficiencies with deep user engagement to boost organic videos created by a brand or a creator, straight from their profile.
@miakaysa @Lounge is dropping their Black Friday sale🔥 don’t miss out!🖤 #loungeunderwear ♬ original sound – Ian Asher
Viewed as either a TopView or In-Feed Ad, the format sends users to an external link, and in this case, it was Lounge Underwear’s site. Users can also follow the brand or creator by clicking on the + button or swiping left to view their profile.
Tap into TikTok to Take Your Brand to the Next Level
There is so much evidence proving that TikTok can massively elevate a brand’s success. In a world where social media and the internet are more influential than ever, it would be silly to not invest your time into developing marketing techniques that tap into this ever-evolving area.
So, by utilising TikTok trends and diving headfirst into this goldmine of opportunity, you can really take your brand to the next level.
