TikTok has gained a lot of attention in the news and the social media scene in 2020. Today, it’s proven itself to be more than just a fad. With more than 91 million monthly active users in the US, TikTok is a platform that brands can’t afford to ignore.
“From driving larger brand moments through reserve buys to maintaining the conversation with in-feed auction placements, TikTok has expanded our clients' paid digital reach—especially with the ability to tap into an emerging consumer base that has a significant influence on its households’ shopping behavior. Paid activations on TikTok have allowed our clients at Code3 to not only take part in existing moments or tap into niche communities on the platform but also create those moments themselves and build communities around their brands.”
– Celia Rudd, Team Lead, Media at Code3
What Makes TikTok a Unique Marketing Channel?
TikTok is highly effective at generating engagement with an audience. As such, it’s great for both building awareness at the top of the funnel and driving sales at the bottom of the funnel. Moreover, niche communities on the platform make it easy to target your content and build relationships by providing value with an always-on strategy. Not to mention, the full-screen, immersive experience means that you can capture the audience’s attention without distractions.
TikTok as an Advertising Platform in 2021: What to Expect
TikTok is gearing up to make a major play in eCommerce as brands adapt to consumers’ changing shopping behaviors after 2020. In particular, shoppers are making more impulse purchases, and social commerce on TikTok offers the perfect landscape to capitalize on this trend.
Brands can leverage TikTok’s growing commerce capabilities, such as dynamic product ad units, commission-based product links, and shoppable live streams to compress the buyer’s journey from discovery to purchase. Brands can further facilitate this experience by collaborating with influencers and sharing user-generated content.
Meanwhile, you can expect more tracking, analytics, and advanced matching capabilities to help you gather more metrics so you can fine-tune your strategy, content, and targeting.
Strategic Considerations for Advertisers and Digital Marketers Using TikTok
TikTok is providing brands with access to the most engaged audiences in a new media ecosystem. Besides reaching a sizable audience, you can also use the app for research and planning. For example, find out what topics and trends consumers are engaging with and apply them to your broader strategy.
Just like on any advertising platform, you need to tailor your content to meet the audience where it’s at. For instance, users come to TikTok to decompress from day-to-day life and express their individuality or opinions, so you should adapt your tactics to meet their needs.
Furthermore, you can tap into TikTok’s highly engaged audience to uncover more opportunities for making connections with your market. Your content should behave and operate as an ad on the backend but be loved like native content on the frontend.
Using TikTok in Today’s Shifting Media Landscape
Advertisers using TikTok must consider the upcoming iOS14 update that is set to disrupt the digital advertising ecosystem due to the revised approach to privacy. It will challenge targeting and measurement on TikTok and other social media platforms.
It’s more important now than ever to partner with experts who have in-depth strategic knowledge about this platform so you can remain relevant and win on the channel. Here at Code3, our team has helped major brands navigate the issues of effectiveness and measurement among updates like this on both new and established platforms.
Get in touch to see how we can help you get ahead on TikTok in 2021.
