Influencer marketing campaigns have been increasing in terms of success over recent years, bringing with it the development of new social media strategies like TikTok marketing. Flawlessly targeting the Gen-Z demographic, the Beijing-based social platform has quickly become one of the fastest-growing social media sites in the world. In just three short years, TikTok went from a modestly-popular app overseas to a platform that has gained over 500 million active users.
As if that’s not enough to pique your interest, TikTok is expected to continue growing in the coming years. In turn, brands may look to use TikTok to increase product and brand awareness. Many already have, partnering with TikTok influencers to drive ROI and build a presence on the growing platform.
As TikTok continues its rapid ascent up the download charts and into the hearts of millions around the world, new influencer marketing opportunities are presenting themselves seemingly by the minute. In this post, we’ve taken the opportunity to detail some of the most important factors to consider with TikTok influencer marketing. These insights should help your brand by providing knowledge that either sparks your interest in activating an influencer or optimizes your current TikTok marketing efforts to bring them to the next level. Here’s how to amplify your TikTok marketing campaign, and 3 strategies to boost ROI. Let’s get to it!
3 Strategies To Boost ROI
Much like that of other social media apps, the ROI on TikTok isn’t always isolated to just dollars and cents. Brand awareness and engagement are just as relevant as sales and direct revenue when it comes to assessing the true ROI of an influencer campaign on TikTok. The platform is also now arguably the top app to advertise on for brands looking to reach a younger demographic and perhaps one that you’re not reaching on other social platforms. When discussing the platform with The Verge, musical sensation Lil’ Nas X – whose song ‘Old Town Road’ broke Billboard records and was popularized in large part due to its fame on TikTok – stated that, “TikTok brought my song to several different audiences at once.”
The primary metrics to gauge ROI on TikTok are awareness and engagement. While the bottom line is always important and is top of mind for every brand, metrics like awareness and engagement are very often indicators of brand loyalty. And when a consumer develops loyalty to a brand, it leads to eventual, often recurring sales.
However, we realize brands need a little bit of both when it comes to justifying their marketing spend. That’s why we compiled 3 strategies to boost the ROI of your TikTok campaign. These strategies will not only help to amplify the metrics like engagement and awareness we mentioned; but also help to boost the financially-specific ROI goals of your brand’s marketing efforts.
1. Focus on Creative Content
During its inception, TikTok was most known for its trendy dance routines and often cringe-worthy lip syncs. But the platform has evolved into something much more than that in recent years. These days, TikTok content is built on memes, hashtag challenges, and trending music or videos. TikTok is, in some ways, the perfect platform for expressing boundless creativity.
The bar has been set high in terms of creativity on the platform. With TikTok’s elaborate toolbox of video editing tools and filters, creators are always looking for ways to be different and bring something truly unique to the platform. So brands hoping to maximize the potential of their TikTok marketing should look to create exceptionally creative content.
For example, brands can create and share their own funny memes that introduce the company’s product or service. They can even participate in or create their very own hashtag challenge, or perhaps compose a catchy song or brand jingle. Much like it is on other social media platforms, creative content produces more views and engagement than less creative content. Brands aiming to target new audiences and build brand recognition should prioritize investing in influencer marketing on TikTok.
2. Build Brand Engagement by Utilizing User-Generated Content
Authenticity is a trait that has proven valuable on nearly every social platform. But TikTok in particular highly encourages its users to be themselves and share real, organic content. As a result, TikTok produces endless amounts of authentic user-generated content (UGC).
Brands looking to target young consumers, like TikTok’s core demographic, have to know how Gen-Z and millennials value authenticity almost above all. In fact, 83% of Gen-Z consumers value recommendations from product users more than those of brand advertisements. If your brand is aiming for authenticity – and to be more relatable to the younger demographic you are targeting through your TikTok campaigns – UGC can be a very beneficial strategy to achieve this goal.
Frito-Lay ran a very creative UGC driven TikTok campaign when they launched their ‘Smile Deke Dekho Duet’ challenge.
3. Incorporate Purchase Links into Your Influencer Content on TikTok
TikTok began testing the app’s shopping links late last year. The experimental new feature will currently allow brands and businesses to insert shopping links into their video posts, where consumers can then make purchases directly through the app. Also, both brands and TikTok users have the ability to include a URL in their profile on the homepage.
TikTok marketing in many ways is still in its infancy. The platform is still in the early stages of developing and implementing new features. However, we already know that similar features are already available on other social platforms like Instagram, and have proven extremely effective in guiding customers through the sales funnel and purchase process. As the shoppable link feature continues to expand and evolve, brands can look to utilize it to monetize posts created on their account; specifically, the content produced by influencers on behalf of the brand.
Final Thoughts
As if we haven’t highlighted it enough in recent weeks, its clear to see that TikTok offers promising opportunities for brands in their digital marketing efforts. You don’t have a massive advertising budget or an in-house content studio, because often the best opportunities to promote your brand on social media comes in the form of UGC. Incorporating TikTok into your digital content strategy right now allows you to get a leg up on your competition. So what are you waiting for?
