Why TikTok Influencers Are Trending and What You Need To Know About Influencer Marketing Best Practices
With Covid-19 confining the world to their homes, entertainment has become the main focus of many. Who would have thought that an app for teenagers focusing on 30-second video clips would have such a grip on the world? I t is during this period that TikTok became the most downloaded app surpassing Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube. As of October 2020, TikTok has over 800million users worldwide.
That is a huge figure and a marketers’ dream. As a marketer, the thought of adding another social media platform to your marketbusinesstech delivery channels may seem daunting, but considering creating a strategy to be on TikTok is a no brainer. Not only does this app have a large engaging user base, but it has a unique algorithm for surfacing content, your chances of having a video go viral are extremely high, and at the very least you can easily get your content in front of a new audience.
TikTok has gained significant traction since its founding but has truly come into its own in 2020. While the social media platform was known as a music and dance video app for teenagers, it has attracted plenty of adults and brands. This has caught the attention of businesses and some now using TikTok for sales and targeted lead generation
Why TikTok Is Dominating the Social Media Game?
People are falling in love with TikTok for several reasons. First, it provides a different and unique form of content as compared to the existing leading social media platforms; while most platforms include video as an option, TikTok is solely video-based. Captions tend to be short and sometimes left out altogether.
Unlike YouTube, which is also video-based, TikTok is designed solely for mobile devices, and the clips are short bursts of action rather than longer, drawn-out videos. This is a game-changer because users don’t have time for backstories or the time to sit through hours of content. Another big advantage of TikTok is that the content created is meant for sharing, and the masterstroke of this sharing is, content can be shared across multiple channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram & WhatsApp.
This means the content is shared with anyone who wants to see it, for the most part. So content from TikTok will eventually find its way to the bigger platforms resulting in higher reach to people not even on TikTok. This in itself is the reason why TikTok is on the path to social thetechboy dominance.
1- Influencers Are Huge On TikTok
In no time influencers began to surface on TikTok, and influencer marketing has gained significant traction. The convenient mobile-native nature of TikTok, coupled with its creative small yet digestible bite-sized content are elements that have led to the platform’s colossal success in recent times. Given the fact that there are more mobile devices in existence than humans and videos are now consumers’ favourite content medium, TikTok has certainly given us a glimpse into the future of social media.
And, its ever-expanding global uptake makes it the ideal playground for influencer marketing. Younger consumers, particularly those belonging to the Gen Z tribe are early adopters of TikTok and are very impressionable hence the growing number of micro-influencers now active on the platform. It seems very likely that young digital natives are migrating away from the celebrity social media influencers’ in favour of micro-influencers who have interests and outlooks more closely aligned with their own.
Due to TikTok’s far-reaching nature, influencers are finding that TikTok is the perfect platform for them to grow their following and connect with new people than ever before. Because of the platforms feature to link users’ bios to their YouTube channels or Instagram accounts, it makes it easier for influencers who already have a presence and following on these platforms to direct people who find them on TikTok back to their other content.
2- You Can Quickly Become Popular on TikTok
Unlike most social media platforms, you don’t have to spend years on TikTok before you grow a substantial following. In fact, due to the way the algorithm works, you can get your videos in front of the people who are aligned with the type of content you produce.
The algorithm shows people videos that they’re probably going to like based on many factors, including videos they’ve liked in the past, hashtags they follow and videos they share, to mention but a few.
3- You Can Create an Authentic Connection with Your Audience
Influencers have gained popularity on TikTok because they’re able to create an organic connection with the people who follow them or view their videos. The more people feel connected to a content producer, the more likely they are to have trust in them.
Influencers can build up trust on TikTok, this trust also transcends to the brands the influencer uses in their videos. The result is that their followers will form a bond with the brands and products they view in these videos. This is why TikTok influencer marketing is a great marketing tool and a worthwhile investment.
Once influencers introduce your brand to their followers, that audience is going to be far more likely to trust you and want to be associated with your brand. The likely outcome is this audience will follow you, and be eager to learn more about your product.
Influencer marketing has not yet reached maturity on TikTok, but it’s only a matter of time for it to reach new heights. As Gen Z matures, is well placed as an early adopter of influencer marketing on TikTok will defiantly pay dividends and help you expand your reach to this very important demography. There will come a time when those who are well placed be able to connect with a larger audience in a way that is highly targeted, relevant and value-driven.