Read our latest blog from the digital team at Mostly Media…

TikTok has exploded.

Formerly known as musical.ly, TikTok burst on to the scene in 2017, filling the void left by the likes of ByteDance & Vine and has quickly accumulated 500 million active users.

In fact, it took Instagram 6 years from launch to register the same number of active users.  It took TikTok less than 3.

And this is seemingly all down to its unique version of online sharing and content creation – it’s funny, it’s cringey and it’s massively addictive.

Content creation is at the heart of the platform, allowing users to create and view short videos set to music or custom-made soundtracks which is perfect for widespread use, browsing and sharing.

With so many easy and accessible ways to create content, it’s no surprise that its user base has rocketed to the top of most app store charts.

‘Passively browsing’ has also been a term that is heavily linked to TikTok – scrolling and watching other users’ content without contributing, something that is often associated with Twitter.  If that trend sticks around, the platform might suit a more organic model adopting a values-based approach.

Nevertheless, TikTok launched a beta version of its paid ads platform in April 2019 but this is yet to set the world alight and it is still very much in its infancy.

There is, however, huge potential to utilise a platform with such a massive user base.  Before we get ahead of ourselves though, lets level things out and touch on two important points before you run to your marketing directors telling them TikTok is the next big opportunity…

Demographic – this a heavy Gen Z platform: 41% of users are aged between 16 – 24.  If that is the age demographic you are trying to reach, then it’s perfect but please don’t advertise dentures on TikTok.

Location – TikTok has large global reach. 150 million active daily users are based in China alone.  20 million active users in India.  10 million in Thailand.  The UK only has 6.7 million users, but out of a total audience of 6 million 16-24-year olds in the UK, that is a huge proportion of that age group who are active on TikTok…

Which is my point exactly – hitting the right audience is essential not just in terms of demographics but also location.

What Mostly Media think…

TikTok clearly has an abundance of untapped potential and huge global reach but that doesn’t mean you should assess its effectiveness any differently from all other digital channels & how they fit a client’s brief.

If you do choose to test paid campaigns across TikTok, tread very carefully; the paid ads platform on TikTok is relatively new and while this presents an excellent opportunity, campaign costs come at a premium that start at an average of £10 CPM, which is extremely high for a social media platform.

They also require a minimum investment of £500, so while we would always recommend a test and learn strategy, a £500 budget might not be a feasible starting point for all clients.

Many brands and agencies are now looking at TikTok as a way to share content and messaging with a broader audience by running their own channels and working with influencers.

For brands with smaller marketing budgets, there’s no better time to start experimenting and testing in the above ways to try and reach a 16-24 audience with fresh and engaging content.

For more info on anything TikTok related, get in touch with our digital experts at Mostly Media on 01225 302270.

Tom Marshall, Digital Media Manager