TikTok as a Marketing platform
I was strolling in the central park of Delhi when i saw gathering of a crowd. Feeling amazed and curious, I tried sneaking in (I am not as tall as you guys, so i have to make my way!). I thought i would be lucky to catch a Bollywood movie shooting in Delhi!
There was a group of guys who were the center of attention. One guy holding the camera and giving instructions to the other 2 group members. The camera guy was a bit agitated as he complained that the other 2 were not paying heed to the music and had not given the ideal final cut for the video. After scores of retakes, the 3 of them had smiles on their faces and even though the crowd had gathered around them, the 3 just waved to the crowd and slipped out into oblivion! My first reaction was “What was that?” Did i just get a glimpse of celebrities that i didn’t know about?
But hey, welcome to the world of TikTok. The world where mini-celebrities (read Tier 2 and Tier 3 city celebrities) create a mark for themselves!
Not a long time ago, I prepared for Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinations. I was a bit overaged at 29 for a UPSC coaching classroom that boasted of 21-25 years old. Not just age, but even the city of dwelling and upbringing made the classroom a bit alien for me. To make things simpler, the majority of the were boys and girls from non-metropolitan cities of India like Allahabad, Farrukhabad, Udaipur, etc. while i was born and brought up in Delhi. So, I should have been superior to them in knowledge and wisdom, right? Well, that is what i thought!
In the days to come and subsequent classes, i was struggling to keep abreast with the knowledge and intellect that the non-metropolitan bred guys and girls boasted of! The 2 years of preparation for UPSC (touted as the world’s toughest examination with 1 million applications and 1000 people selected) was a great learning process for me not only due to the books and notebooks but also from real life experiences.
One of the biggest learnings from the preparation days was that India has a huge talent based out of its hinterland that can give the urban guys a run for their money. This talent is not just restricted to UPSC or state level PCS examinations but is relevant to Bollywood, dance, singing, etc. I realised that while living in urban areas, we tend to feel a sense of pride (which is not wrong) but we tread the wrong path in thinking that people who are living elsewhere in India, especially those living in non-metropolitan cities are not as talented!
This realisation came to life once again when i saw the group of 3 guys perform a seemingly stupid skit of sorts for a TikTok video! Though, it cannot be denied that the content on TikTok is not that great but if you dig deeper, the content aint’ that bad either if you follow the relevant TikTok ids. A mason might teach you how to dance like Hrithik Roshan or a girl living in Jalandhar might give you serious relationship lessons!
However, keeping aside the content on TikTok, there are other things to consider while evaluating TikTok.
Content perspective- You may think that TikTok is crappy when it comes to content but it has loads of sponsored posts and a variety of influencers in the travel, lifestyle, dance, daily motivation domains too.
Marketing perspective- We shall explore this perspective in depth in the coming sections however, all i can say right now is that TikTok has carefully fulfilled the aspirations of the Mobile-penetrated and talented yet less-popular citizens of India.
TikTok Marketing
It is a given that TikTok is Youtube on steroids but there is a marketing angle of TikTok that Marketers are finding hard to ignore.
TikTok boasts of 750 million downloads in the last 12 months as I am writing this blog. This figure is more than Facebook plus Instagram and WhatsApp, put together!
Learn more about how to tap Tiktok as a platform: https://socialbuzz.org.in/tiktok/
As we can see, the App has a strong foothold in Asia, specifically South east asia and East Asia. Mind you, India is fast catching up with the trend!
The above graph shows that TikTok leaves many popular mobile apps that boast of a more-positive brand recall behind it.
Q1 of year 2019 has been amazing for TikTok as it has an astounding 188 million new users and growing 70% from Q1, 2018! Very few apps can beat this figure!
As a prudent marketer, you wish to be present where your relevant Target Group is present. I know from experience that brands need a presence on a platform due to the demographical considerations. With teens and men ruling the roost, TikTok is the Go-to platform for many brands.
If the above stats are good enough for you to consider TikTok as a marketing platform, here are some more things that you may consider:
The above stat just means that if you have an idea of an Anthem or a music clip or a funny thing to do, you will grab the eyeballs of millions of TikTok in lesser effort!
Conclusion
In a nutshell, as a Brand evangelist, we need to open our minds and excel sheets to the platforms that are causing a flurry among the online community across the globe! Facebook Marketing, etc are by gone, now TikTok is emerging as a more penetrative mode of popular social media apps and as a sharp marketing brain, at least I cant afford to ignore the winds of change!
Can you?
Source of inspiration:
- https://www.businessofapps.com/data/tik-tok-statistics/
- https://www.oberlo.in/blog/tiktok-statistics
- https://www.economist.com/business/2019/11/07/tiktoks-silly-clips-raise-some-serious-questions
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