Okay, we admit that we’ve been ignoring the TikTok video creating and sharing app but we keep hearing about it and have to acknowledge its importance as a form of social media. In January 2020, TikTok was the most downloaded non-game app in the US with 7.7 million installs.
Most TikTok videos are up to 15 seconds long, though they can be as long as 60 seconds. Initially, the videos were focused on music (lip-syncing, dance moves), but now content creators are posting a wide variety of videos that highlight their talents and interests. The app has done particularly well during the coronavirus pandemic, as people stuck at home have turned to binge watching online content. Content creators like the easy to use video editing tools and access to the music library.
TikTok Users
According to Oberlo (May 2020), TikTok has 800 million active users worldwide, with 41% of users between ages 16-24 years old, and 1.5 billion downloads on the App Store and Google Play.
Hootsuite provided the following statistics:
- “According to TikTok, there are 30 million monthly active users in the U.S.
- With 46 million app installs last year, the United States accounted for six percent of global downloads
- American users spend an average of 46 minutes a day on the app, totalling 37 billion video views a month.
- 34% of daily active users in the U.S. record videos on a daily basis
- TikTok’s biggest age group in the US is 18-24 year olds, which account for 42%. That’s followed by 13-17 year olds at 27%.
- In the U.S. 13-26 year olds are as likely to use TikTok as Facebook and Twitter
- Approximately 60% of users in the U.S. are female, versus 40% male”
The user base skews younger (teenager) and female. Like other social media platforms, TikTok has influencers with millions of followers.
Opportunity for Brands
There are several ways that brands can take advantage of TikTok’s popularity, including:
- Issue hashtag challenges. These are popular with TikTok users. If your brand has lacks a strong TikTok following, work with an influencer to get the challenge going. Ask your younger employees for help. For example, Farmhouse Frozen Yogurt’s 16-year old employee made a TikTok video about the shop that went viral. The video made by their employee, kasey.caela, has 26,600 likes.
- Engage with TikTok influencers and provide reasons for them to make videos that feature your brand (e.g., contest, promotion). You can directly ask influencers.
- Create your own TikTok channel and upload your own original videos.
- TikTok offers several types of ads, including a brand takeover ad, in-feed video ads (promoted videos), and branded lenses.
Is TikTok Worth the Effort?
The answer is it depends. If you manage to gain thousands or even millions of followers but your business doesn’t benefit, it’s not worth the effort. Look at your customer base and your target market. Are a lot of your customers teenage females? If yes, TikTok could be worth a try. If not, adopt a wait and see approach. The user base might change as more people choose to join TikTok. There’s also a fair amount of uncertainty as several countries including the US have threatened to ban the app and India has banned the app as of June 2020 because of its Chinese parent company.
Next, if you want to proceed, ask yourself if you can create content that will drive people to your shop. What might that be? Our 2019 National Frozen Yogurt Consumer Survey found that consumers would increase their froyo consumption if shops offered discounts, specific flavors they like & loyalty programs. In terms of what they’re looking for in a frozen yogurt shop, they care about the taste of the froyo, frozen yogurt quality, and shop cleanliness. Cleanliness has become even more important because of the coronavirus outbreak. Cleanliness can be seen by those watching a video, while something that looks appealing can signal taste and quality.
Interestingly, there are quite a few popular TikTok videos that show people making a cup of froyo with toppings. One from funny_fit at Menchie’s has over 220,000 likes. Another video from anabellefleur at Yogurtland has 83,700 likes. It’s unclear if these videos drive traffic to either shop, the respective chains or frozen yogurt shops in general.
For more about TikTok, we recommend Hootsuite’s comprehensive post. For tips on making TikTok videos that perform well, we recommend Later’s Ultimate Guide to TikTok Marketing.
