How to take advantage of TikTok’s success thanks to influencers

TikTok is THE most popular social media platform of the last few years and so far, the most downloaded app in 2021. After being embraced by teenagers, the app became essential for a much wider audience. Today, for influencer marketing, TikTok is a mainstream media which makes plenty of influencers blossom. To conduct a successful marketing campaign, one must know some of the app’s functionalities.

According to a report published by App Annie, a specialized company in mobile data analytics, the average watch time on TikTok reached 21.5 hours per month and therefore overtook Facebook for the first time in January 2021. With a 325% increase in one year, the social network is in the midst of a growth phase and has not even reached its peak.

Moreover, a particular aspect proves its power: According to the same report, TikTok should be reaching 1.2 billion users worldwide this year. Why? It is simple: TikTok offers super creative video content which triggers the continuous desire to post, watch and share what the others do.

Who are the influencers on TikTok?

TikTok influencers are actually nothing different from those on  Instagram. Moreover, while the filters and all the creative features have a prominent place on Instagram, other elements make TikTok less formatted than its fellow apps. More colorful, funnier, today it is the trendiest social network and the other ones are trying to keep up with.  By comparing Instagram’s Reel format with TikTok’s interface you can easily convince yourself. As if that were not enough, users share TikTok content to their Instagram Stories.

How to get to work with TikTok influencers

TikTok is an actual playing field for influencing marketing campaigns. Between unsaid rules and free choices, one must find the right balance.

Rather prefer accounts that were first created on TikTok, even though they are successful elsewhere

Most of the time, the content that has been originally posted on TikTok has a major influence than that which landed there after having involved a large community elsewhere. This is not a general truth, but it can be interesting to see TikTok as a world of its own, with its own stars.

Find appropriate hashtags

Hashtags shall simply define your campaign, that’s why it is important to think about them as short slogans. The brand Veet France has recently chose the hashtag #Étéliberté (literally “Summer freedom”) to celebrate the end of lockdown through influencers and Lipton France has shared the hashtag #LiptonGénérationTri (literally “Lipton waste sorting generation”) to promote its recycled plastic bottle.

Do not focus only on the macro-influencers

Betting on an account with millions of followers is obviously a guarantee of visibility. Though this kind of visibility can be superficial, it does not always make people feel involved and doesn’t always determine the success of your campaign. Niche nano and micro influencers represent an opportunity to promote products of many sectors among a more attentive community, which is closer to the TikTok account you collaborate with.

Give influencers a certain amount of freedom

Especially on TikTok, it is essential to be creatively free. If you want your influencer campaign to be successful, let the influencers freely create their videos. This does not mean that you are not allowed to define the topic with them, though let them express their true selves and involve their communities by sharing genuine creative content.

Be trendy, stay genuine

Topics that aim at bringing about change, such as the fight against climate change, have to be used carefully on TikTok and other platforms. You really do not want to be involved in greenwashing or be seen as an opportunist! First of all, you need to offer a real product or solution in order to collaborate with the right influencers who try to stay true to themselves and to keep bonding with their communities. 

TikTok is a phenomenon that is no longer limited to one category of people. Even though the app primarily benefits teenagers and young adults, TikTok’s content is the result of creativity, humor, sensitiveness and can involve everyone. That’s good news for an influencer campaign!

Use an influencer marketing platform like Octoly to guide you through your campaigns, from briefing to results analysis and to connect you to the TikTok influencers that match your brand!

Partnering with an influencer platform like Octoly connects you to a community of over 40k carefully selected influencers who meet your needs thanks to our targeting criteria. 

To ensure that the influencer talks about your product, a credit system is set up on the platform and guarantees an authentic review of your product in exchange for sending it.

Finally, Octoly offers to take care of the shipping of your products at real cost as well as personalization options to strengthen your relationship with your influencers! 

Sources: 

— App Annie, Report The State of Mobile 2021

https://www.appannie.com/en/go/state-of-mobile-2021/