As of now, TikTok is currently the #1 most downloaded app on the Apple App Store. Since beating out applications such as Instagram and Twitter, the app has people wondering, is Tik Tok taking over the internet?

TikTok started back in 2017 by a company named ByteDance. This was after the owner of Musical.ly, another short video platform, integrated the app into the new TikTok. Now with almost 2.5 billion regular users, it’s surpassing Twitter, Snapchat and Whatsapp. 

So how have companies been taking advantage of this massive app? Influencer marketing. By targeting TikTok stars who have allocated millions of followers, companies have been able to reach the 16-24 age range that makes up 41% of the app. Below we’ll show you some great examples of this kind of marketing and how these companies have been successful in doing so.

1. Too Faced

Too Faced is a popular make-up brand selling anything from mascara to foundation. Recently, they released their new Damn Girl Mascara. To kick off their new product, they recruited TikTok Influencer Kristen Hancher. Hancher has about 23 million followers on the app and had around 200k likes on the paid ad. The ad shows Hancher’s bare face lip-syncing and then does an impressive transition into her wearing the Too Faced product. 

Along with that, she is also showcasing the product with her hands, and eventually between her lips. Because TikTok’s are too short to do an entire makeup tutorial, Hancher was creative to show the before and after effect of the product, giving fans a shortened version of a typical tutorial.

2. Guess “In My Denim”

Guess is a very popular clothing brand known mainly for their jeans. They took advantage of the continuously growing platform by recruiting many known influencers who in between all of them had around the same amount of followers as Kristen Hacher. The luxury jean brand distributed their ad content to reach many different types of audiences.

Similar to the Too Faced before and after the campaign, influencers would show themselves looking messy and rugged and then transition into the Guess Denim looking attractive and put together.

The difference between this campaign and Too Faced was the way it spread. After many influencers did this challenge, others followed and started giving Guess free exposure. You can pay influencers to advertise your product, but coming up with a fun and creative trend will allow you to gain more engagement and give yourself free advertisement. 

 Metrics gained from the campaign:

3. Universal Pictures

Before the release of The House with a Clock in its Walls in September 2018, Universal Pictures wanted to raise awareness of the film and get fans into the magical mood. This campaign was similar to Guess’ by recruiting many influencers with a large follower count. These influencers would showcase magic tricks that could be done within the set time frame, such as making cards and coins disappear. 

Recruiting many influencers for an ad campaign will help increase the chances of your ad turning’ into a trend. In Universal’s case, it worked very well having thousands of “magicians” coming onto the app to showcase their tricks hoping to become viral. 

 Metrics gained from campaign:

4. Red Bull

Red Bull did something different than all the other companies above. Instead of developing their own trend, they took on one that was already happening. TikTok is notorious for developing silly trends that people can easily join in on. This particular trend displayed one person pouring a drink into a cup, however,  it was someone’s mouth off camera.

By using a trend that was already gaining popularity, Red Bull saved the time and effort of trying to find one that would go viral. Using this technique allowed for Red Bull’s ad to be successful.

When developing a successful advertising campaign on TikTok, you need to remember your audience. The majority of users on TikTok is teens and young adults, so when picking influencers, you need to find ones that will relate to your specific target audience. Along with that, you need to create content that does not seem like an ad so users are not automatically turned off. By creating challenges and trends, you are able to have influencers make them popular, as long as you are gaining free advertisement.
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