The past couple of years have seen the rise of a brand new social media platform that’s been adopted mainly by the younger generations, and while plenty of people were waiting for the platform’s popularity to dial down, with over a billion downloads to date, and millions of active monthly users around the world, it managed to climb all the charts and become one of the largest social media platforms on the globe.
Of course, the platform in question is TikTok, which has created an amazing strategy in drawing users immediately after they register or open the app on their phones. The platform has an AI algorithm that shows its users videos based on their own preferences, which guarantees that brands’ videos are going to reach the target audience. This is one of the main distinctions that TikTok has created over other platforms, and has become a powerful public relations platform.
TikTok has grown so much in such a short period that it’s made other platforms implement some of the app’s features into their own ones, which just goes to show the prevalence in its popularity and use.
5WPR Insights
What is TikTok, and how is it used?
Although plenty of people have heard about this social media platform, not many people have a deep understanding of what it can do. Essentially, this platform is a smaller version of YouTube videos because, on the platform, the videos can range in duration between 5 and 60 seconds. TikTok has plenty of effects and filters that allow users to create interesting short-form video content and a large music library to accompany those videos.
TikTok and Public Relations
For brands looking to reach a younger audience, this platform is essential, even though it’s not the only option available.
Companies can create branded hashtags that will encourage the platform’s users to create their own videos using those hashtags. An excellent benefit of this feature is that the videos using these hashtags are also available in the Trending section in the Discover tab, which means a larger number of people can see and engage with them.
A great example of a branded hashtag campaign that spread rapidly on the app was Pepsi’s #SwagStepChallenge, which became the fastest hashtag challenge to reach one million videos created by users worldwide.
Features for Brands
Companies can partner with TikTok and create 2D or 3D lenses where users can try them out and share them with their own audiences. This allows the companies to stay in the popular Trending section for up to ten days. Another way for brands to incorporate TikTok into their PR campaigns is by partnering with TikTok influencers, who can create and share sponsored content with their audiences.
For example, one of the most popular social media influencers, David Dobrik, partnered with Chipotle to promote the Lid Flip Challenge for Cinco de Mayo, to promote the company’s free delivery for digital orders. In the first week of the campaign’s launch, over 100,000 videos were submitted to the campaign, and this promotion broke the record for the most digital sales for the company.