If we take a brief look back in time, you may remember getting lost in a short video app called Vine – ring any bells? If you haven’t heard of it then keep reading… there’s a lot to catch up on!
Vine was the bee’s knees before Instagram really took off. Its successful, but short time in the social media spotlight can be attributed to the need for its users to get creative within the limited time constraints of the video content on app.
Vine eventually died down in 2016, but it seems that a new video app, TikTok, has stepped up in its place.
TikTok is a Chinese social media network created by its parent company ByteDance which merged with Musical.ly in 2018. This short video social network has taken the world by storm with more than 1.5 billion users to date – even surpassing apps like Instagram, Facebook and Messenger in the number of downloads in the month of November 2019.
Flicking through the app you’ll find an array of entertaining content from lip-syncing videos, parodies and hashtag challenges – the most popular of these tend to be viral sensations shared across a range of other social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The user base for TikTok is dominated by Gen Z, with 60% of users aged between 16-24, meaning marketing should appeal to younger people when targeting users of the app. What usually goes down well is content that is comical, entertaining and ultimately relatable to Gen Z.
Although fully self-serviced advertising isn’t currently available for TikTok, brands have been interacting with its users by using hashtag challenges. One example in particular was the Guess #InMyDenim hashtag challenge during the early days of the platform which got people talking about the brand by encouraging shoppers to show off their styling and fashion looks online.
For many marketeers, TikTok is still treated with caution because a new platform with less vetting time may be a little too risky to dive right in. Some may be testing the waters, but for now TikTok remains the app to watch as it’s set to grow steadily in 2020.
Our consumer lifestyle PR team specialises in connecting everyday brands with everyday people across four core sectors; Consumer Lifestyle PR, Food PR, Retail PR and Sport, Health & Wellbeing PR. More information on these areas of knowledge can be found at www.escapadepr.com/about-us.
