What oxygen is to humans, social media is to brands! Social media has become a necessity for both small businesses and multinational companies. Social media platforms help businesses connect with customers, increase brand awareness, and also give a huge boost to sales. The best way to increase sales is to engage with customers. Social media brings forward creative ways to engage potential customers, be it through a quick engagement session via Instagram stories or by making short promotional videos on TikTok.
TikTok is a video sharing social networking site owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. It is used to create short dance, lip-sync, comedy, and talent videos. It’s a bite-size version of YouTube, with videos ranging between 5-60 seconds in length. Tracks on TikTok have high meme potential and it’s made the app a hit in a unique manner. #Challenges on TikTok are great because of the amount of engagement that they can create.
We see that Gen-Z has started using TikTok as a platform to show their creative side. TikTok has established itself as an app for young adults with more than 500 million monthly active users.
Is TikTok really a big thing for Brands Now?
A few big brands have also used TikTok to create brand awareness. It is quirky by nature and brands need to think outside the box to gain the attention of their users. The big brands are using it to engage their younger audiences and they want to display their lighter side through funny videos and trending challenges.
One such big brand is Chipotle- A Mexican restaurant chain that has 539k followers on TikTok. They publish a variety of posts that use memes and other references to highlight the dishes on their menu. For example, On National Avocado Day, the company nailed a popular meme reference by posting The Guacamole Song’s music video with caption #TWF guac is free.
Even brands with established marketing platforms like Myntra, Zara, Snapdeal, Dharma Production, Hungama Music, etc have also deployed TikTok as a social media vehicle. One company that has been highly successful in its campaign is ‘Pepsi’.
Pepsi’s summer campaign “Har Ghoot Mei Swag”, was extensively advertised, first on YouTube and then on other social platforms.
On TikTok, Pepsi ran #SwagStepChallenge where it invited users to share their ‘swag step’. It generated 6 billion views in 6 days, which makes it the most successful brand campaign on TikTok.
As described above, two big brands have been successful in marketing their products on TikTok. However, since TikTok is such a young app, many brands are probably still contemplating if it is a suitable social media match for their target audience.
Youtube V/s TikTok
CarryMinati, one of the biggest YouTuber with around 17 million subscribers, recently posted a video on YouTube titled “YouTube v/s TikTok: The End” where he was roasting a popular TikTok user.
The video had over 78 million views and it gave a glimpse of the ongoing rivalry between the content makers of the two most popular social media platforms. The video attempted at undermining the credibility of TikTokers in an unscrupulous manner. The video went viral within no time.
The video was, however, taken down by YouTube on the grounds of harassment and abusive language.
After this, a Twitter storm erupted, demanding justice for Carryminati, and banning TikTok. On Twitter, all his fans came out in support by posting under hashtags like #JusticeForCarry #BanTikTokIndia, etc.
Post this, a major influx of cyber bullying cases led to many Indians calling out the app and favouring the ban of Tiktok. As a result, Google Play ranking of the app came down to 1.3 stars from 4.5 (out of 5) while YouTube continues to be rated at 4.1. (Question: If you were a part of the marketing team of TikTok, what steps would you have taken to revive the tarnished image of the app? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.)
Not a smooth Journey So Far.
TikTok has had its fair share of legal battles such as the petition filed by a city-based woman, Heena Darvesh, claiming that the app had resulted in several criminal offenses and deaths. Some cases have been registered against people for posting videos on TikTok inciting violence and promoting enmity between various religious groups. The Madras High Court also passed an order prohibiting the use of TikTok since the app hosted inappropriate content including pornography, which is available for access even to children.TikTok ,however, sought dismissal of the plea seeking to ban the app at Bombay High Court and claimed that there was a specific procedure laid down under the Information Technology Act to filter out any objectionable content online and thus banning the app outright would not be justified.
The Apex court, ultimately, ruled in it’s favour and lifted the ban on the app.
After a 20-day download ban, TikTok began a campaign on its platform called #ReturnOfTikTok. The hashtag got a zealous response by getting a billion views.
TikTok has emerged as India’s breakout app. India accounted for 44% of 2019’s total app downloads – a 27% increase from 2018.
According to me YouTube and TikTok both have their pros and cons.
- Internet and social media are reducing our attention span. The attention span required for YouTube is 5-10 minutes but the attention span required for TikTok is hardly 10-15 seconds. Our attention span has become so less that we want something entertaining every second.
- TikTok is extremely addicting and passive. One just needs to keep scrolling down, there are no actions required from your end since the videos keep changing every 15 seconds.
- For a social influencer, YouTube is difficult to crack as more content is required while TikTok is relatively easy. TikTok provides a framework that makes it easier for people to create content than YouTube.
We have evolved as an audience and are more content driven now (Or are we?). It is about how one captures their views, opinions, and expertise in the most effective manner. The short span of time in which TikTok shot to fame and caused a disruption in the social media, leaves us to ponder about the increased adaptability of the masses, especially the youth, in the continuously evolving sphere of social media. Probably, in no time we may be discussing about a new application that the youth has gotten hooked to. Hence, in the war between which application wins over the other, what truly matters is how we let these platforms construct us or divide us. In the end, it’s the content that will win and not the app.
Liked the Article you just read? Show us your support by clicking that like button and sharing it with your friends! Also don’t forget to leave your thoughts about the article in the comment section below.
You can become a part of our mailing list by clicking here
This is sooo well written!