K&C DO TikTok

TikTok Myths

The interest isn’t surprising. Now with 80 million monthly users in the USA alone, TikTok truly is a force to be reckoned with. Content marketers and advertisers can no longer ignore the influence and popularity of the platform. There are however still many misconceptions and myths about TikTok. Ones we are happy to bust open:

• No, it’s not just an app for teenagers and young adults – Engagement has grown by 32% monthly since 2020 and most significantly amongst gen x and baby boomers. Its performance rate is higher than other social media apps and the fastest growing channel for discovery.
• It is not just for crazy comedy skits, dance routines and cute animal memes. Self improvement for example and self help are huge categories for TikTok.  #learnontiktok and #education hashtags have billions of views. 
• And it is not only for entertainment but can be a powerful tool in the creation of relationships between brands and consumers.  

And now, thanks to TikTok Creator Marketplace,  brands can partner with digital creators to create relatable, authentic content and reach new audiences – audiences that are not usually accessible through more serious advertising and branding.

Tbh, we were pretty much TikTok virgins until the summer of 2022. Prompted by the recurring question and conversations with our friends Daniel Stone at Bandolier Media and Jake Hay at Popshorts, we decided to carry out our own TikTok experiment.  

Introducing Spencer Whittlebottom 

…….(aka Carter Pagel) – self-proclaimed “expert on pretty much everything” making his astute observations on the world around him.  

Carter developed the character Spencer to be cynical, sarcastic, judgmental and basically a total pain in the ass. We did not expect people to like him.

Surprisingly however, people related to him and found him to be engaging and funny. In only one month he gained an impressive 2865 followers, which is great for such a short period of time. And true endorsement came when a street smart Gen Z girl sounded,  “Damn….I see you Carter!” on realizing his following. And, yes, he was recognized by a cashier at a local grocery store.

Over the period of 1 month, Spencer recorded 23 shorts on a range of diverse subjects.  Moving to Austin, Linkedin, dog ownership and quiet quitting are some you should check out.

The most popular, “Why is everyone moving to Austin?” received 29.2k likes and prompted engaging conversation within the TikTok and local community.  Some wanted to know where Spencer got his lips done but many wanted to engage in more meaningful chat too about population growth, government and other social aspects of life in Austin.

We were excited by the results. The reach was impressive and the reactions and comments showed that the audience engaged with the character and the content.  

It also showed that we can leverage the power of short-form video for our clients and add it to their media mix. 

Top 3 things we learned about using Tik Tok: 

1. Development of great content is important. – it must be original, unique and authentic to your brand.
2. The app is actually really easy to use – and the results are immediate.
3. Consistency is key – we posted regularly and it paid off.

We wanted to get some top TikTok tips directly from the horse’s mouth, so to speak..so we spoke to our friend John Daly, Brand Partnerships Manager at TikTok, who told us that, “for marketers and advertisers, Tik Tok know-how is the most important thing.” 

Here are his top tips on how to create amazing TikTok paid ads.

1. They must be created on your smart phone – All the tools are in the right place and the platform is designed to only use the smartphone. You can use CapCut to edit – a video editing tool designed for mobiles.
2. The first 3-5 seconds are vital. You must punch them immediately between the eyes with your offer. Logo, headline, hook, all should be communicated in 5 seconds.
3. Be cheeky, authentic and have fun. For example, own your bad PR stuff and other mistakes. People love that.
4. Let the reigns go and work with creators. You can get someone for every budget.  Ranging between $50 and $50,0000 depending on their following and network.
5. Refresh your creative every 2 weeks. 3-5 different creatives per ad. Test different versions, using different #hashtags, cuts and then create iterations from the successful ones.
6. Brands must have a consistent look and feel for their creatives – both paid and organic.
7. Jingles – Yes really! It might seem old school but it still works – you can probably still remember a jingle from childhood. And TikTok is all about the sound and music after all.

So what does all this mean for you?

TikTok is quirky by nature,  brands will need to get creative to gain their audience’s attention. A simple ad or sponsored influencer endorsement might not be enough.  

This is where we come in. As a creative media agency, we help you stay ahead of concepting, content creation and connecting with talent and digital creators you want to work with.

Coming up with regular, authentic, original and engaging ideas for short video is key to the success on this platform and this is something that we have proven success in.

Perhaps you want a TikTok campaign that aligns with larger scale production adverts or maybe it’s a standalone project.

Either way, we got you!