Rumors and data agree: in 2022 TikTok will become the first social media worldwide.
This comes from “Social Media Trends 2022” report by Talkwalker, a company specializing in Social Media Listening and Consumer Intelligence that has been studying the evolution of digital technology and the habits of online users for years.
First known as musical.ly, the project was started in China in 2016 and after the acquisition of the chinese giant tech company ByteDance it became what we know now as TikTok.
In just few years the app menages to conquer a large slice of the market: first expanding in Asia, then America and finally Europe. Main target audience: Generation Z.
What are the elements of this extraordinary success?
How to create good contents and achieve business goals?
How to implement an efficient strategy on TikTok?
Let’s see it together.
TikTok: fenomenology of a success
TikTok success is explained by a combination of elements, factors and different circumstances.
(Video)content is the king
First and most important element of TikTok success is surely the content.
Unlike the other social media where more types and formats of contents are offered, TikTok is betting on one and only product.
Short, vertical videos with high engaging potential.
On the one hand, this choice may appear limiting but on the other hand it has the consequence of locking both the User Experience (as we will see) and the content production side.
Furthermore, brevity and speed are essential elements in stimulating the online virality.
User Generated Content
Users, as creators, are the lifeblood of TikTok.
The invitation is not only to enjoy of other people’s content but to become content producers ourselves.
The original success of the platform among the younger creators has led TikTok to establish itself as the reference environment of Generation Z, both from an aesthetic and a cultural point of view.
A dimension characterized no longer only by ballets and lip sync but an open space in which users find a way to express passions, desires, complex, social and positive ideas.
User experience
Providing a single format means induce the User Experience in a single direction, both figuratively and manually.
On TikTok you never scroll horizontally, only vertically.
And the content proposal, thanks to the highly refined algorithm, is practically infinite.
Gesture, offer and repetition of the same format generate a sort of “zapping syndrome” that glues the user to the screen for a competitive time.
TikTok for covering global events
From the pandemic to the Tokyo 2020, TikTok has proven to be one of the most effective systems for covering global events.
During the lockdowns, many users, looking for something to occupy their time with, have in fact discovered this new social frontier, remaining fascinated by it.
Subscribers and contents have multiplied, redefining the balance of power in the monopoly of Facebook’s social apps (now Meta).
The data of Talkwalker are based on the wave of this vertical growth, which foresees an overtaking for the next year, both in terms of downloads and time spent on the Chinese app.
4 tips to develop a strategy on TikTok
Do you want to invest in TikTok trying to reach a younger target but you don’t know where to start?
We give you 4 tips to give you a great start.
1. Know the platform
As we have seen, TikTok is characterized by very different content, usability and trends compared to other social networks.
This is why it is important to know the platform well before starting to work on the strategic plan.
Familiarity with the platform is very important to give your content credibility and start building authority using TikTok.
In the Home section you can find the videos selected by the algorithm and divided into the two sections (at the top) “For you” and “Followed” (here only those published by the accounts you have followed will be shown).
The Discover section is to allow you to explore the hottest trends through hastah, audio, effects and popular music.
The central section is dedicated to the Creators mode, through which you can start creating your first videos. Here you can choose duration (3 minutes, 60 or 15 seconds), speed, combine effects and create transitions between clips.
2. Create content that is consistent with your brand identity
Regardless of your type of business, if you want to invest on TikTok you must follow the typical indications of a digital strategy for any other platform.
Constancy and consistency are keywords to guarantee you good visibility, reaching your target and converting users into active followers.
Do a search for competitors and contacts for your business sector.
Take inspiration (without copying!) from their content, evaluate their strategy and successes.
Analyze well what you want to communicate and create quality content that is always consistent with the message you intend to convey.
3. Use hashtag, trend and challenges to create your contents
The operation of TikTok is based on trends and challenges, creating strands of related content.
Participating in a challenge will exponentially increase the views of your video and the chances of ending up in the “For you” section composed by the algorithm.
Another strategy is to insert trending hashtags in the caption of your video. We therefore recommend that you carry out a little research among the hashtag followed by your target and those most used by your competitors.
Remember to optimize your profile to make it attractive and convince your users to follow you!
4. Have fun!
A good level of creativity is essential to create products that do not appear “forced” to your audience.
A lot of this will happen automatically if you have spent enough time studying the platform to understand its style and trends.
To stimulate your creativity to the maximum and engage users it is important to always continue to have fun in addition to strategy.
Want to know more?
Don’t hesitate to contact us if you need more information or want to ask us for any other advice.
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