Why You Should Be Advertising on TikTok

TikTok isn’t just for dance videos and viral challenges anymore; it has quickly emerged as an effective and efficient medium to reach a new generation of buyers.

TikTok boasts over a billion monthly active users worldwide, and a substantial portion of them are young adults and teenagers. If your target audience is Gen Z and Millennials, TikTok is where you’ll find them. This demographic is notoriously difficult to reach through traditional advertising, making TikTok an invaluable platform for most businesses.

However, TikTok’s format is designed for short-form video (the maximum video length is 3 minutes), forcing businesses to distil their message into concise, engaging, and visually appealing content. The algorithm is also a well-oiled machine. It quickly learns users’ preferences, delivering content that resonates with them.

This means that even new and relatively unknown brands have a chance to go viral and gain massive exposure if they create compelling content. So, for these reasons and many more that we will cover in this article, you need to be advertising on TikTok.

TikTok’s immense popularity among younger consumers is undeniable, with a substantial portion of its global user base falling between 19 and 29. 35% of TikTok’s worldwide audience comprises individuals in this age group. This emphasises the need for businesses to tailor their TikTok marketing strategies to cater to this youthful demographic.

To effectively engage with this younger generation of consumers, it’s crucial to understand their preferences and the type of content that resonates with them:

• Short-Form Video: TikTok’s hallmark is its short-form video format. Users on the platform are accustomed to consuming bite-sized content that is entertaining, informative, or emotionally compelling within a matter of seconds. Advertisers should adapt by creating concise and engaging videos that capture attention quickly.
• Creativity and Authenticity: TikTok users value genuine, relatable, and unscripted content. Businesses should avoid overly polished or corporate-style content and instead focus on storytelling, humour, or behind-the-scenes glimpses of their brand.
• Trend Participation: TikTok trends and challenges are a significant part of the platform’s culture. Participating in popular trends or starting your own unique challenge can help your brand gain visibility and resonate with the TikTok community. Make sure to stay up-to-date with trending hashtags and challenges relevant to your industry.
• Influencer Collaboration: Partnering with TikTok influencers, especially those who align with your brand’s values and target audience, can be highly effective. Influencers have built trust and rapport with their followers, making their endorsements more impactful and authentic.
• Music Integration: Music plays a pivotal role on TikTok. Utilise trending or catchy songs in your videos to tap into the platform’s music culture.
• Interactive Features: TikTok offers interactive features like polls, Q&A sessions, and duets. These tools can be used to engage directly with your audience and encourage user participation, boosting your content’s visibility.

TikTok ads and general posts are indeed characterised by a much faster pace compared to platforms like Facebook or Instagram. This distinctive style of content on TikTok stems from the platform’s emphasis on short-form videos and its user base’s preference for quick, engaging, and to-the-point content.

This approach has both pros and cons for businesses utilising TikTok for advertising:

Pros:

• High Engagement: The fast-paced nature of TikTok content increases the chances that users stay engaged throughout a short video, increasing the chances of your message being seen and retained.
• Increased Information Retention: TikTok’s concise format encourages businesses to get straight to the point. This can lead to better information retention among viewers since there is less “fluff” or unnecessary content to distract from the core message.
• Enhanced Creativity: TikTok challenges businesses to be more creative and innovative in their content creation. This can lead to unique and memorable advertising campaigns that resonate with the audience.
• Cost-Efficiency: Creating shorter, to-the-point ads often requires less resources and production time than longer-form content. This creates cost savings for businesses looking to advertise on TikTok.

Cons:

• Limited Message Depth: Due to the short format, TikTok ads may struggle to convey complex or nuanced messages effectively. Businesses must distil their message down to its essence, which may not always be suitable for all products or services.
• Brand Awareness Challenges: Building brand awareness and conveying a brand’s values can be more challenging in a brief, fast-paced TikTok ad. It may require supplementary efforts to ensure that viewers connect with the brand on a deeper level.
• Audience Attention Span: While TikTok users are accustomed to rapid content consumption, there’s a risk that some viewers might disengage if the content moves too quickly.
• Limited Storytelling Opportunities: TikTok’s format may not lend itself to longer or emotionally resonant storytelling, which is usually a powerful tool for building brand loyalty and trust.
• Ad Saturation: Given the sheer volume of content on TikTok, users may experience ad fatigue if they feel overwhelmed by the frequency and brevity of ads, which can negatively impact ad performance.

Advertising on TikTok is uncommon (for now)

The current landscape on TikTok presents a unique opportunity for businesses: a vast number of consumers are on the platform, but relatively few businesses are actively advertising. This situation creates a window of opportunity that marketers should capitalise on swiftly before competition levels inevitably rise.

With fewer businesses advertising on TikTok, the cost of running ads can be more affordable than platforms with higher competition. This is especially advantageous for smaller companies or startups with limited advertising budgets. As competition increases, advertising costs may also rise, making it more expensive to reach the same audience.

As TikTok’s user engagement is exceptionally high, with users spending significant time on the platform daily, we have an ideal environment to connect with potential customers and build brand awareness. As more businesses enter the platform, capturing and maintaining user attention may become increasingly challenging – so the time for your TikTok advertising campaign is now!