The Tik tok app has 39 million downloads worldwide according to sensor tower data and was ranked number 2 in most downloaded apps during the quarantine. For some time, many entrepreneurs had their eye on Tik Tok but the question still arises: Is it worth adding Tik Tok to the marketing strategy? 

Well let’s delve a little more about this application that has become a worldwide trend. First, this app is used to share short videos. It allows users to create short 3–15 second music videos and 30–60 second long videos, add audio, music and animated icons. All that from the same cell phone. 

It is an app not only enjoyed by Gen Z, but also by Generation Boomer. In this quarantine, the challenges were the activities most carried out by the families and thanks to tik tok many managed to distribute their time at home, but at the beginning of July representatives of the US government demonstrated against the application. 

And it turns out that current US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox News on Monday, July 6, that he was “analyzing” the ban on TikTok and various Chinese social media apps. All this amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing.

Tensions between the United States and China

Since the whole issue with the Covid-19 began, the United States has faced China with various accusations. From leaders referring to the virus as “Chinese virus” to alleged conspiracies. It all started when it became known that Washington had ordered the closure of the Chinese consulate in Houston. Reason? an alleged “national pattern of espionage” and attempted theft of scientific research by the Chinese army with the help of diplomats from that consulate. 

Then the Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, pointed out that Washington had made that decision because China was “stealing” intellectual property. And although it was denied by the representatives of the State of China, everything continued to grow and the fear of the United States was added: “That China may use Tik Tok as a spy tool. Although Tik Tok denied this, its executives continue to create a strategy to avoid the US blockade. They accuse the application of using the information of its users. In the first week of July, the CNN news network announced that Tik Tok promised to create 10,000 jobs in the United States over the next 3 years. 

The biggest controversy is that Tik Tok’s parent company is headquartered in China, and it is feared that it could be forced to “support and cooperate with the intelligence work controlled by the Chinese Communist Party,” in the words of the US senators. Joined CNN. And previously, iOS 14 revealed that Tik Tok has access to what you have copied to your clipboard and India prohibited its use, considering that it violates the privacy of its users.

Tik Tok to your Marketing strategy

To think about adding Tik Tok to your marketing strategy, you must consider several things such as: the type of user that is in this social network, the age and the type of content they usually consume. The audience of Tik Tok is the well-known generation Z (1995-2010) but this social network has caught the generation Y, X and even the Babyboomers. 

These micro videos are ideal when you want to create strategies with well-known characters, as in the case of “Influencers”, which by the way in Peru, according to a survey conducted by the multinational market research and consulting company Ipsos: 44% of users Peruvians on social networks follow influencers. 

In such a way that it is worth rethinking, especially because since the platform went on the market in 2018 its growth has been very fast, as data from Global Webindex: “its success lies in the fact that the platform allows users to be creative and enjoy the creativity of others ”. 

And it provides an excellent opportunity to humanize the brand and generate engagement with the community. People integrate one platform with another, as they end up sharing Tik Tok videos that go viral on other platforms such as: Instagram and WhatsApp. In this way the audiovisual content is merged.

Tik Tok for creative brands 

There are many positive things that can be rescued from this social network to take it into account in the digital marketing strategy of medium and large companies: It is that its content does not need so much elaboration to go viral and that the same platform gives you many opportunities for visibility for its organic way of positioning its content. 

There are those who assure that it is a very new social network to devote a certain percentage of attention to it and that they have also taken their eyes off it due to the various accusations that have come out by the rulers of various countries. 

If you are one of those who are not afraid to try, this social network can be used to entertain your community and show you behind your brand. Hashtag Challenge and different story threads have been created with Tik Tok. It has shown in a short time that it can be a very beneficial network in terms of generating interactions and very good to work with alliances with other companies. 

Do you think your brand shouldn’t take Tik tok into account for its strategy?

These are some brands that are on the platform so far: 

1. Washington Post: The oldest newspaper in Washington DC joined the quarantine in creating simple videos that invited users to interact. It can be that simple to go viral on Tik Tok, where all you need to do is get creative. 
2. Sephora: The Sephora cosmetics chain was the world’s first luxury goods company and connects with its community from Tik Tok with makeup tutorials, cleaning routines and mask tips. They use influencers of all genders to also convey a message of diversity and make their values ​​very clear. Sephora has 117.3K followers on Tik tok and 740.6K likes. 
3. Puma: This German manufacturer of accessories, clothing and sports shoes has used the Tik Tok platform to make creative videos and has been quarantined with the creation of videos to do exercises at home. Puma has 278.2K followers on Tik Tok and more than a million likes.
4. Netflix: This entertainment company, which operates worldwide with the distribution of audiovisual content, has 6.1M followers and 69.6M Likes. And it uses the platform to make content with actors and the same content from series and movies as a strategy.

Other information to keep in mind about Tik Tok:

According to information from Clout Meter, TikTok users average a healthy participation with the content of 52.1% and  users with 1,000 followers can have a participation rate higher than 100% if their TikTok video goes viral and has approximately 50,000 likes. Tik Tok’s engagement rates are higher than those of Instagram and Twitter.