Shauna Moran September 2, 2020
TikTok has
been in the media spotlight for quite some time. Even in light of its speedy climb to success, it’s not easy to
figure out why the app succeeded where so many social media challengers failed.
Creative,
fast-paced, and always delivering content to users, TikTok has given creators
and influencers a substantial profile, and arguably the biggest shortcut to a
huge audience – all of which are possible explanations.
But the
question many are now starting to ask, as the app increasingly receives more
attention from marketers and government bodies worldwide, is how do consumers
and brands actually use it? And, what does this suggest about the future of
social media?
Research
from a recontact study we conducted in June among U.S. and UK internet users,
and insights from the latest wave of our B2B dataset, put forward some possible
answers.
Why consumers use TikTok
TikTok’s
ability to shape the cultural sphere has been obvious since it powered “Old
Town Road” to top of the charts, and gave artists like Lil Nas X and Lizzo a
substantial boost. It’s easy to obsess over the celebrities and big-name
influencers on the platform, but our data highlights the platform’s broad
package of use cases.
The
motivations often attributed to TikTok, like following influencers and
self-promotion, come significantly behind the broader reasons for using social media
– like entertainment and filling up spare time.
Compared to
other platforms, the “social” reasons for using the app are much further down
the list. With the focus on content creation, TikTok’s direct messaging
features aren’t front-and-centre, in the way that social media sites have
generally taken shape.
52% of social networkers in the U.S./UK mainly use social media
to stay in touch with what their friends are doing, compared to 22% of
TikTokers in our chart.
So though
it’s worth noting the often overlooked similarities between TikTok and other
social sites – which also help fill in time during the day – there are several
important differences. While only 11% claim to be using TikTok to get famous,
around 3 in 10 use it to express themselves, with the app’s inspirational
qualities also shining through our research.
Learning,
for example, is not a word typically associated with TikTok. But with a quarter
of TikTokers using the app to discover how to do new things, it clearly has
many unexplored capabilities.
The trend of
using TikTok as a means to teach science to
Gen Zs emerged last year, and university researchers have since used it to
explain a diverse range of topics. High school chemistry teacher Phil Cook
first posted a lab demonstration last
August, and now has over a million followers.
With big
names in the tech space lining up to buy and control TikTok’s U.S. arm, there’s
plenty of opportunity for further expansion. Many have wondered what Microsoft
would do with TikTok, but a future acquisition could leave room for “imaginative synergies in
gaming, chat and education”.
How consumers use TikTok
TikTokers
are regularly viewing a string of recommended videos, as well as hashtag
challenges and livestreams – which offers countless opportunities for exposure.
The pandemic
has led many to have a
go, with 27% of Gen Z creating more videos during lockdowns.
But despite
users upping their creation efforts, TikTokers are still less likely to
participate in challenges themselves.
Committed
creators remain in the minority and should therefore be considered separately
by brands: among those who regularly create videos and participate in
challenges, the desire for inspirational content is much higher and over half
like to watch trending videos, which spark the imagination.
Campaigns that
draw on popular culture and recent events in ingenious ways will capture the
attention of this resourceful group – enabling them to stay on top of, as well
as participate in, the birth of new trends.
The
potential audience on TikTok has led some brands to dabble with social selling,
but the platform’s nuances in this area have to be respected. Fewer TikTokers
cite researching products to buy as an incentive for using the app (14%), than
social networkers do for using social media sites in general (28%).
However,
compared to other social networkers in the U.S. and UK, TikTokers are over 80%
more likely to cite a “buy” button on a social platform as a purchase driver.
As the platform’s selling tools develop, it’s likely that impulse buying will
be most at home on it, rather than a detailed researching of products.
While TikTok
introduces selling features in the U.S., commerce capabilities are already
well-embedded in the Chinese version (Douyin). It’s had success in its home
country, largely thanks to a partnership with shopping app
Alibaba.
With impulse
buying seemingly in mind among TikTok users, selling strategies in the West may
well end up akin to the “drop” model often used in China, where limited runs of
merchandise are teased and sold through the app.
This points to the sort of direction this platform, and others
like it, can hope to move in the future.
TikTokers
are clearly open to interacting with branded content and buying via social
media, but brands need to make full use of the app’s capabilities and introduce
relevant content to drive engagement.
Popular
hashtag challenges come from the likes of Walmart (#dealdropchallenge) and Chipotle (#Boorito) – with the former urging customers
to express how its savings make them feel through dance, and the latter using
the Halloween season to bring costumes into the creative mix.
By inspiring
entertaining content that can be linked to the brand, these companies offer
demonstrations of how TikTok can be put to good use.
Why brands use TikTok
The
agricultural sector may not be the first that comes to mind when contemplating
TikTok usage stats, but a quick Google search reveals that a massive 1.8
billion people have watched a video with the farm hashtag.
The app has
been credited with
connecting farmers and consumers during the pandemic, which speaks to the
reasons brands use TikTok.
Surprising
as it may seem, you can understand a lot about TikTok and similar apps’
potential by looking at farmers. Douyin has been a revelation to
Chinese farmers, giving them a direct line to their end-consumers for the first
time. When you think about it as a D2C model, you can see the potential for
businesses in other sectors to connect directly with consumers.
At the
moment, around 1 in 10 knowledge workers are aware of their team or company
having a work-related TikTok account. This does vary significantly by sector –
rising to 25% for the agriculture industry, followed by the likes of PR (20%)
and IT (18%).
TikTok is
primarily used in the early stages of a sale: for raising brand awareness and
driving consumer engagement.
This holds a
lot of potential for D2C companies more broadly, as small businesses can reach
a huge audience without the traditional spend on marketing.
What’s more, over 1 in 4 knowledge workers in this group claim
to use TikTok for the purposes of selling.
TikTok has
gradually been adding to its shopping features over time, while involving
creators. Levi’s is one of the first retailers to
integrate a “Shop Now” button into its creator videos, and has already witnessed increased
traffic to its website as a result.
Though the
reasons for brands using the app generally center around communication, certain
countries and industries are breaking this pattern.
Selling is
the top reason for businesses using TikTok in the U.S., and peaks in industries
like marketing (50%), insurance (50%) and the environmental sector (45%)
– known for its
grass-themed merchandise.
While it’s
early days, we can expect the selling-related stats in our chart to slowly
increase as companies become better acquainted with the app’s evolving purchase
tools.
What brands should know
about advertising on TikTok
We’ve laid
out the reasons why TikTok is well-suited to lend itself to social commerce and
given examples of how brands have used it in the past. But also worth pointing
out is that the app has a distinct vibe, which gives off a different energy to
that of other social platforms.
And with
rival apps emerging as well, these might herald broader changes in social media
behavior – especially in light of what some are calling “COVID-fatigue”, as
social networkers begin to crave more light-hearted material.
We asked
TikTokers what content they most like to see on the app, and the most-cited
video qualities were funny and creative.
Various
brands have figured this out. In contrast to what’s usually shared on its YouTube and
Instagram accounts, the NBA’s TikTok clips are typically more laid-back – once
featuring a chihuahua dunking a basketball during its halftime show.
This doesn’t
mean brands shouldn’t vary the nature of their videos; the league regularly
posts motivational videos on the app, which is a type of video content that
around a third of TikTokers like to watch. And the agricultural industry may be
better suited to an informative tone, which is equally popular among
users.
By the same
token, different age groups also take more of a liking to certain types of
content: 35-44s are the leading enthusiasts when it comes to motivational
snippets (44%), while 25-34s take a shine to informative videos (41%).
TikTok is dancing, for
now
With a third
of TikTokers in the U.S. and UK following brands they like on the app, the
platform is well-positioned to boost its commercial qualities.
TikTok may
be facing a long list of pressures, most noticeably in areas like data privacy;
but its success has forced rivals to move, as evidenced by the creation of
Instagram Reels.
Though the
app’s continued presence in the West isn’t guaranteed, it’s introduced several
new ingredients to the social media mix that are worth noting.
From taking
creativity to a whole new level, to establishing fresh space for D2C companies
to flourish and brands to display character, TikTok has left a permanent stamp
on the social sphere – and serves as an example for platforms looking to
enhance these qualities in the future.
Written by Shauna Moran, an Insights Analyst at GWI.
A chocolate addict, she's surprisingly all about moderation when it comes to
writing – a stickler for only the most relevant trends.
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