TikTok, the video-sharing social media, has become a real worldwide phenomenon over the last few years. In addition to aiming to bring entertainment to its users, the app also represents a great opportunity for brands seeking to strengthen their Digital Marketing strategies. But before we address the relevance of a company TikTok account, let’s look back at the emergence of this all-conquering app.
TikTok was created in 2016 by the Chinese company ByteDance. However, the app as we know it only came into existence in 2018, having merged with Musical.ly, a music dubbing app. With this unification of functions and communities, TikTok began to gain international recognition.
Since then, its growth has accelerated exponentially and hasn’t stopped. As early as 2018, the app was made available in over 150 countries and 75 languages. The following year, TikTok was downloaded about 750 million times, becoming the most downloaded app on Apple’s App Store. In 2021, just five years after its launch, it surpassed the incredible mark of 1 billion monthly active users in the world, and 3 billion downloads.
Latin America is the most prolific region in the world for TikTok, according to data from Statista, an analytics company based in Germany. The app is set to end 2022 with 136.1 million Latin American users, a number which is projected to increase to 173.3 million by 2025.
According to market research carried out by Statista in April this year, the countries in the region with the most active users are Brazil and Mexico, with 73.58 million and 50.52 million, respectively. Regarding user engagement with the social network, there was an increase of 44% in Brazil and 37% in Mexico compared to the previous year.
Insider Intelligence data also proves the platform’s meteoric rise in the region. About 27.7% of the Latin American population used TikTok in 2021 — this number rose to 30.8% in 2022 and is expected to reach 37.7% by 2025. In addition, the platform is the third most used social media in Latin America, having surpassed Twitter and Snapchat in 2020.
It looks like TikTok has found the formula for success! Its features and great viral appeal are factors that have attracted content creators, digital influencers and even small and large companies to use the app. We will cover some of its main features here so that you can start using this social media channel:
- Length: Currently, TikTok allows its users to create videos of up to 10 minutes. The length of content has increased a lot over the years, starting at just 15 seconds. The change was implemented to give TikTokers the chance to create new types of content and narratives.
- Resources: It is possible to record and edit videos through the platform itself, using resources like filters, subtitles, music, makeup and even inserting audio, clips or stickers. You can also use features like Stitches and ‘Duets’ to include other users’ videos in your content. The sky’s the limit when it comes to creativity!
- Algorithm: The distribution of TikTok content takes into account the individual preferences of each user via the ‘For You’ tab, which allows users to receive videos from anyone, not just accounts which they follow. This makes content go viral much faster than on other social networks.
- Hashtags: Hashtags also play a key role in distributing videos on TikTok. This is because the tagging of posts allows users to connect with the content that best suits their interests, increasing content visibility and optimising results.
- Themes: Observing trends and creating content with the themes that have the most engagement also help users to go viral on the social network. According to a mapping by Opinion Box, the topics that most attract people on TikTok are Humor, Music, Tourism, Gastronomy and Health.
TikTok is not all about voiceovers and dancing, and hasn’t been for a long time. The platform’s giant growth and user base make it one of the biggest trends in Digital Marketing.
A recent Opinion Box survey notes that 35% of Brazilian users have already purchased a product or hired a service they discovered on TikTok. So, if you want to leverage your business in the online environment, you can’t afford to stay on the sidelines.
With a corporate TikTok account, you can strengthen your brand’s online reputation, expand the reach of your message, add value to your business, retain consumers of all ages, boost engagement and, as a result, increase your sales. But for your company to achieve these goals, you need to develop an assertive strategy by following these steps:
- Understand the target audience your brand wants to reach;
- Analyze what are their main points of interest;
- Define what types of messages to convey to users;
- Define an extroverted language to use;
- Keep up with trends and challenges;
- Create light, fun and preferably short content;
- Lean in on creativity and informality;
- Bet on ads and partnership with digital influencers.
Analysing the context presented in this article and the growth of the platform in Latin America, we can conclude that starting a company TikTok is the right choice for all businesses looking to add these benefits to their brands, while creating fun and engaging content that connects emotionally with their audiences.
If you want to take part in this market but don’t know where to start, don’t worry — here at Sherlock Communications, we can help. Our marketing agency has a specialised Social Media team with extensive experience in creating strategic content for company TikTok pages. Contact us!
