Looking to integrate TikTok into your holiday campaigns?
This could help – TikTok has published a new video overview which looks at key brand and marketing tactics on the platform, and in particular, how brands can partner with creators to help maximize their messaging.
The video, entitled ‘Do You Speak TikTok?’, is hosted by train enthusiast and TikTok star Francis Bourgeois, who looks at what people come to TikTok for, what they’re seeking from brands in the app, and how businesses can use these key trends to maximize their TikTok marketing efforts.
Bourgeois says that TikTok has provided him with a means to explore and share his passions, in his own way, which has since led to him working on brand campaigns for Gucci, Spotify, ASOS and more.
Based on this experience, Bourgeois offers four key tips for brands working with creators:
- ‘Let them express what makes them them’ – As has been reiterated by various influencers and brands that have run influencer campaigns, you need to choose your creative partners based on brand match and suitability – but then let the creators give their creative take on the content, without too many restrictions or directions. If you want stale brand messaging, you don’t need creators – it’s their nous and audience understanding that they bring to the table.
- ‘Collaborate, but never dictate’ – As above, being too prescriptive doesn’t enable you to maximize the value of creator content, and will likely limit the results of your subsequent campaigns.
- ‘Tap into their own style and strength of content’ – Bit of a theme here, huh? I wonder what bad experiences Bourgeois has had to come to these conclusions.
- ‘TikTok users come to be entertained’ – Wrapping up the above points (which are really just one big point), Bourgeois says that TikTok users are not on the app to make connections as such, or follow brand pages for the latest updates. TikTok is an entertainment platform, and as such, you need to be providing entertaining content that leans into that demand.
Bourgeois then further explores some of the key trends in TikTok usage, including music, and how brands should look to utilize sound in their clips.
On this, the video also includes an interview with musician Lady Leshurr, who discusses how TikTok has helped her grow her fan base, while also facilitating her own commercial partnerships.
Lady Leshurr says that ‘uniqueness’ is the key selling point of the platform, with creative, interesting takes helping to drive better performance on the platform.
The final section of the video includes an interview with creator Dannero, who discusses the importance of visual effects and action in TikTok clips.
There are some interesting notes here – maybe nothing ground-breaking, as you’re probably well aware of most of the trends and notes highlighted. But it could help to get you thinking about your TikTok marketing approach, and what elements you should look to include in your videos, or how you should go about partnering with creators.
You can check out the ‘Do You Speak TikTok?’ video here or via the embed above.
