In the last year, TikTok has grown in popularity not only among teenagers and young people, but also among adult and professional audiences; even brands are creating content and betting on this social network to reinforce their digital strategy. Claudia Duque, ALAFAVE’s communications expert and marketing advisor, describes the potential of this application for our candle market and suggests some guidelines to start exploring it.
Why is TikTok so trendy?
TikTok started as an app that mixed music and video content for users to create choreographies. Currently this has been extended to different types of content in short video format. Its success is mainly due to its ease of use. Anyone can create and edit videos like a professional, using the application’s very simple options and algorithm. There are also some political controversies for its use, as it is a Chinese application.
How does the algorithm work?
The algorithm is so well organized that all the content that appears on your stories is exactly what you like. From a marketing point of view, it is fascinating! People can spend hours on that platform. TikTok contains a lot of information needed by marketing specialists to create specific segmentation; which contributes to making the platform more famous, as well as potentially dangerous, when it comes to data management.
What is the TikTok user profile?
We first thought that TikTok was an application for a very young niche market. Although it is true, generation Z is the one that tends to use this application the most, in recent years other generations have begun to use it. Who has not received a link to a TikTok video without having to open TikTok?
Why are brands highly interested in this social platform?
The brands are highly interested because they can meet their goals by creating specific ads to reach their target audience directly. In addition, the public is broader than on other platforms and this decreases their campaigns cost.
For example, we recently ran a TikTok campaign with $200 USD and we got about 2,000 clicks. By way of analysis, we ran the same campaign (same videos, texts, and budget) on Facebook resulting in less than half the clicks. Now, since there are content creators from all over the world, brands find various potential influencers for their products; for example, there is a well-known hashtag on the web called #TikTokMadeMeBuyThis, which brands and influencers join to generate conversions.
How popular is TikTok in Latin America?
According to a report from Datareportal on January 2022, TikTok has more than 218 million active users in Latin America monthly, Brazil leading the chart with more than 98 million and followed by Mexico with more than 45 million active users. These audiences are still very young, between 18 and 24 years old, including those under 18. When I asked ChatGPT about the Latin American audience, he mentioned something that makes a lot of cultural sense; and that is the relationship between users and music. There is a lot of dance video content, and trending choreographies. After all, we are a region that moves with rhythm. . .aren’t we?
How does paid advertising work in TikTok?
TikTok has all hype and double the reach compared to platforms like Facebook or Instagram. Also, the specific segmentation is an incredible opportunity, it is an excellent website traffic generator but due to the audience, it has lower conversion numbers. This clearly varies according to the product we are promoting.
Give us some insight on ALAFAVE’s TikTok debut.
The project’s main objective is to promote the consumption of candles in the region. We will take it slowly, but with good content. Each month we will have a video inviting the community to decorate with candles, to celebrate with candles and to be more creative with the use of candles. We intend to collaborate with different influencers creating content, and as well as having content provided by the ALAFAVE’s team and agency.
What recommendations do you have for candle manufacturers wanting to get started in this social media?
A vital recommendation is the importance of delivering quality and creative content more than in any other social media. This platform is mostly designed to create content, and staying relevant within the algorithm is more complex; both organic and paid.
These other recommendations also apply to other platforms:
- Choose a niche and generate content for that specific niche.
- Use it as a source of engagement but also for website traffic.
- Track links with UTM’s or Google analytics links.
- Create partnerships with influencers and participate in hashtags.
By the way, making videos on TikTok, downloading, and uploading them to Instagram, is one of the worst practices. Instagram will detect the TikTok logo, and this lowers the visibility of that content. As a suggestion, record the videos for both applications, but upload them directly on each of their platforms. This way you can unify efforts at the time of production and take advantage of the different formats of Instagram and TikTok.
