A TikTok video called “how Panera prepares mac and cheese” exposed the “fast-food” way Panera Bread prepares its Mac and Cheese, and caused a controversial uproar on social media platforms with users split on the restaurant’s ways of meal prep. Whatever your stance on the situation, the video went viral, having 945,000 likes and 9,000 comments at the time of publication. This begs the question if used for marketing purposes, can TikTok be a great way to get your brand noticed and go viral yourself?
How Can Your Brand Use TikTok?
Celebrating its third anniversary, TikTok, an app which consists of funny looping videos and music montages made by other users, is used for humor purposes and senseless entertainment. What felt like a replacement for the now defunct Vine, is now being taken seriously by brands and marketing industry professionals. An app that has received over 1 billion downloads since its inception sounds like the perfect platform to use for marketing use, but is it worth it? Here’s how marketing professionals can use TikTok to their advantage.
- Brands can create their own channel and create relevant content for the videos they upload
- Brands can work with influencers to help spread content to a broader audience
- Brands can pay to advertise on TikTok however we are still in TikTok’s infantile years and their market hasn’t quite developed in ways of Facebook or YouTube.
- Brands can utilize hashtags for content and encourage hashtag challenges on TikTok
How to Use TikTok.
TikTok is made up of short videos and the more talented, comical, and original the video is determines who thrives on the platform. Videos are up to 15 seconds long although TikTok stories may be 60 seconds long. Users don’t need to follow anyone to see videos. By opening their app and going to their Discover Page, a user can play videos that catches their attention.
Who Uses TikTok?
TikTok currently targets Generation Z (the demographic cohort after the Millennials, with birth years in the mid-1990s to early 2000s). With 66% of its users under the age of 30, most are female.
It’s too early to tell where TikTok is going in the near future. However, it continues to rise in popularity with its originality and fun content. TikTok may not be for every marketing professional but if you strive to retain the attention of a younger audience, the platform is a good option to market out your brand.
