TikTok made me buy it: why brands must leverage the power of social media

Recently, I sat down for a roundtable discussion with many esteemed fellow marketers. Our ice breaker question was ‘what ad most recently made you buy something?’ 

The Holy Grail for marketers is a two-way conversation about their product with their consumers.

I had come prepared to tell the other marketers how vital social media was to their plans, but they actually did that job for me - by each and every one of them naming something they had purchased because they had seen it on social media. 

The Holy Grail for marketers is a two-way conversation about their product with their consumers, driven by content that is created by loyal fans. This is the power that social media gives you; it’s like word of mouth with a megaphone. 

Above: TikTok's users spend an astounding 95 minutes per day on the app.

Look at TikTok alone. Its users spend an astounding 95 minutes per day on the app. In that time, there’s ample discussion of brands and products - done in an authentic way. So, why aren’t all consumer-facing brands spending time on TikTok, too? 

Lots of brands still have what we call 'social fright' (not feeling confident to jump in and have conversations on a social platform). For example, when the McDonald’s Grimace Shake trend blew up over TikTok last month, McDonald’s recently announced that they felt very hesitant to jump on the trend - experiencing social freight in response to this unexpected reaction. 

Why aren’t all consumer-facing brands spending time on TikTok?

Many brands also feel that TikTok is a platform for kids and not relevant to older audiences. Actually, the demographic split is pretty even, and when we launch the platform for new brands, they are surprised to see their customers already there. So, how can brands tap into this opportunity?

Above: The recent McDonald's Grimace Shake trend was something the brand were hesitant to exploit.

Content that truly resonates 

Only when the content itself feels authentic can it make a real impact on social media. Although paid ads are tolerated on the platform (by 30% of users, according to TikTok) consumers expect authenticity from these ads. The majority (61%) of users come to the platform to be entertained, so they expect to see something exciting, relevant and fresh, that has been created by people like them. 

Any brand, on TikTok in particular, should consider itself to be throwing a creator party on the platform - with control of the guest list.

Samsung boosted sales by 14% when launching the Galaxy Z Fold3 | Z Flip3 in Vietnam, through creating the #VuDieuGapMo (Folding Dance) challenge on TikTok, encouraging users to dance along and create their own moves.

Creator armies drive brand engagement 

Influencers are now called creators and the key is for brands to find and build their army of dedicated fan creators who delight in creating content for their favourite brands and products. As such, any brand, on TikTok in particular, should consider itself to be throwing a creator party on the platform - with control of the guest list. In this way, brands can not only find but help to build their own ‘army’ of fan creators. 

A brilliant example of this is how the now iconic Uniqlo cross body bag went viral when TikTok user @caitlinphilimore posted a video unpacking her belongings from it. 

Above: @caitlinphilimore's TikTok video, highlighting a Uniqlo bag, went viral.

Why listening is essential 

To maximise the reach and engagement of social media, brands must also utilise social listening tools to remain one step ahead. Listening is critical to success and, even if a brand is not ready to jump onto the platform, it should be working out which conversations are relevant to it. 

Sometimes, a particularly engaging post can create a ripple effect of unprecedented momentum.

When we worked with Dr Pepper, the first part of our strategy was to ‘lurk’ on the platform, listening to conversations unfold and testing what content we felt comfortable with. Dr Pepper then felt informed and confident enough to jump in, which led to us quickly growing its TikTok followers from 35K to 135K in six months.

A high-impact and sometimes unpredictable solution 

Sometimes, a particularly engaging post can create a ripple effect of unprecedented momentum. The McDonald’s Grimace Shake trend, although created by fans, led to a record number of sales of the shake and many US McDonald’s restaurants completely running out of stock. Back in January 2021, the Little Moon TikTok craze led to Tesco’s sales of the product increasing to over 700% compared to a previous average week. 

A fun craze can lead to a stampede to purchase, but only if it feels authentic. If you plan to go viral every time you post, you will be disappointed. We have actually banned the word ‘viral’ when planning content. Instead, you should focus on content that will genuinely connect your brand with its audience - people power behind a brand on social media is purchasing power.