As an international version of Douyin, which was initially launched in September 2016 in China, TikTok came into the market in 2017 to comply with the needs of international users. 

Apart from creating and sharing interesting videos, TikTok has also created a platform for brands to display and promote their products in order to increase their brand awareness, and here comes the question that most brands struggle to find an answer to, how to increase my brand awareness and turn traffic into profit? If exploring this is time-consuming, you should hire digital branding agency professionals to develop brand strategies to engage target audiences.

What is TikTok?

Launched as Douyin in September 2016 in Mainland China, ByteDance released the international version of the app as TikTok, in 2017. TikTok and Douyin are basically the same app but with different features, to comply with the regulation in place in Mainland China.

TikTok is a social media platform where users can create and share creative videos, but for companies, TikTok is another channel where they can promote their businesses and products. 

More than a regular social network, TikTok is an entertainment platform, the app stands out because it offers a different way for users and brands to share in a livelier way and it quickly became a hit, both in Mainland China and Internationally, reaching the TOP 10 social media platforms in 2020, with, respectively, 600 and 689 million monthly active users.

How to engage your followers on Douyin (Tiktok)

The app reduces the resistance of consumers to promotions and advertisements that are being displayed on the platform, thanks to the creativity users and KOLs can bring, and thus, it increases the curiosity of consumers to a brand, but the question is, how to engage followers in order to actually spread your business on TikTok?

Positioning and creativity

Users generally engage less with businesses than individuals and being creative by adopting a different positioning help to attract groups of potential followers.

TikTok users are young, 60% of US ones are aged between 16 and 24 years old, reports Reuters, and even when they are attracted by a business, they use the app for entertainment, so they are looking for funny videos from official companies. 

If you use TikTok or Douyin to promote your brand, adapt your marketing campaign to the network and communicate with the users their way.

KOLs and influencers

Establishing partnerships with famous Internet celebrities is one of the main strategies that brands are using on the app, whether we are talking about business who want to sell in China, using Douyin, or those who are operating in other regions, using TikTok.

KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) transform a regular content into an authentic message and such app allows them to make it more creative using the filters, effects and musics, that can turn fans who like the celebrities into a customer.

Working on KOL and inluencer marketing is popular in China and many types of campaigns can be used, like sponsoring posts, setting contests for the followers to get products for free, or orgazing competitions between KOLs, to reach more communities.

These are among the best-practices that are not yet trending in the West.

Promotional campaigns

As any other social platform, TikTok and Douyin offer different types of advertising options for brands to increase their reach, and two of the most impactful are:

  • In-feed Ads: Videos are directly displayed in the users’ video stream.
  • Top View Ads: Linked to a landing page, they can last up to 60 seconds and are powerful to convert.

Brands are more and more willing to invest in TikTok to reach Generation Z, in the West and in China and new formats are being setup like the Paid Hashtag Challenge organized by Guess, which was the first partnership of that kind, between a brand and the social network.

With the help of the social media, companies to be closer to their customers, and Douyin (Tiktok) offers a fun way to reach Generation Z and the Millenials. Small efforts can bring you big wins, it is one of the fastest ways for your brand to get recognized by the mass.

Time to stand out!