The most downloaded social app during COVID 19
With the COVID19 and the global social distancing impact, PR Practitioners are now in the dire need to introduce new PR tools for the clients in order to sustain the industry in their mission to drive from traditional PR towards more digitalized PR outlook.
From Youtube to Instragarm in the past couple of years, the shift from content search mediums among the target audiences has become a main reason for the PR industry as a whole to step out of the comfort zone of traditional media and looking for new avenues in the communication strategy expansion. As a result the PR strategists looked into more advanced digital driven PR Campaigns which involved KOLs and social media influencers from the pre mentioned platforms.
In such sense, TikTok is the new kid in the block. The issue with the medium is that it is perceived as more of a creative platform for youth. A so called ‘young app’ making the mature marketeers wonder, if it does have the reachability. The answer is ‘Yes’ it does.
It works with creation of videos up to 15-seconds long with phone cameras, in-app editing tools and animation. The users can also stream live video and string together 15-second videos for 60-second vignettes. Most often, they share their amateur music videos and clips of themselves dancing and lip syncing to contemporary music.
But there in lies the magic of TikTok as a marketing tool. According to statistics Tik Tok, the app, has risen to the charts of the App Store, becoming the fourth most downloaded non-game app of 2018 (ahead of Instagram), thus we can only imagine its increased potential in 2019 and by 2020, with the social distancing and as a reach out tool. As per the analytics firm Sensor Tower Inc. the app has been downloaded 2 billion times during the first quarter of 2020, the obvious Covid 19 lockdown period around the globe. The number includes downloads from both Google Play and the Apple App Store, undoubtedly underlying just how quickly TikTok continues to grow.
While momentum has been building for TikTok for several years, Sensor Tower notes that its latest surge comes amid the global COVID-19 pandemic which “has seen consumers drawn to their mobile devices more than ever as they look for new ways to shop, work and connect with others.”
In such a sense, the PR for Gen Z needs a TikTok upgrade, In the past couple of months many brands, celebrities and artists conducted successful launches via TikTok allowing their PR value and millennial hype skyrocket. In February, the current chart dominating Korean boy band, BTS released a 30-second clip of the act’s new single “ON” premiering exclusively through TikTok. About an hour after the release, over 20,000 fan-made videos featuring “ON” had already populated the app. This example speaks volumes on the brand impact of TikTok.
It also makes one take a double take on the strategy that needs to be consistent with a tool as quirky by its nature as TikTok. Thus, it is essential that the level of creativity behind the idea, has to be truly eye catching and engaging for the Gen Z audiences. In other words, an ad or an endorsed influencer merely mentioning the brand would not gain you as much traction as you would love to. Therefore, thinking outside the Box, is the key to TikTok PR success.
With the introduction of TikTok self-serve advertising, the marketeers can frame out their TikTok PR strategies through tools such as Branded Hashtags, In-feed videos, Influencer Partnerships.
Branded Hashtags can be considered the most popular tool at the moment with most big brands that are experimenting with TikTok, Pepsi’s #SwagStepChallenge, which not only dominated TikTok, it also spilled into Twitter and Youtube, is an honorable mention.
Thereby not only do these videos appear in the normal feed, branded hashtags are also available in the Trending section of the Discover tab. A user can click on it, and they are brought to a Challenge Page with a brief description of how to participate. This can be a great digital PR tool that could be spread out through the sensationalization into the traditional PR mediums as well.
Influencer partnership also usually combined with hashtag challenges and TikTok provides you with an option to select from a list of TikTok creators who would match your brand. As PR practitioners, it is essential that we advice our clients on what PR tool could drive their brand to best results in relation to the ongoing communications climate.
COVID 19 has also been an awakening for the need of ‘new age’ PR tools and campaigns that goes beyond the established PR conventions. In such context, TikTok does present a grand potential, however, it is upon the PR professionals to decide if it is the right channel, that is necessary for a successful campaign strategy.
