TikTok is the platform everyone talked about in 2019, surprising with its user numbers and its acceleration in European & US markets. 2020 must be a decisive year because the platform will be tested by advertisers, who will be able to judge its relevance and solidity compared with other social networks. So is TikTok the social network that will shake up your media plans in 2020?
ByteDance in sustained acceleration in 2019
By closing a record first fundraising round at the end of 2018 (more than three billion dollars), ByteDance became the world’s most highly valued start-up, with nearly 80 billion in valuation. In 2019? It continued its momentum by absorbing Musical.ly notably, but above all by accelerating outside its historical markets, localising its strategy to attract new users. Recruitment of influencers and celebrities such as Will Smith, Dwayne Johnson or Kevin Hart, production of content beyond music universes, advertising investments in Europe and the US and tactical acquisitions to support its growth. The results are convincing, as the app recorded a jump of 1.5 billion downloads worldwide!
TikTok is in fact already mature for advertisers
TikTok states that it brings together a community of 800 million monthly active users. An opportunity for advertisers to address their customers on a new medium with significant inventory thanks to its 5 billion videos viewed each month. By comparison, Snapchat counts 210 million daily users and Twitter 330 million monthly. *a *b
Moreover, the platform has managed to bring together a young target (41% of TikTok users are between 16 and 24) that is ultra-engaged (90% of these users log in several times a day for an average Watch Time of 50 minutes per user per day).*2
This is a key point, at a time when brands are seeking engagement and action from their targets in addition to visibility and on-target coverage. With this platform, where content production is assisted with modules, filters, animations and influencers showing usages, you find populations who will create and publish content and not only engage.
But an app that also raises fears
TikTok also lives in a post-Cambridge Analytica world where users and brands may have justified fears about the use of data. ByteDance, a Chinese platform, is a player that could be judged opaque because of its possible proximity to the Chinese government. The US Army even banned its soldiers from accessing TikTok in October 2019, which may have fuelled doubts. *4
The app is also confronted with recent security flaws discovered by Check Point Software Technologies Ltd, which demonstrate in a report a series of vulnerabilities. Potential flaws that would give access to users’ personal data, videos and even text messages. *6
An acceleration to reassure & attract advertisers
The app has launched several key projects to upgrade the platform. First, the ongoing opening of self-serve access to the advertising platform. By giving agencies and advertisers control of its advertising tools, TikTok does a little more on transparency of its solutions. This will also mechanically lead to more requests from advertisers regarding what is meant by management KPIs, targeting, etc.
In addition, the recent opening of an office in France and the recruitment of account managers has made the platform more accessible and better able to support advertisers. The tigrz team has been able, in this respect, to move forward on deploying solutions for its clients with present and active support.
Finally, TikTok continues its innovations by developing, like Snap & Instagram, Shoppable Ads that will allow advertisers to directly measure the business performance generated by their campaign. *7
Two cases: Sephora with #SizeUpChallenge or TF1 with #DALS
Today, brands are choosing to invest in the platform to connect with Gen Z. Like Sephora, for example, which launched this week (12/01/20) an operation called #SizeUpChallenge aimed at promoting a new mascara through a contest / challenge (an advertising format equivalent to a sponsored trend on Twitter) and by mobilising influencers on the platform to activate the trend and invite users to create content. The operation, on influencers’ content alone, generated more than 170K likes and nearly one million views. However, participation in the challenge is rather limited (fewer than a hundred), the rest of the content being rather opportunistic use of the hashtag by users to promote their own content. The operation therefore seems conclusive in terms of exposure and potentially impact, but remains sluggish in terms of content creation.
Programme publishers, such as Danse avec les Stars, also ran their own #DALSchallenge. This visibility operation was a success. The show, which aimed to promote its 10th season to Generation Z, benefited from significant media coverage, translating into more than 15 million views on the social network as well as numerous pick-ups in traditional media. *3
Our point of view
TikTok is an environment that in our view must be understood for what it is today. That is, a place of connection and creation with young, engaged audiences. We are in a territory where young people have the “luck” of not being with their parents as on Facebook or Instagram.
Brands can go and activate them with a tone and a content proposition worked in this sense and in the very “Vine-like” grammar of the platform. TikTok therefore makes complete sense for visibility and engagement objectives. And if the necessary creativity can be a blocker, then you can also play with influencers, because the platform is teeming with them and often with profiles different from those on Instagram or YouTube.
Finally, it is important to integrate TikTok into your tracking plan to see how the platform can complement the other levers, with performance on media buying costs, engagement on the brand’s owned properties (site) and business performance. Standard precautions will be needed when analysing results so that they can be fairly compared with those of other platforms such as Snap or Instagram, which are strong on these audiences.
Going further / Our references >
*1 (Source: Bloomberg): ”ByteDance is Said to secure Funding at Record $75 Billion Value”
*2 (Source: Oberlo): “ 10 TikTok Statistics That You Need to Know in 2020”
*3 (Source: Influenth): “TF1 launches a challenge on TikTok to promote “Danse avec les Stars”
*4 (Source: l’ADN): “TikTok is rolling out shoppable video ads for influencers”
*5 (Source: Forbes): “Snapchat and TikTok Embrace ‘Deepfake’ Video Technology Even As Facebook Shuns It” /
*6 (Source: Bloomberg): “TikTok Security Flaws May Have Exposed User Videos to Hackers”
*7 (Source: Business Insider): “TikTok is rolling out shoppable video ads for influencers”
*A (Source: Statista): “Twitter: number of monthly active users 2010-2019”
*B (Source: Statista): “Number of daily active Snapchat users from 1st quarter 2014 to 3rd quarter 2019”
Going further. See also tigrz’s Content & Influence expertise and our TikTok Excellence page.
On the same topic: « TikTok: which ad formats to activate on the platform? » and « #DollyPartonChallenge: analysing the spread of a meme and its adaptations ».
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