Since the end of November 2019, AND EMILI has landed on TikTok, the Chinese social network loved by millions of youngsters, including Italians.
TikTok logo animation — Motions of EkStatis on Vimeo
Why did a digital agency like us decide to open a TikTok profile? Do we think we can find clients and business contacts or increase our reach on TikTok? Definitely not.
What we are interested in is diving into a tool that is currently on everyone's lips, to really understand if there are interesting opportunities for our clients and prospects, and to learn how it works.
Even Will Smith is on TikTok
The main functions
Indeed, at first glance, TikTok seems a bit complicated to use (OK, Boomer, some would say): the video editing features are not limited to Instagram-style filters. The real challenge is to create montages using TikTok's transitions, effects, text insertion modes and, most importantly, lots of creativity, while simultaneously honing different skills and competencies.
External tools can be used to prepare TikTok videos and upload the finished product, as Will Smith does, for example. We quickly discovered that creativity goes hand in hand with some tricks that are useful to know.
We initially uploaded our Halloween video, created for AND EMILI's other social channels: we know, that's not how you do it, but we were curious to experiment, and the content seemed to fit the channel. Here it is.
AND EMILI specializes in development and strategic consulting on digital channels.
How TikTok's algorithm works
With our Christmas experiments and early 2020 initiatives carried out with our "TikTok Team" (Alice and Giulia, the youngest in AND EMILI), we tried to grasp some TikTok trends to improve the performance of our videos, experimenting not only with different creativities but also with popular hashtags and themes.
Thanks to these experiments, we understood that:
- Almost every video appears in the 'For You' section, which is TikTok's curated selection of videos presented to each user, predominantly featuring content from creators whom the user has not yet followed. The success of a video hinges on the immediate number of views and interactions it garners: the more a video is watched in its entirety, the longer it remains in the 'For You' section, thus potentially accruing more views. Additionally, the greater the interactions a video receives, the more prolonged its presence in the 'For You' section, with highly popular videos maintaining their position for weeks.
- hashtags don't seem particularly important in determining a video's success, although some creators tend to use them almost like mantras to guarantee access to popularity, for example, the widely used #neiforyou in Italy;
- the keys to success seem to be two: choosing a popular trend, reproducing it using the same audio as other creators, but adding our touch, trying to create a variation on the theme, often in a "comedy" style.
Opportunities for brands on TikTok
What can a brand do on TikTok? Here are our insights as explorers of the medium:
- Initially, as always, a brand must assess whether it makes sense to be present: those involved in social media should be there regardless, for "study" reasons, but brands are not obligated to be present on all social networks. Evaluating the target audience, goals, and means to sustain a channel that lives in its unique language are the solid foundations of a successful social project, as always, even on TikTok;
- If a brand determines it makes sense to be on TikTok, it should be prepared for substantial work: opening a TikTok profile means producing content that captures sudden or nearly sudden trends. It's not possible to just create a monthly editorial plan; it will always be necessary to integrate the plan with unpredictable real-time content;
- Brands in Italy can contact TikTok for certain forms of advertising: on one hand, a trend can be artificially created, which will end up in the Discover section that gathers all the trends. This advertising option will necessarily require the coordinated contribution of TikTok influencers so that the brand's trend becomes popular and is replicated by other users. An example is the TikTok launched by Chiara Ferragni to promote the release of the movie Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn, which became a trend reproduced by over 20,000 profiles. Alternatively, videos uploaded by brands can end up in the For You section in an advertising mode, an activity currently possible by making direct contacts with TikTok.
Our adventure in discovering TikTok continues. Are you with us? Follow us and, if you like, send us your suggestions.
AND EMILI specializes in development and strategic consulting on digital channels.
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