Brands Not on TikTok in 2019 Will Be Left Behind

The new destination for short-form mobile videos, which hosts a similar style of content to Snapchat and Instagram Stories, TikTokis lauded as the world’s most valuable startup, particularly after it claimed the top spot on Apple’s App Store download charts in Q4 2018.

Established platforms are well aware of TikTok’s rise because it came to prominence in the UK when Musical.ly was bought by TikTok’s owners, ByteDance, and the two platforms merged.

TikTok has since gained more than 500 million monthly active users – around double that of Snapchat and Pinterest combined, and more than Twitter and LinkedIn. It's huge in Asia and USA and growing fast in the UK, where it has three million monthly active users, who collectively rack up 2.5 billion monthly views.

For brands, the app is particularly interesting not only because of its highly engaged user base, but also because it is establishing engagement opportunities for advertisers, including brand takeovers and sponsored 'Hashtag Challenges'. With analytics on the near horizon and new innovations constantly being tested, TikTok is a serious contender to be the top platform in 2019.

So far, only early moving brands, including Gymshark, Red Bull, MTV and the BBC have started to create content for the platform, but Honey’s [the company I work for] work with influencers and creators sees huge potential, particularly for brands with a back catalogue or commitment to video, and the potential to create 'wow!' content and comedy.

Our creators have worked with brands including Eurovision, The Football Association, the BBC and X-Factor Live. The platform really stands out because it encourages people to create. The Hashtag Challenges are a great way to gain followers and for brands to gain prominence. The BBC established a presence for Eurovision on TikTok this year, and found that using distinctive Eurovision content in the Hashtag Challenges helped the channel to gain one million views in three weeks.

An ideal brief from a brand, for our creators, is to offer creative freedom and work as a partnership. Success is based on the number of views, likes and comments that creators receive - TikTok promises an advanced suite of analytics in 2019, which will be a game changer for brands, and should quickly solve many of the doubts marketers have when they see the engaged comments and shares.

Brands have the option to either work with influencers on their platform, establish their own account or use a combination of the two. We believe that TikTok offers a massive opportunity to reach a youth audience - one that is no longer 13-17 year olds, but a fast growing, loyal 18-25 demographic. Like Facebook, older audiences will come in due course.

The opportunities, engagement and creativity on show on the platform mean that brands – particularly those targeting young people – should have a TikTok strategy as a high priority for 2019. If they do not, they will miss out.

Mark Terry-Lush is director at Make Honey