TikTok Influencer Marketing Guide: Campaigns and Influencers

TikTok is one of the most popular apps used by today’s young generation. It’s the newest cool thing in the realm of social media. And yet, not much marketing is done on TikTok, despite its massive reach towards the young generation. What may be lacking is a comprehensive TikTok influencer marketing guide.

One problem is that few people above the age of 30 are even aware of what TikTok is. Despite this, the platform remains incredibly viable in terms of marketing. If you’re interested in branching out to TikTok or just doing research, consider this article your handy TikTok influencer marketing guide. 

How It Started, How It’s Going

TikTok began its life in China. What we know as TikTok nowadays is actually the product of two different apps that began their lives separately. The first app was called Duoyin. The second one is perhaps more familiar to some—Musical.ly. Both had sizable users, even in the Western world. 

“TikTok” is the recent term. The Duoyin company decided to acquire Musical.ly and mesh the two apps, rebranding the new social platform as TikTok. Thus, the TikTok beloved by today’s youngsters was born.

The premise itself was deceptively simple at first. Users could mime their favorite songs through recording and share it online. Think of it as karaoke, but for young people. The style worked, and TikTok soon grew in popularity. Along with its rise to fame, the company also branched out from just songs to videos and other media forms. These days, you can record almost anything—from acting to cooking and fitness routines. 

What makes TikTok appealing to users and marketers?

There are two main reasons why many users and marketers are loving TikTok: quick marketing and ease of use.

Quick Marketing

Perhaps one appeal that TikTok has is its relatively short videos. Let’s compare the TikTok influencer platform to its main competitor – YouTube. YouTube doesn’t require a limit when it comes to videos. You can make them as long or short as you want. While that’s a plus for some, it could also turn some people off. 

Modern kids don’t want the hassle of sitting down in front of their computers and investing time in one video. The way content is consumed these days is in short bursts of entertainment, then moving on to the next one. TikTok has recognized it and has tailor-made its brand to suit this need. 

Ease of Use

Another appealing TikTok feature is the ease of using it. People interested in uploading videos can choose from a myriad of prepared formats. The only thing needed to do is to act. But the prepared formats don’t stifle creativity either. 

TikTok also allows users to go out on their own and create original videos the way they want. Simply put, it’s easy enough for a beginner to start and could also be a site for those who want to be original. It’s the best of both worlds. 

Who Uses TikTok? 

If you’re interested in marketing on a particular app or site, you should also be informed of the users who populate the site. For example, you can’t market a feminine hygiene product on a site primarily used by men. It simply wouldn’t make sense, and you’d be wasting your money. 

You should be aware of who will see your ad and who won’t. Ask yourself, is my target audience present here? If the answer is yes, then by all means, go ahead. But if the answer is no, you can always find another app to market on. 

The first thing to understand about TikTok users is that their demographic is tilted towards the youth. Like, a lot of them are young people. For a marketer, this should be a dream come true. Young people are among the hardest to market to, and TikTok is a fertile land for anyone looking to market to the young. 

If you’ll allow us to digress for a moment — that doesn’t mean you can go ahead and show advertisements on TikTok already. Still, there are more factors to include in your decision-making. We’ll get into that later. 

There are also more female TikTok users than men. The population is slightly tilted towards women, but that doesn’t mean that there are no male users. It simply means that there are more female users. Hence, TikTok would be a good fit for those marketing towards the young, especially if they want to target a female demographic. 

What Makes TikTok Tick

TikTok content is different from the usual content found on social media. As discussed a while ago, it has a strict set of guidelines when it comes to videos. However, the good thing is these guidelines often encourage originality rather than just restrict it. The bad news is you need to be more creative when it comes to TikTok marketing campaigns. What may work for other platforms may not do well on TikTok. Here are a few reasons why. 

TikTok Influencer Marketplace is Unique

TikTok users are different from Facebook or Instagram users. One glaring example is TikTok users don’t respond well to traditional advertisements. This means that the more ‘traditional’ an advertisement looks, the less likely it will perform well on TikTok. Some attribute it to the young generation’s distaste for traditional advertisements as a rule. If you want to have a successful TikTok campaign, you’ll need to think outside the box. 

TikTok Dwells on a Different Selling Strategy

Today’s young generation is looking for the next cool thing all the time. They don’t want to be told to ‘buy this’ or ‘buy that.’ The buying process for younger people is a little different. It has to come organically; the buyer has to feel like it was his idea to originally buy the product instead of being told to buy the product. Again, if you’re ever interested in pursuing a TikTok marketing campaign, it has to be unique. 

Kinds of TikTok Influencer Campaigns

Now that we’ve settled the basic discussions on how TikTok came about and what you should and shouldn’t post on the platform, we shall move on to the kinds of influencer campaigns you can run on TikTok. There are different kinds of campaigns available for brands on TikTok. In the following paragraphs, we’ll discuss what these campaigns are and if they’ll be a good fit for your brand. 

In-Feed Ads

One ad that you can explore is the possibility of buying in-feed advertisements. For this ad type, you’d have to buy or contact TikTok management instead of contracting it through an influencer. One good thing about these ads is that they’re visible to anyone who views the post. Hence, you can have guaranteed brand recognition. 

However, the downside is these can feel like a traditional ad. As hinted above, TikTok users don’t respond well to traditional ads. With in-feed ads, you can also customize your audience using the information that you have. 

For example, you can target a particular demographic — say women aged 25 below. But of course, this is no guarantee that the ad will work well. TikTok influencer prices can also be a limiting option. Thus, the choice relies on your brand’s goals and priorities.

Brand Takeover

Brand takeover is an innovation introduced by TikTok. You can do this by selecting a particular category for your brand and taking it over for the entire day. For example, you can select the “sunglasses” category, and your brand will appear on everything related to sunglasses for that day. 

This marketing strategy sounds amazing, especially when TikTok guarantees upwards of 5 million impressions per day for your brand. However, one limiting factor is the cost, which is reputed to be in the neighborhood of 50 thousand per day. It’s a plain TikTok influencer marketing calculator. Another downside is people may react positively or negatively to your strategy, but there’s no guarantee it’ll lead to purchases.

Challenge Ads

If you’re on Facebook, you’ve probably seen those ‘challenges’ that are taking social media by storm. The concept is pretty simple. You perform some act, upload it on social media, tag someone you know, and ‘challenge’ them to do the same thing. It’s basically harnessing the power of social media to enhance your brand. 

Challenge advertisements can work extremely well. A common, oft-cited example is Jimmy Fallon’s tumbleweed challenge, which had thousands of participants and resulted in millions of impressions for Fallon. 

The best part about this ad type is you can keep track of how many are participating by simply clicking on the hashtag used for your challenge. It’s also organic as opposed to traditional marketing, meaning it wouldn’t be so obvious and in-your-face for younger crowds. Hence, they’re more likely to respond positively to it.

TikTok Ad Creation: Choosing Your Fighter

If you decide to run a TikTok ad campaign, you can go about it in two ways. First, you can create an account for your brand and grow your marketing campaign through that account. Another option is to contact and choose influencers to help your brand marketing. TikTok influencer money should also be factored in. There are pros and cons to every option, and we’re here to help you make the better choice.

Making Your Own Account: Yay or Nay?

Making your own account is one option you can explore when you’re starting to run a TikTok marketing campaign. One advantage of this is you can have a higher level of control. You can decide what to post and how and when to post it. Remember, the final decision is always up to you. 

However, it also means starting from scratch. You’ll have to grow your brand organically, meaning you wouldn’t have the advantage of acquiring a massive reach at your fingertips. If the pros outweigh the cons for you, feel free to choose this option

Collaborating with Influencers

Conversely, you can harness the power of those who already have a massive reach of their own. Popular influencers can help your brand immensely. This also means that you wouldn’t have to grow your brand from scratch, and you can take advantage of their wide reach. 

However, choosing an influencer that fits your brand can be a challenge. For example, you should be able to choose someone relevant to your business’ niche and values. You need to look at how many followers and active engagers they have and see if their content fits your brand. 

Although TikTok’s content format is pretty similar to short videos, it can vary widely. And it wouldn’t work to choose an influencer that isn’t relevant to your brand. If you have a beauty brand, you should choose an influencer who is into beauty. 

If influencer hunting seems too tough and time-consuming, you can always ask a TikTok influencer marketing agency to find the most viable candidates. Only after choosing a relevant influencer should you look at their reach to see if they will fit your needs and market your brand effectively. 

Should Your Brand Hop Into TikTok Influencer Marketing?

TikTok marketing can be right for your brand if you know how to use it to your advantage. We hope that this short, handy TikTok influencer marketing guide was able to give you a comprehensive idea of what to expect when you’re exploring the world of TikTok marketing.

Like any marketing endeavor, all it takes are persistent research and the guts to be unique and genuine in this seemingly populated online world. 

To learn more about improving your brand strategy through influencer marketing, read our “Ultimate Guide to Growing Your Business with Influencer Marketing.” You can also check our article about “How to Work with Social Media Influencers.”