In 2016, the ByteDance company created a new app TikTok, which is also circulating within the Chinese market, known as Douyin. In only one year, this app had a remarkable hundred million active users per month. It was a huge success for ByteDance, so they launched an international version. Shortly after being launched, ByteDance acquired Musical.ly and kept on growing. They were able to create an overlarge community and are moving forward towards enormous levels.
The platform essentially allows people to view videos that are short and under 15 seconds long. Users can browse through as many videos as they want and can also create a profile. It allows people to follow other users and post their own videos. A lot of people compare this app to the now-defunct Vine and Snapchat. One of the most common types of videos that can be viewed on the platform is the lip-syncing video. Many users like to sing along to songs that have been included within this app. However, some videos are related to parkour, dancing, magic tricks, fails, challenges, and more.
Lightning Speed Growth
This app has been one of the fastest-growing in the world regarding the number of users and popularity increase. It is also one of the very few apps, which have proven success both in China and abroad. Soon after its launch in 2017, the app was downloaded over 600 million times in 2018. These statistics have made it the fourth most commonly downloaded non-gaming app. This news has brought the world on board with the TikTok app.
What Is so Special About It?
If you look at all its features: lip-syncing, short videos, filters – haven’t we seen all of these things before? Most of TikTok’s features aren’t anything new; however, the way they have been brought together and offered to their users is something quite spectacular and unique. Unlike a lot of their predecessors in the short video niche, TikTok has incorporated many features that make it easier to create content.
With a lot of other platforms, users can simply consume the content and have very little interaction with the platform itself. TikTok has done great things by providing music clips, editing tools, filters, sound effects, and much more for users to customize videos. They have also made it very simple to create short and high-quality video clips.
The challenge function implemented by TikTok provides an incentive for every user to create their own unique video. They release challenges regularly that any user can take part in. It also encourages popular people to accept and complete these challenges. This is all tied together with the functionality of hashtags, which give users additional substance to participate.
All of the users are enticed to engage in platform features rather than just observing them. A study of TikTok users in 2018 showed that 77% outlined their motivation for using the platform — which was to make funny videos. Think about how powerful this tool could be for social media marketing. This is something that numerous brands can use to entice people to make purchases. Ever since the launch, many brands on TikTok have been increasing their conversions and metrics by posting and sponsoring various videos.
The Performance of the Platform Since Its Launch
TikTok has indeed become one of the most popular apps in China, plus its appeal has increased all over the world. It is fair to say that TikTok has done incredibly well given the timespan. The platform was only launched in 2016, and since then, it has had over 500 million active users per month. This has made it one of the largest social media platforms worldwide. All sorts of companies all over the world have been jumping on the bandwagon, using this wonderful place for Social Media Marketing needs, mainly due to the extensive reach available.
Growth and the Opportunity for Marketing
TikTok has had enormous success, having brought in revenues of almost 500 million yuan ever since it started selling virtual coins in 2019. The most surprising thing about this is that a lot of income comes from United States users. It shows that TikTok marketing strategies can be employed by companies worldwide. ByteDance has had to spend around 15 million RMB a day on overseas traffic acquisition, but it seems to have paid off and is boosting the number of users daily.
One can see how important the platform is for businesses, with over 11,000 businesses applying for “verified organization accounts” on TikTok. Everybody is trying to get in on the action, and in China, the largest brands have been running successful marketing campaigns for many years. Even though this is a relatively young platform, most marketing experts have predicted that the amount of money spent on TikTok marketing worldwide is going to increase over time.
Conclusion
Tiktok digital marketing strategies are promising for many companies who wish to exploit their platform’s large audience. As more and more businesses purchase verified accounts and the number of users grows on a daily basis, Tiktok is a platform that every company can tap into with their marketing strategy. This small player is growing to be a major one.
