You probably have seen a video made on TikTok that has been shared somewhere online, even if you don’t use the app. Despite being one of the newest networks on the market, the social media behemoth boasted an announcement of 1 billion active users, proving its massive reach.
The app makes money via sponsorships and the selling of emoji and sticker packs to fans. The success of the app can be attributed to its intuitive design, which blends sensationalist news and entertainment with sophisticated AI to exactly match users rather than merely offer material based on their viewing patterns and “likes.”
TikTok has a more regionalized approach to marketing than its rivals Instagram and Facebook. We’ve outlined the primary localization tactics TikTok uses to interact with its worldwide audience, and we think these lessons can be used by any company thinking about going global.
Why Brands Should Care About TikTok
Although most organisations are seeing success on other social media channels, TikTok is quickly becoming an integral part of any successful marketing plan. For starters, there is a discrepancy between the inventors’ and users’ conceptions of the algorithm’s utility.
Marketers rely on two distinct sorts of timing when it comes to communicating their messages: evergreen content that stays relevant for a long time and time-sensitive material that has to become viral immediately. Both are available on TikTok. Your film may be immediately and extensively disseminated, and it can also remain in regular circulation for at least three months. On other channels, you’ll need to pay to get that kind of permanent exposure.
Also, you may reach a new audience on TikTok that you wouldn’t have been able to reach on any other network. Many users of TikTok, for instance, belong to Generation Z, and this demographic either doesn’t utilise other platforms or chooses to ignore them in favour of TikTok.
If you want to reach people in Generation Z, one of the few places you can do it with any degree of certainty is on the video sharing platform TikTok. TikTok is also becoming increasingly popular among members of Generations Y and X.
Is there anything that other companies can learn from how TikTok expanded internationally?
Take part in local customs and traditions.
To begin, you may rocket your business to new heights with the proper localization approach. Using a more regionalized approach allowed TikTok to break out of China and into markets all over the world. TikTok has done something truly spectacular by providing a platform where its billions of members may feel included and valued.
Simple market trend monitoring might help you achieve this goal. To do this, there are several options, the easiest of which is to adapt your use of hashtags on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn for each nation.
Moreover, tools like Hashtagify make it possible to monitor hashtag trends in a variety of global industries. TikTok generates a #Hashtag to provide direction to producers, who subsequently spread the word about the video. Louis Vuitton, Guess, and Christian Dior are just a few of the businesses that have successfully employed TikTok campaigns to increase brand awareness and attract new customers. You may learn more about local dialogues and customer behaviour by keeping up with important local newspapers and avoiding potentially damaging posts or PR catastrophes.
Network with key opinion leaders in your area.
When expanding into a new market, influencers might be the most effective bridge between your business and new clients. When you collaborate with micro-influencers in your area, you may boost your brand’s visibility and solidify your company’s position inside its market niche, which in turn helps you attract more clients.
To this end, TikTok partnered with Singaporean film and television star Jack Neo before to the premiere of Killer Not Stupid, Neo’s first action comedy feature. Tik Tok also included a song from the film’s soundtrack in its music library and issued a challenge to its user base to come up with a finger dance to the tune.
If you want to keep the press from saying anything bad about your alliance, you need to be very selective about the influencers you choose to work with.
Real-Time Markets
TikTok relies more heavily on the popularity of its influencers. More things may be sold by Tik Tok influencers thanks to their massive fan bases. Late in 2021, TikTok initiated a number of initiatives meant to establish the firm as a formidable rival in the online retail sector. These “live” or “social” shopping events, like the ones presented on TikTok, are a growing aspect of the digital retail industry. The live nature of TikTok’s e-commerce enables for more regular connection with customers than more conventional forms of advertising.
Fans may engage with their favourite artists and the company on a much more personal level by posing questions regarding the product, requesting the creator’s opinion, or asking for a different point of view.
Via TikTok’s business strategy, online retailers may gain a continuous understanding of their consumers’ wants and requirements. TikTok places a premium on working with eCommerce platforms like Alibaba, so users may be swiftly sent there. Customers’ impulsive buys are turned into actual purchases using this strategy. User engagement is increased thanks to TikTok’s flexible business strategy, which includes features like influencers plus mega stars and setting up live commerce in the factory.
Stay adaptable
Maintain your focus on localising your content; it’s not enough to simply hire a local content team to develop your website; you must also guarantee that all of your communications are of the highest possible quality. Because of how important it is for TikTok to work well in different regions, the team proofreads every material before releasing an update. In addition, linguists do quality assurance once a month to guarantee accuracy.
You may maintain your adaptability and reliably reach out to multinational audiences by cultivating long-term connections with content and language specialists.