Marketing In The News: TikTok

 I chose to read and analyze the news article, “TikTok dethrones Google as most-visited website” written by author Natalie Koltun. This article caught my attention because TikTok has become a huge platform. I have always been curious about when companies are going to start realizing the potential of using TikTok as a marketing strategy and therefore was interested in learning more from this article. 

Koltun goes into more detail about how fast the app grew, and with the help of COVID-19, the social platform jumped to the top over Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, Netflix, and Amazon. The app now hosts over 1 billion monthly average users and the numbers continue to grow. The rise in popularity has also, “attracted the attention of brand marketers seeking ways to reach younger consumers hungry for creator-produced video content”. With a new opportunity to reach companies' target audience, both marketers and creators are working to include the popular social platform into their campaigning strategies, and even creating new job opportunities to help do so. The nature of short viral videos was foreign to most big companies but as more people are feeling comfortable with TikTok creation, advertisements have been able to become more popular and successful on the app. 

TikTok's unique value proposition contributes greatly to its success. The app offers creators of any size to go viral and rewards views based on content. They also focus on the community side of social media and work to connect as many users as possible. This is why we see thousands of viral videos every time someone opens the app. All of this also creates user trust and loyalty. This also provides a unique marketing approach for companies that can create fun advertisements and community engagement with the potential to go viral. 

I think when TikTok first came out many people underestimated its power in terms of marketing potential. The social media app opened so many new doors for companies to reach a younger generation. I personally have seen companies work to create viral content and grow a following and one company, in particular, comes to mind. The language learning app, Duolingo has been able to gain over 2.3 million followers, with over 41.3 million likes on all their videos, based on strategic marketing, and community engagement. This shows the possibility for all companies to utilize this new marketing opportunity. 

The article did explain that the rise of popularity for TikTok “hasn't been without road bumps''. Data security has been an issue discussed many times and almost led to a ban on the app in the United States. This uncertainty could potentially make it difficult for companies that are investing a lot into these new marketing campaigns. However, a new presidential administration withdrew the banning order and instead put it under review.  

Overall, marketing on Tiktok is a great opportunity but it also comes with a few disadvantages. Getting engagement and views is far from given and may take a lot of time, effort, and money to get a following or engagement on a company's page or product. Producing enough content is also a lot of work if you want to stay consistent with the company’s brand and will require a full-time position. However, even with these potential downfalls, I would still argue that companies should consider TikTok to be a part of their marketing solution. 

This article was very interesting and relevant. I enjoyed learning more about how companies are utilizing a new and popular social media platform to promote their company’s brand. 

Article Link: TikTok dethrones Google as most-visited website