TikTok: The New Era of Grassroots Marketing

Over the past year and a half, as people worldwide have endured an evolving society amid the COVID-19 pandemic, one company has changed the landscape of social media, communication, and marketing: TikTok. The endless scroll short video app has taken the world by storm, and much of its success lies in its algorithm. Designed to give each user a continued feed of unique curated content based upon their interactions with the app, TikTok enables new users the opportunity to succeed in a unique way.

This new trend has propped up small businesses, particularly those launched by young influencers (Addison Rae, Charli D'amelio, etc) through promotion on TikTok. In many ways, the digital era has ushered in a more balanced means of grassroots marketing, one which can reward the creativity of marketers rather than limiting opportunities to multi-million dollar billboard advertising. TikTok's design enables users to have a more level playing field when seeking to reach a massive audience.

Many may also think that TikTok is held back from a wider audience enjoyed by Instagram and Facebook because its users predominately fall into a narrow 16-24-year-old range. A recent Socialnomics article explained this by stating the statistic that, “According to Hubspot, 54% of consumers want their preferred brands to create more video content.” TikTok fulfills this need, which is even larger among teenagers with short attention spans, by being video-centric. And although Instagram has attempted to steal this model with the introduction of Reels, it hasn’t caught steam in the same way. Why is this?

Well, it’s because the most critical factor of TikTok’s inherent advantage in digital marketing is the ability for videos to go viral on its platform without a paid advertisement placement. Whereas other social media platforms have “paid post” spots where companies fight to get noticed, TikTok promotional videos can reach millions of viewers by simply generating engaging, unique content. One company that has taken advantage of this opportunity recently is Duolingo. Social media strategists at Duolingo have posted hundreds of videos of an individual dressed up as the Duolingo owl doing various TikTok trends. Going along with different audios, dances, and skits — all while in a somewhat unusual outfit — has generated lots of attention for their page. As a result, public relations tactics have helped the campaign get media coverage, with news articles reporting about the Duolingo owl as if it is the next Gritty or Ronald McDonald.

In response to the growing popularity of TikTok marketing, the app has recently released a strategy guide to creating a formal campaign strategy, just in time for the holiday season. TikTok’s “2021 Holiday Guide” emphasizes several statistics related to the impact of the app on prospective holiday shoppers. One statistic noted in the holiday guide is that “47% of TikTokers say that they have bought something they saw on TikTok” per an internal shopping behavior research survey. The guide recommends a target timeline for popular times when users shop and when content should be prepared. Without a doubt, it is clear that TikTok is here to stay, with innovative digital marketing strategies becoming integral to generating business users of the platform.

By: Samuel Raus