Every day more and more content creators start their influencing journey and begin growing their audiences on social media. So, it is hardly surprising that brands ranging from global behemoths to one-man bands are looking for smart ways to leverage the buzz that these creative social media users generate.
TikTok is currently the most exciting social media platform where we see both up-and-coming and well-established content creators looking to grow their audience, personal brand and engagement. In turn, this makes it arguably the most exciting platform for brands to find opportunities for mutually beneficial collaborations.
In this article, we will explore why brand collabs on TikTok are growing at a rapid rate and why you should be jumping in on this trend in 2022.
Why TikTok?
From the massively engaged communities of Facebook to the aesthetically pleasing images of Instagram, there are plenty of well established social media platforms, content creators and influencers to choose from when it comes to brand collaborations - so why TikTok?
Well, to start with the app is exploding in popularity, seeing a massive 2.6 billion downloads in 2020, as well as hitting 1 billion active users in 2021. Users of the app are also extremely engaged, with 90% of users accessing the app and digesting content daily.
The platform also offers access to a huge demographic of users across the globe. Although the app was originally aimed and taken up by a younger audience (369.5 million ages 18-24), there is now a huge spread of engaged users across the board including:
266.1 million users aged 25 to 34
109.9 million users aged 35 to 44
51.8 million users aged 45 to 54
27.3 million users aged 55 and above
Source: DATAREPORTAL
Clearly, there is a huge opportunity for brands to reach their target audience if they can create compelling content on TikTok. That is where collaborations come in…
The Collaboration Factor
There are several ways brands can engage with their audience on TikTok these include:
Paid advertising on the platform
Publishing self-created organic content
Working with content creators to generate content and boost reach
There are pros and cons to all of these methods. However, working with content creators offers brands a way to grow their presence on the platform in a natural, native way. This offers considerable benefits over other methods. We will explore these benefits in more detail below…
Brand Benefits
So, what are the benefits for brands of using collaborations on TikTok?
Boost Reach
We have already explored some of the ways that brands can reach their audiences on the TikTok platform. When it comes to publishing brand created content, although TikTok has a significantly higher level of organic reach than most other social platforms, ultimately the platform wants you to pay for ads to extend your reach far beyond your current audience.
Brand collaborations allow you to bypass the traditional pay-for-reach model and engage with a much wider audience on the platform via content creators' own audience.
Drive Desired Results
Although increasing your reach is a huge benefit to working with content creators, ultimately this can be achieved via paid advertising, often in a shorter period of time - if you have the budget.
However, working with creators is also a smart way to drive the desired results from the increase in reach you receive. After all, it is pointless to reach a huge audience if you cannot compel them to take action.
Creators gain their position for popularity through a deep understanding of the type of content that:
Captures your target audience's attention
Increases audience engagement
Compels action
In fact, TikTok reported that ads created in partnership with creators gained brands a massive 83% increase in their engagement rates.
It is clear that working with TikTok creators is great for driving desired outcomes in terms of attention and engagement. But it is also a smart way to boost brand recognition.
For example, TikTok reported that working with creators increased brand recall, especially in some niches:
CPG = 48% increase in recall compared to unaided content
Beauty = 45% increase in recall compared to unaided content
Fashion = 42% increase in recall compared to unaided content
Luxury = 37% increase in recall compared to unaided content
Show a Human Face
Consumers are increasingly looking to buy from brands that naturally align with their own personalities and values. Although brands can do a lot to develop their personality, it is practically impossible for a company to build relationships based on shared values as well as humans can.
This is where working with content creators on TikTok comes in. When you work with a creator it allows you to put human faces behind your brand. This is arguably more powerful than other social platforms as the video-first nature of TikTok helps creators to develop stronger and more authentic relationships with their audience.
Simplicity
Collaborations with creators offer brands a simple way to supercharge their marketing, many of the benefits of which would be costly and time-consuming to create using other methods.
For example, to create content that is engaging to your audience a brand would typically have to work with a full video production company, yet working with content creators offers you a simple and cost-effective way to achieve the same result. The same can be said of the level of reach you can achieve whilst not needing to invest in huge ad budgets.
TikTok Collaboration Success
You don’t have to be a brand behemoth to benefit from collaborations on TikTok. Many SMEs are now finding explosive growth in their accounts and increases in sales as a result of being proactive on the platform.
For example, small business The Silk Lab saw massive growth when some of their own videos went viral. The brand then further boosted growth by approaching key content creators to help spread the message and generate sales.
In fact, small businesses with new and innovative products are likely to benefit much more greatly from collaborations than larger businesses due to the novelty and more natural nature of collaborations.
TikTok Collaborations: Summary
It is clear that brand collabs on TikTok are highly beneficial and likely to grow in popularity as the platform becomes a staple in the marketing strategies of all businesses. In this article, we have run through various reasons why collaborations on TikTok might be a great idea for your business.