If you don’t know anything about TikTok, it is well and truly time to sit up and take notice. In the last 2 years, the platform growth has been exponential, currently boasting over 30m monthly active users on iOS and over 14m monthly active users on Android, worldwide. In 2023, TikTok has truly captured the attention of brands far and wide.

It’s projected that in 2 years’ time, there will be over 15m UK TikTok users.

This platform is not going away… And businesses are starting to take notice.

Which big brands are using TikTok?

You may have seen brands like Ryanair, Duolingo, and Nandos developing their TikTok presence with platform-first content, rather than cross-posting content from Facebook and Instagram, in a bid to harness new audiences. Original, vertical video content is what performs best on TikTok – particularly that which capitalises on what’s trending on the platform.

Back in 2021 we set up a TikTok partnership for our client, Kingsmill, with dance group Diversity. At the time this was considered really brave as not many brands had even dipped their toe into TikTok at this point. We wanted to reach our audiences in a new way – and this was by engaging families via a dance challenge. It’s so important brands are brave enough to get involved in new platforms in order to reach younger audiences and try different concepts. The Kingsmill dance challenge secured over 600,000 views. Have a look at the Kingsmillion Challenge on TikTok here.

In the coming weeks, you may spot our campaign with Lantmännen Unibake UK go live on TikTok, encouraging audiences to Pick Up a Danish Pastry. We’ll be working with a host of the hottest talent to engage with 18-25 year olds, showcasing how an in-store bakery is the ultimate destination for a sweet treat. This will be the brand’s first foray into TikTok, capturing its young audience with a range of snappy, engaging content in an extension of its 2022 Instagram-based project.

How to get your brand started on TikTok

Content for TikTok needs to be thought about differently. For starters, the biggest audiences on TikTok are Millennials and Gen Z, with entirely different consumption habits to baby boomers or Gen X. This younger audience is savvy to digital marketing and can recognise an ad from 0.001 seconds into the auto-play. This has given rise to a more ‘authentic’ style of content on TikTok, with less polish and more perceived honesty. So popular is this content on TikTok, that its influence is bleeding through onto channels like Instagram, which are constantly reinventing themselves to keep pace with TikTok.

TikTok themselves are constantly pushing to keep their audience on their channels for longer. One of their most recent changes, increasing the time limit on TikToks to 10mins, was met with surprise. But if you’ve got a bit of storytelling nous, and can find a way to keep your audience engaged for that length of time, like Hilton did with their recent 10 minute TikTok, the pay-off is huge.

So, is it time for your brand to get started on TikTok? Ask yourself:

  • Is our primary customer Gen Z or Millennial?
  • Is our customer open to fun, engaging content?
  • Is our customer looking for authenticity from the brands they buy/like?

If the answer to any of these is yes, then TikTok could be your next natural step…

Build your TikTok presence with Wild Card’s expertise

Want to find out more about starting on TikTok? You’re in the right place. Helping brands captivate their audiences on social media is part of what we do.

Get in touch with us today to find out how you can begin building your brand’s TikTok presence.