We often joke on our Influencer Marketing team that TikTok can feel like the Wild West.
As one of the fastest growing social platforms with over 1 billion users of all ages and demographics, TikTok has practically engrained itself into not just everyone’s lives, but our culture. It has established trends that have taken the internet by storm and has truly become an ever changing space where creativity runs rampant and people can gain massive amounts of followers overnight. It has redefined what social media is and, in all honesty, will probably continue to do so for years to come.
For all the reasons above and more, brands are seeing the true power TikTok has to reach consumers where they’re at and they’re tapping into who they follow to help them do so.
With that said, leveraging influencers on TikTok is one of the best ways brands can reach niche audiences and garner impressive results if they work with the right partner, and most importantly, implement the right strategy for those partners.
Let’s dive in further on some of the best things to consider when developing an influencer marketing strategy for TikTok.
What IS influencer marketing?
Oh, I am so glad you asked!
As an influencer marketer myself, my own father asks me at least once a month to explain what I do for work and has still yet to understand it, To give my dad some credit though, social media didn’t exist in his generation and he’s still having a hard time learning that Instagram Stories aren’t photos that people are only sharing with just him, so we’ll give him some leeway here.
To put it simply, influencer marketing is a partnership between a brand and influencer, in which the influencer gets paid to create and post social media content that promotes and endorses the brand.
Influencer marketing has grown into a $21.1 billion industry, an increase of 29% from $16.4 billion in 2022. In tandem with the industry’s marketing budgets allocating more and more for influencer marketing, the profession itself is also booming, with the creator economy size currently inching towards $104 billion and it has a growth trajectory that’s projected to be in the trillions!
Woah.
Influencers are trusted experts in their niche and have built up a loyal following that looks to them for their recommendations, making them natural brand partners. In fact, according to a study by Digital Marketing Institute, 49% of consumers depend on influencer recommendations to drive their purchase decisions and 82% of them really trust the endorsement of someone they follow on social media, which shows how powerful an influencer partnership can be if done correctly.
The beauty of working with these influencers specifically on TikTok is that the platform’s algorithm allows a higher likelihood that their content will reach followers with similar interests. This allows the brand to thus reach new audiences that likely aren’t following the influencer themselves or even the brand.
Now that you’re excited about influencer marketing and eager to start a TikTok campaign, let’s focus on developing your strategy and establishing goals.
What goals can influencer marketing campaigns help your brand achieve?
First, ground yourself with the overall goal of the campaign.
Is the brand looking to increase sales?
Build brand awareness?
Drive sign ups?
Identify what the goal is first, and then the strategy shall follow!
According to a study by Linqia, 77% of marketers measure success using engagement, followed by 65% of them using clicks.
TikTok can be especially great for increasing brand awareness, driving engagement and even driving conversion, but those all depend on what level of influencer you work with. Therefore, it’s important to keep any metrics goals in mind so you can then create a strategy that aligns with the right level of influencer to help you achieve that goal.
As a quick overview of how an influencer tier can help achieve specific KPIs:
- Micro Influencers – help to grow your community and generate conversation → engagement and share of voice
- Mid Tier & Macro Influencers – drive brand relevance → engagement and conversion
- Mega and Celebrity Influencers – mass awareness of your brand → impressions
Developing your TikTok Influencer strategy
While there are a lot of things that come into play when determining which direction your brand should go in, ultimately your partnership content should be authentic and engaging for followers. Below are a few things to consider when creating an effective influencer strategy for TikTok.
- Consider Long-term versus Short-Term Partnerships – For campaigns that are more than a few weeks, consider a long term partnership with an influencer, in which they share a few rounds of content with their followers versus just one. Especially for brands that are looking to drive brand awareness, these are especially effective because it helps to build trust.
- Be collaborative with influencers, not prescriptive – Influencers know their followers best. Let me repeat that for those in the back – INFLUENCERS KNOW THEIR FOLLOWERS BEST. They know what they like, what they respond to, what they’ll engage with, and what they’ll see as the most authentic branded content. This is why it’s important for brands to be collaborative with influencers versus being overly prescriptive with what they want the content to look like. Work with them on how they can bring your campaign and key messaging to life for their audience. Provide them the campaign’s goals, key messaging they need to hit, and their deadlines and watch their creativity soar! At Movement, we’ve even found having influencers share their ideas in a Written Creative Concept to get the brand involved in the creative process ahead of any content being filmed!
- Leverage TikTok trends: Trends have a tendency to go viral for a short period of time and users quickly jump on them. Brands can partner with influencers to create quick, reactive branded content to these trends, natively leveraging the partnership on TikTok. Along with trending content styles, consider trending sounds, particularly royalty free ones for brand partnerships.
- Be educational and demonstrative: In many ways, TikTok can feel like the new Google. There have been countless times I’ve gone to the platform to search for a recipe, see a product review, or to learn how to do something. In fact, According to Nieman Lab, 40% of Gen Z reported using TikTok and Instagram for searching instead of Google.
Launching Your TikTok Influencer strategy
When working with influencers, collaborate with them to create content that not only inspires followers but educates them on “why” they should engage with your brand.
- If it’s an actual product being promoted, show it in use or styled.
- If it’s an entertainment brand, create content that generates excitement and teases followers why they’re going to love watching.
- If it’s food related, how can it be used?
Let influencers lean into the show-and-tell so consumers can learn the value your brand will provide them.
Incorporating TikTok into your influencer marketing strategy requires careful planning and execution. By aligning your campaign goals with the right partnerships and the right strategies, you can harness the immense potential of TikTok for your next influencer marketing campaign. Use Influencers on TikTok to reach new audiences, foster brand loyalty and drive meaningful engagement with your target audience. Happy TikTok’ing!
