Branding and customer engagement have been revolutionised in today’s digital age. Streaming platforms have become an essential marketing toolkit for businesses, gaining traction over conventional marketing strategies. Business owners may find it overwhelming given the wide range of platforms available. Here’s why business owners should be looking at Tiktok and Instagram:
Tiktok is a video only platform, whereas on Instagram you could upload a combination of photos and videos. There are over 1.074 billion monthly active users on Instagram in 2021 (eMarketer, 2020) and TikTok has 1 billion monthly active users.
Top App Downloads
Source: SensorTower Q4 2020
Why Tiktok and Instagram?
Other platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube are already saturated with brands and businesses operating on the platforms. Both Tiktok and Instagram remain the top downloaded apps for 2020 and can provide businesses an unsaturated platform for marketing.
A majority of Tiktok and Instagram users are under 35, which means that a large base of audience is readily available to be engaged with. This generation is particularly not fond of direct advertising and this has given rise to new age marketing such as attention grabbing short videos comprising ongoing trends and challenges.
Are Tiktok and Instagram the right fit for my business?
While they may not be the right fit for any business, it is the right fit for you if:
- Your target audience is those under 35
- You are looking to increase brand awareness or business presence to younger audience
- Your products or services can easily be showcased in a video
- You are open to trying new things
- You don’t mind spending time to experiment with the platform and content
Looking for inspiration? Brands like Nike, Pepsi, Skittles, Universal Pictures and Chipotle have all leveraged the platform and its potential to reach a wider audience.
Community Building & Brand Awareness
As you create and share content, your followers will grow and likely interact with you via recreating your videos or responding to them, which will build an organic community that could widen the reach of your business, coupled with the usage of hashtags. As the community grows, so will your brand awareness.
The Power of Algorithms
The built-in algorithms ensure that users are routinely shown new content everyday. This will increase your posts’ reach and brand exposure. This opens up to genuine prospects and referrals coming your way as they are now aware of your brand and presence.
Niche Communities
BusinessTok or BrandTok are two niche communities on TikTok where entrepreneurs and business leaders share their experiences, tops and livestream some of their events. Instagram for Business is also loaded with features to fund your own community. This could serve as an invaluable source of business intelligence for business owners. In addition, business owners could conduct their competitor research on the platform and gain valuable insights.
As a business owner, it is key to identify blue ocean strategies as competing in red oceans are less than feasible. It will be advantageous to business owners to look into these platforms before they become highly saturated.
References:
Instagram by the Numbers (2021): Stats, Demographics & Fun Facts (omnicoreagency.com)
TikTok User Statistics (2021) (backlinko.com)
