Why Many TikTok Marketing Campaigns Are Doomed to Fail
Whether you’re a top level marketer or not, everybody knows the important role social media platforms now play in the success of brands. Social platforms play a vital role in every marketing campaign, with brands needing to create unique and engaging ideas for multiple different social media platforms in order to maximise their reach. One of the most significant social media platforms that has emerged in more recent times is TikTok.
With over 1 billion users, TikTok presents the perfect place for brands to apply an effective marketing strategy. It has become a platform that can help a brand to flourish, whether it’s a relatively new brand looking to gain a following or a long-established brand that wants to better connect with a community.
However, many TikTok marketing campaigns are often doomed for failure before they’ve even begun, but why? Here are some of the many mistakes that brands often overlook in their TikTok marketing campaigns.
Not Understanding The Platform Users
To succeed in anything, you have to know a bit about it first. When it comes to your marketing campaigns, you want to rely on something a bit more than just beginner’s luck. To make sure you get the response you want, it’s important to understand the platform, how it works, and what grabs the attention of its users.
TikTok has become an immensely popular social media platform in recent times, and although it is often thought of as a Gen Z-dominated platform, the majority of the user base is 18-34 year olds. Because of this, it’s important to tailor your content and marketing towards Gen Z and younger Millennials.
When you don’t understand the platform you’re using, you can end up wasting a lot of time, money, and resources on creating marketing campaigns that simply aren’t engaging nor relatable to its users.
Inconsistency
We’ve all heard the famous quote ‘consistency is key’, and this also applies to your TikTok marketing campaigns! This means that an essential part of your campaign plan should be figuring out a posting schedule for your content – and sticking to it!
Posting consistently on your TikTok profile can be enormously beneficial when it comes to building momentum for your brand. The more you post, the more likely you are to be seen by greater numbers of people.
A consistent posting schedule can also be great because it fills up your profile with content. This means that by the time a user finds your profile, there will be tons of fun and engaging content for them to scroll through and enjoy. If they land on your profile to see there’s only a few posts or that the last post was posted weeks or even months ago they’re going to lose interest fast.
A lack of authenticity
There’s no pulling the wool over TikTok users’ eyes, as they can sniff out authenticity from miles away. Many brands’ marketing campaigns fail because they do not create videos that convey their true identity. TikTok is known for its trends, funny videos and is a hub for meme-able content, but that also doesn’t mean that heartfelt or informational content cannot thrive too – it just has to be authentic and true to the brand voice!
Showing your human side is exactly what resonates with the users of TikTok; they want to see real, authentic and engaging content. This means showing the faces behind the brand itself, humanising it, showing the day-to-day goings on and real, genuine videos of the people who work there. By doing this, people are able to laugh along with the video and connect on a human level with the brand rather than feeling that disconnect because they know they’re simply being sold something.
Not utilising trends
If there’s one thing that everybody knows when it comes to TikTok, it’s the trends. From the rapidly growing popularity of sounds to dances or challenges, this is what Tik Tok is known for. Trends on this social media platform come thick and fast, and before you know it, they become old news so it’s important to try and jump on them as early as possible to have the most impact.
Effective marketing campaigns on TikTok are all about being ready and reactive. Trends come and go fast, but they can be big, and they can be effective. Use these trends while they’re popular and it can skyrocket your brand like nothing else. This can mean using funny filters, audio clips, dances or voiceovers to find a funny way to incorporate your brand into it.
However, pick wisely! Whilst trends are important, not every single TikTok trend is going to be able to relate back to your brand. Creating a video with a trend that doesn’t really work can negatively impact your Tik Tok brand, so only use the trends when you genuinely feel they can align with your brand.
Lack of engagement
It’s not enough to just post your content and leave it be, no! Once it’s posted, get involved and engage with your audience in the comment section. Community is a huge part of social media and building a following, and this is no less important on TikTok.
Your comment section is a great opportunity to continue showing off your brand voice, from funny replies to comments to answering questions to help out and inform your audiences further.
Coming across too salesy
We’re not going to sit here and say that paid aids don’t work, because they certainly do. Paid ads have their place in marketing campaigns, however, there’s a time and place and in order to have a very successful campaign on TikTok you need to look outside of just paid ads which directly promote your products or services.
This means creating videos that aren’t directly trying to sell the audience something. Instead, create videos that are humorous, fun and most importantly, relatable, as these are the things that are going to see your marketing campaign draw in the numbers. Social media users, but especially TikTok users, are much more likely to switch off and skip video when they see it’s a paid ad rather than an authentic community video.
Forgettin g to use hashtags
No matter what social media platform you’re using, hashtags are an important part of it. It’s how users can discover your content with ease, and this is no different on TikTok.
As well as creating a strategy for the actual content of your videos, you need to create a hashtag strategy too. Google data shows that in 2023 40% of Gen Z is using TikTok as a search engine as opposed to Google. This statistic alone shows an enormous opportunity for discoverability and shows the way people are using TikTok as not only a way to find funny videos but also answer questions and find products.
Taking yourself too seriously
TikTok is a platform known for its fun, light-hearted, and often humorous content. Users flock to TikTok to be entertained, inspired, and engaged in a playful manner. Therefore, brands that adopt a rigid, overly formal, or serious tone may struggle to connect with the TikTok community.
The key to success on TikTok is embracing the platform’s unique culture and adapting your brand’s messaging accordingly. By infusing your content with creativity and a sense of humour, you’re much more likely to capture the attention of avid TikTokers. Think outside the box, experiment with trends and challenges, and don’t be afraid to let your brand’s personality shine through. Loosen up, have fun, and show your audience that you can be a part of the TikTok community too.
Not partnering with other creators
Collaboration is a fundamental aspect of TikTok’s ecosystem, and one major mistake to avoid in your TikTok marketing campaign is forgetting to partner with other creators. TikTok is built on a community of diverse and talented content creators who have amassed significant followings and influence. By collaborating with these creators, you can tap into their existing audience base, expand your reach, and increase your brand’s visibility.
To collaborate effectively, first identify creators whose content aligns with your brand’s image, values, or target audience. Reach out to them through direct messages, comments, or by using collaboration features on TikTok. When collaborating, ensure that the partnership is mutually beneficial and that both parties bring value to each other’s audiences.
Reusing old content
It can be tempting to incorporate old content into your marketing campaign because it saves time, you think it was a really good idea, and maybe was even very popular on Instagram or Facebook. However, this does not mean it’s going to have the same impact on TikTok.
TikTok is very much a world of its own, and as such, it’s important to not reuse old content but instead make fresh, unique content that is made in the TikTok app itself. Fresh content is always a good thing, and can really help to continue the momentum that a previous video started.
This also applies to those brands that create one big video that garners a lot of popularity, but then they never build from there, instead relying on that one video continuously circulating to get more followers. Oftentimes, this burns people out as they get bored of seeing the same old video appearing on their feed over and over again and can even turn them off the brand entirely.
Closing thoughts
There’s no denying the importance of TikTok within the online world at present and the role it plays in brand popularity and building your online presence. Sure, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to creating content for TikTok, from doing the research prior to posting, using the right hashtags, jumping on the right trends and much more. However, the pay-off can be great!
By avoiding these marketing campaign mistakes, brands can help ensure that their content resonates and conveys their brand in the right way. This is why many brands are turning to video production agencies such as Perspective Pictures to create TikTok-ready campaigns that are poised to go viral. Visit Perspective Pictures’ website to get started on your brand’s TikTok journey today.
