How to launch a successful influencer TikTok campaign

Who knows the platform even just a little also knows how unpredictable the algorithm of it is, and how difficult it is to forecast how content is going to perform. Especially if it’s commercial content. However, as a brand it’s important to be present on different platforms, and TikTok is one of them. But how can you put on a successful TikTok campaign on such a difficult to advertise platform? 

At UPR, we have been working with influencers for years, and next to Instagram, TikTok also became one of our regular playing fields. Because of our regular interaction with the platform, we built an expertise and managed to create some viral content for our clients. You can check the video’s of Berend-Jan and Alejandro for Zalando, Jerrel’s for M.A.C Cosmetics and Imaani’s for Calzedonia. So how did we do this?  

First of all, know your brand, know your target audience and know the creators you’re working with. TikTok is a platform with a very young audience, more than 52% of the users are between 10 and 29 years old (Social Shepherd, 2023). When Instagram was launched, it was all about the perfect pictures with fantastic settings and without even one flaw. As a reaction to that, TikTok is all about raw, fun and ‘reel’ content. People are making fun of themselves; filters aren’t used as often and it’s all about the trends of a particular moment.  

This is the first thing brands need to understand when advertising through influencers on TikTok; TikTok is not Instagram and content that would perform well on Instagram, often won’t perform in the same way on TikTok. Therefore, brands should look for influencers who have an outspoken kind of content with a high number of views. The number of followers on TikTok says nothing about the number of views a video is going to get. If the video is good, the algorithm will push it, and a video could easily go viral. To enhance the chances of going viral, brands should really trust the selected creators because they know best what will perform well on their profile.  

Of course, brands do want to brief influencers about what kind of content is expected, and this is totally ok. But there are two things to keep in mind when doing so: 1. don’t copy paste an Instagram brief. The brief should consist of general guidelines rather than exact directions. 2. TikTok is all about fast-paced trends and an unmissable part of those is music. For example, briefing influencers to use a song that is popular now, won’t guarantee success by the content is posted as that trend will be already in the past. Better to brief to use trends of the moment. And no one knows better than the influencers what will be the next hot thing.  

The general conclusion you could draw, is that TikTok is all about giving creative freedom to the selected influencers and trusting them with it. By doing this, the content has a way bigger chance of delivering great results, but also influencers will appreciate it. They will want to work with your brand again, and will go the extra mile, which again leads to better content.  

Interested in growing your brand through TikTok? Feel free to reach out to lauraslijpen@upragency.com.  

https://thesocialshepherd.com/blog/tiktok-statistics