TikTok: Social media’s new powerhouse
TikTok has, with its mass appeal across a multitude of ages and demographics surpassed its predecessor’s success: one can practically find something for every need and interest. While entertainment and humor remain the leading content category, content within lifestyle is the runner-up. Here, creators within fitness, DIY/home renovations, beauty, and fashion respectively gather massive view counts.
A blooming portal for inspiration
For these creators, the platform serves as a way to share a more authentic, personal side of themselves compared to other social media channels. Also, there are also numerous influencers whose social media success primarily derives from their TikTok accounts.
Among these is fashion influencer Carla Rockmore, termed as the “real-life Carrie Bradshaw” by Vogue. Based in Dallas, Texas, Carla has worked as a fashion and jewelry designer for decades. However, with the covid-19 pandemic putting limitations on product development, she discovered TikTok as a platform for creative expression in April 2020. Since then, Carla has grown a large follower base sharing style advice and showing pieces from her impressive wardrobe.
VOCAST spoke to Carla about her experience as a lifestyle creator on the emerging platform:
@carlarockmore An “essential” is a piece you see yourself wearing with more than one look. #fashion #fashiontiktok #fashionadvice #style #fyp #foryou #foryoupage
Interview
From a creator’s perspective, how does TikTok differ from other social media platforms?
Carla: Tiktok Is a lot less formal. The follower expects less polish and production in the uploads. The platform allows for relatability more than the other platforms. Because my success in social media started on TikTok, all my videos on all platforms have an organic quality to them.
What type of TikToks do you find that your followers respond best to?
Carla: Fast and flash. Tiktok viewers need to get hooked with something fun in the first 5 seconds, or else they flip to the next video. So you need to understand how best to catch them. Your personality has to engage them enough keep their attention. They are also very visual.
In your opinion, what does it take to become a successful TikTok lifestyle influencer?
Carla: You need to be aspirational, entertaining, and informative all at the same time. Its also important to be consistent and authentic to your brand. If you take on too much advertising, or too many collaborations that don’t align with your brand, the followers see right through it.
What is the significance of TikTok in the world of fashion and lifestyle? Do you see it changing in the future?
Carla: Because Tiktok is less scripted, fashion is also less scripted on the platform. It has a frivolity and an authentic edge. Anyone can be a chef on Tiktok , anyone can be a beauty expert. You just have to have the right formula to be able to engage and keep your audience watching.
Making social media feel personal
One of the key features responsible for TikTok’s success is its technology. The app has become famous (or infamous) for its addictive algorithm, which curates a personal “For You” page specifically designed to make you want to stay on it longer. While older platforms to a larger extent rely on active online behavior, meaning following, liking, and commenting,
TikTok intends to capture its users’ passive behavior. This includes logs of how fast you scroll through content, how long videos are left on loop, as well as what category of sounds attracts your attention. This ultimately creates a hyper-responsive system of recommended content “For You”.
These personalized pages are the landing page of the app, and where 99% of the users’ engagement occurs, giving much real estate for aspiring creators to reach an audience. Being featured on the “For You” page is the way to gain traction and followers: creators thus try to growth-hack their way to being featured on as many users’ “For You” page as possible.
A unique and powerful algorithm
TikTok’s technical features offer unique opportunities for engagement. Its personally customized feed drives organic interaction between user and creator, which allows smaller users to reach new audiences. Your personal feed features a curated mix of content from any account that is predicted to match your detected preferences.
Videos that are predicted to create widespread organic interaction will therefore be featured on more people’s “For You” page. This explains why the concept of going “viral” is so prominent on TikTok. Users can go from zero to millions of followers in a matter of weeks, and content trends come and go daily. This offers the opportunity for instant engagement; it can effectively help users gather a following in a small amount of time.
For brands, this can have great publicity value: gaining traction on TikTok can have a spillover effect, making new potential customers aware of your product and leading them to your other platforms. Consequently, the number of brands embracing the app is ever-growing.
Keep up with the trends but stay true to your brand
When starting a TikTok account for your brand, it is beneficial to consider the unique features of the app and plan a strategy thereafter. Firstly, the nature of the app is more fast-paced than major competitors like Instagram. On Instagram, content can gain traction over time, and a particular style of the content may persist for several months.
On Tiktok, however, these processes can occur in a matter of hours. This indicates that one needs to pay closer and more continuous attention to what is currently trending.
Although it may boost your account short term, following any trend that may align with your brand will not make you stick out from the crowd of people doing the exact same. To create an impact that lasts, you need to consider what you want your brand voice and personality to be.
The algorithm of the app offers intimate engagement and connection: keeping in mind the individual on the other side of the screen is thus a critical part of gathering traction long-term. After all, the content on TikTok users’ For You page is primarily curated based on what content they continuously engage with, not the accounts they actually follow.
What type of content do people want to see on TikTok?
This allows for letting loose and having fun: shifting from a corporate to a more personal tone. Making this shift may be intimidating and unfamiliar; therefore, numerous brands have successfully partnered with popular TikTok personalities, giving a face to the brand and making it more approachable. Thus, brands’ own content as well as collaborations with influencers benefits from maintaining this human, more relaxed tone.
Among the brands that have successfully adopted a more humorous approach is Ganni. For Copenhagen Fashion Week, the brand partnered with popular humor and fashion creator Davis Burleson. As part of his popular TikTok show, “What’s Poppin?” Davis interviews people on the streets of New York City about their clothing and life in a playful way.
For the partnership with Ganni, Davis roamed the streets of Copenhagen interviewing fashionable people passing by, highlighting both what makes Danish fashion and people unique. The collaboration demonstrates how one can convey a humorous tone while still keeping one’s brand offerings in mind.
@ganni_official Who can do math, not us 🤗 #copenhagen #whatspoppin #ootd @davisburleson
Meet the TikTok influencers
TikTok stats
Sara is the Norwegian Market Coordinator at VOCAST, responsible for Norwegian fashion and lifestyle research. When not at VOCAST, she studies Brand and Communications at Copenhagen Business School. Besides work and studies, she is a travel, music and movie enthusiast.
SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER
Get free knowledge on how to optimize your B2B marketing & new product releases.
RELATED POSTS
This is why Scandinavian fashion is here to stay!
Scandinavian style plays a pivotal role in transforming the fashion industry, as its influence breaks the borders of the Nordic countries. ‘Scandi Style’, branded by its A-line and androgynous silhouettes, is more than an aesthetic, but the embodiment of its humble...
The Podcast Medium and Its Use in Communication
Podcasts are not a new phenomenon but have experienced a significant increase in both interest and the number of active podcasts over the last five to ten years. This trend is evident both in Denmark and internationally. Along with the increase in active podcasts, the...
The Rise of Maximalism
The mantra ‘less is more’ has long been celebrated in interior design, emphasizing the beauty of simplicity and minimalism. However, a different design philosophy is taking over, known as maximalism. This vibrant style stands in contrast to the minimalist trends that...