In the video world, it’s fair to say that 2020 was the year of TikTok, as the platform enjoyed surging growth. Here Stuart Flint, VP, Europe, Sales at TikTok, reflects on the successes of the past year looks at what to expect from the new social giant in 2021.Â
2021 will be a milestone year for brands and marketers alike, with the next 12 months shaped by how economies and people recover from this year’s global shockwaves and define new realities. While the vaccine rollout offers new hope that 2021 will mark a return to some kind of normal, we cannot underestimate how the past year has led to systemic changes in the way we live and work.
That means marketers can’t be complacent. We can’t go back to pre-covid ways.
Standing out in a competitive digital-first environment will be crucial, bringing the need for a distinct brand ‘personality’ as well as a genuine ability to engage prospective customers in conversations. In the past year, we’ve seen a brands of all sizes start to do just that, using our platform and our creator community to change the way they communicate to customers. We’ve only scratched the surface on some of these trends.
For 2021, these are my four big bets that I think brands and marketers will need to have a stake in to succeed next year:
Social commerce is an area I’m really excited about and it’s something that’s becoming increasingly important for every kind of organisation, from large scale multinationals to growing small businesses. We’ve already helped the likes of Balenciaga launch successful shoppable campaigns on TikTok, and just a few months ago we unveiled our global partnership with Shopify – which launched in the US in October and is coming to European markets in early 2021 – to help millions of merchants reach new audiences and drive sales within TikTok’s highly engaged community. As we look to 2021, this will be a big focus for us and we’re already seeing huge demand from brands and creators alike. I expect to see this become an increasingly key area for small businesses.
A new view of success – We are moving to a place where ‘creations’ will be as important a metric for brands as ‘views’ currently are. For a long time we’ve talked about how brand consumer engagement is two-way but it’s only really now, driven by Hashtag Challenges and Branded Effects, we are actually seeing that in action. Counting ‘views’ will remain a staple for measuring the effectiveness of some campaigns, however we’re already seeing greater emphasis placed on ‘creations’ as a way of evaluating impact. These types of metrics are a true mark of engagement, as people have bought into a brand activation to the extent that they have become creators for the campaign themselves.
Authenticity is all about having a brand personality and not being afraid to show it. This is no longer about being curated to the highest spec but rather about bringing in a human tone of voice that audiences can respond to. We’re seeing huge growth of people sharing their real-life experiences on TikTok – an antidote to the image of a ‘perfect’ life, which should inform decisions around content production in the coming years.
Exponential rise of sonic branding – In today’s world, it’s not just about how brands look, but how they sound. Having spent years creating ads for a sound-off environment, 2020 has proved that the demand is absolutely there for immersive storytelling in full screen, with sound on.
On TikTok, we’ve seen some of the most successful campaigns to date leveraging the power of music and sound to connect with audiences and show off their brand personality. Take the #AySauceChallenge from ASOS, a creative masterclass underpinned by a bespoke music track which elevated the campaign and enabled the brand to achieve cut-through in a competitive e-commerce environment.
And if we’re talking sonic branding then you can’t not talk about Just Eat (I bet you’ve sung it in your head haven’t you?) who have done such a great job of telling their brand story through sound on every platform including ours. Brands are finding comfort in sound once more, and that will only continue in 2021.
