We all know by now that TikTok has moved on from being a dancing app only used by teenagers. With over 1 billion global users, long gone are the days when TikTok was an app that social media managers were just starting to hear about and businesses feared. (Ok, some businesses still fear it!)
But today there are so many businesses absolutely killing it on TikTok, it’s impossible to ignore the potential of this powerhouse social media platform.
We’re going to take a closer look at 5 brands with killer TikTok marketing strategies and hopefully give you some inspiration about how to build a brand on TikTok.
NBA
The NBA is an incredibly well established brand in the sporting world but TikTok doesn’t give handouts.
The NBA TikTok account is so successful because it knows how to differentiate its content for different social media channels. It leans into, not away from, the stark differences between Twitter and TikTok and creates captivating content for each audience.
The NBA uses Twitter like many brands, to share news and updates. Twitter is where their fans will head to for the latest basketball news and they know they’ll find it on the NBA’s page.
What the NBA does well is acknowledging that its audience don’t use TikTok for the same reason. If their users are on TikTok they’re looking for fun, engaging and ‘likeable’ content. To meet this need, the NBA creates effective short-form content that grips the viewer instantly and makes them want to watch until the end of the clip.
Whether you’re a basketball fan or not, the NBA is one of the best brands on TikTok and their account provides content that you just want to see more of. Don’t believe us? We think their 17+ million followers speak for themselves!
ASOS
ASOS have used various partnerships on TikTok to their advantage, most recently pairing up with @sylvaniandrama, a wildly popular parody account of the Sylvanian Families brand of miniature animal figurines.
This clever partnership cut across both accounts’ target audiences and placed ASOS at the centre of one of the hilarious dramas between the Sylvanian Families characters.
This is a great example of how using TikTok as a brand and engaging in well thought out partnerships can open your brand up to new audiences and elevate your brand positioning.
As well as their success on the app, ASOS have also hit the mark by creating a regular feature called ‘TikTok Trend Alert’ in the ASOS Style Feed on both their app and website. Bringing the world of TikTok to the place where they sell their products is a great way to convert TikTok users into customers.
Duolingo
Duolingo is an unexpected standout brand on TikTok. For a language learning app, we’d say that over 5 million followers on TikTok is incredible.
Duolingo has never shied away from being creative and pushing the boundaries of what most may expect from a learning platform.
Refusing to stick to the status quo and do what would traditionally be expected of a non fashion or food brand has definitely paid off for Duolingo. With the help of their large green owl mascot, the brand has racked up over 102 million likes and counting, showing that they’ve definitely mastered the art of building a brand on TikTok!
Learn more about how Duolingo has used TikTok to its advantage.
Oreo
Along with other popular food and beverage brands, Oreo has taken to TikTok like a duck to water.
The main focus of their TikTok content is giving a voice to their Oreo products. We can’t deny that seeing a biscuit talk, sing and dance is pretty entertaining.
What’s more, Oreo has cleverly jumped on the trend of stitching their videos with other users’ content to rate how people eat their Oreos. Watching a biscuit rate the way that people eat said biscuit is a great way to get people talking and interacting with your content.
Leading their content with their products at the centre means that users are constantly reminded of them and, hopefully, turn the entertainment into a craving for an Oreo biscuit!
Zara
Zara’s approach to TikTok is very different from other high street brands on TikTok, positioning itself as more of a high-end brand through its high quality and immersive AI videos.
If you’re familiar with Zara, you’ll know that they’re famous for promoting their products using images of models wearing their clothing in some weird and wonderful scenarios. (Think of a model advertising a pair of heels whilst crouching on a stove!)
By channelling this quirky form of advertising through immersive AI videos on TikTok, Zara effectively maintains their personal style and brand identity in a way that works seamlessly on the platform.
To see another brand in action on TikTok, make sure to follow Girls in Marketing! And to learn more about how to build a brand on TikTok and gain access to more digital marketing advice and resources, who not become a Girls in Marketing member?
