Leveraging TikTok for Brand and Sales Success
Obtain the white paper Commercialising the Zeitgeist: Crafting a Successful TikTok Technique
The target of this white paper is to equip the worldwide style, luxurious and magnificence industries with strategic perception on executing efficient TikTok methods. From model identification and neighborhood engagement to natural and paid campaigns, creator collaborations, commerce options, user-generated content material (UGC) and a number of different industrial issues, BoF has analysed and investigated finest practices from throughout the business and interviewed impartial specialists, model executives and TikTok leaders.
Finest Practices to Purchase and Have interaction Audiences
TikTok’s success in connecting with audiences and driving gross sales has impressed extra manufacturers to activate methods on the platform. Within the first half of 2023, luxurious manufacturers grew their media influence worth (MIV), a measure of engagement, on TikTok by 11 %, in accordance with knowledge and insights supplier Launchmetrics. Dior, Gucci and Prada generated practically as a lot MIV within the interval from January to Could 2023 as they did in all of 2022.
Opens in new windowObtain the white paper ‘Commercialising the Zeitgeist: Crafting a Successful TikTok Technique’ (BoF Studio)
To profit from participating TikTok’s viewers, companies have remodeled their strategy to advertising and marketing.
“We learned how to be a music producer, how to be a movie producer, how to be an entertainment brand,” says Kory Marchisotto, chief advertising and marketing officer at E.l.f. Magnificence. “Initially, it was short-form content: how do you do all this in 15 seconds? Now, it’s long-form content: how do you create these incredibly engaging pieces of branded content that don’t feel like commercials or commercialisation tactics?”
To be able to meet the expectations of audiences, Matt Cleary, TikTok’s head of retail, recommends manufacturers “TikTok-ify” their content material, akin to by including native overlays or tapping into trending sounds and content material codecs — as detailed in TikTok’s model toolkits, just like the Inventive Centre and Creator Portal, which presents the right way to’s on the fundamentals like side ratio, duet demos, inexperienced display and sew tutorials. These manufacturing techniques enable manufacturers throughout value factors to create content material that can assist them discover their artistic voice and model.
As an example, manufacturers may interact the “lo-fi” nature of content material popularised by TikTok, which “makes your content and your brand messaging infinitely more accessible,” says Jordan Mitchell, co-founder and co-CEO of Good Tradition, a cultural advertising and marketing company working with manufacturers like Marc Jacobs, Good American, Speedo, Barbour, Alo Yoga and Creed. “It democratises that brand conversation.”
Some manufacturers are attaining this strategy by remixing polished marketing campaign imagery inside a lo-fi format. For instance, one Burberry publish of an workplace printer producing high-quality printouts from their Winter 2024 marketing campaign generated 14.6 million views. Prada additionally combined high-quality runway footage with movies their fashions movie backstage earlier than strolling the present, whereas Gucci had fashions and content material creators Equipment Value and Calum Harper interview different fashions backstage earlier than exhibits. The content material is frivolously edited however seeped in model references and product placement.
“It’s not about reinventing the wheel, but it’s just leaning into the current cultural conversation and reimagining it through your brand’s lens. That’s when you find your version of that cultural zeitgeist,” says Mitchell.
Savvier Product Placement
Many manufacturers are exploring savvier product placement because of audiences disengaging with conventional promoting, preferring as an alternative extra delicate branded storytelling. This locations the onus on manufacturers to ship crafted, relatable narratives, whether or not by their very own platforms or the creators with whom they companion.
Content material creator Alix Earle has leveraged this strategy: she has constructed a following of seven million on TikTok, not with any viral hit however together with her obvious relatability and willingness to be herself. Leaning into TikTok audiences’ behavioural curiosity in discovery, a “link in bio” directing clients to product is uncommon. As an alternative, Earle unlocks curiosity and allows the chance for product sleuthing and looking on-line.
The Alexis Bittar mocumentary collection on TikTok featured characters partaking in an over-dramatised bite-size narratives whereas sporting Alexis Bittar jewelry. (Alexis Bittar)
Together with a fascinating narrative arc will help interact viewers — advertisements meant to make customers curious hold them watching 1.4x longer, in accordance with a research by Metrixlab for TikTok in 2023.
Nevertheless, when favouring extra delicate technique of product placement, manufacturers mustn’t idiot themselves into considering they’re outsmarting viewers.
“The consumer is super savvy on social,” says Tyla Grant, a senior artistic strategist at artistic technique studio Mørning, which works with manufacturers akin to Nike, Calvin Klein, Coty, Meta and extra. “If [you] try to outsmart the consumer and make [ads which] appear to be subtle, it’s a waste of time. It’s evolving [ads] to become more integrated into the creative and make more sense — it’s less jarring.”
Grant cites the Alexis Bittar mocumentary collection on TikTok, starring “Margeaux Goldrich”, performed by American actor Patricia Black and that includes cameos from Mel Ottenberg, Amanda Lepore, Coco Rocha and Susan Sarandon. The characters partake in an over-dramatised bite-size collection whereas sporting Alexis Bittar jewelry — talking to digital camera about their fictional jobs, struggling police interrogations or confronting an ex- husband’s mistress.
The content material is clearly drawing consideration to the jewelry, however its format is narrative-rich, authentic and participating, demonstrating the type of scope and alternative TikTok can supply.
“It’s exciting to see these brands [operating on TikTok],” says Vanessa Craft, world head of content material partnerships at TikTok. “They already have done the hard work of building a brand: we know who you are. We know what you stand for. Now, are you going to play to type or play against type?”
Brand Identification and Ascertaining Your On-Platform Goal
To profit from posting on TikTok, companies want to start with a holistic evaluation of their model, to make sure alignment on what they stand for and how that can translate on the platform.
“Are you a trend leader or should you be creating these things? Do you claim to create and shape culture, or do you need to be plugged into it?” says Grant.
Brands ought to take into account their goal, mission and values, but in addition model repute, areas of experience and the communities by which they’re already established. This strategy will assist manufacturers assess the place and the right way to present up on TikTok.
Craft says, when working with model companions, she is going to ask: “What’s your brand like after a glass of champagne? Who would that brand be? Would you be more sarcastic? Would you be witty? Would you be more serious and more reserved? […] [Content] doesn’t have to be perfectly polished — it should be perfectly real and true to that brand’s DNA.”
As an example, at Coach, the vice chairman of selling in North America, Kimberly Wallengren, says, “There’s always something a little kitschy, a little cheeky with our brand. So, I think that we have had that room to grow into those areas.”
Referencing Coach’s Discover Your Braveness marketing campaign, which explores fluidity between actual and digital worlds, Wallengren describes it as “visually incredibly impactful, so leaning into some filters and visual effects has been really fun.” These filters are additionally native to the platform, permitting for an easy-lift, platform-relevant edge to the content material.
It’s not about reinventing the wheel, however leaning into the present cultural dialog and reimagining it by your model’s lens. That’s if you discover your model of that cultural zeitgeist.
— Jordan Mitchell, co-founder and co-CEO of Good Tradition.
For E.l.f., their CMO says the enterprise’s overarching strategy to TikTok displays the model’s genuine identification. “The fearless nature of our brand was fundamental to our success,” says Marchisotto. “When TikTok busted onto the scene, very few brands were willing to plunge into the deep end. […] ‘What are people doing here? How could a brandfit in? What’s going to be the ROI? What are the KPIs?’ While they were asking themselves all those questions from the sidelines, we were already flailing at the deep end. […] The key component is: we’re a test-and-learn brand.”
Figuring out essentially the most pertinent metrics to trace your targets is vital. For instance, Coach has “purchase intent” as its North Star. “There’s obviously other indicators of purchase intent — our native brand awareness, search volume on-platform, search volume off-platform,” says Wallengren. However the overarching objective permits completely different groups within the advertising and marketing division to “galvanise behind one thing”.
E.l.f.’s 2024 Stick It to Zits marketing campaign that includes an acne-suffering Mount Rushmore. (E.l.f.)
For E.l.f., it’s “building a community. Period. Full stop. That’s the most important KPI. What is this community that we are developing? What is our relationship with them? How do we foster a two-way dialogue?” says Marchisotto. E.l.f.’s strategy has not at all times instantly translated into gross sales, however a consistency of output and engagement ultimately confirmed robust outcomes and conversion.
Mitchell provides, “Social sentiment and conversation, being able to have that brand talked about, is valuable, even if you didn’t necessarily get all the sales.”
One other key side to contemplate is the “quality of the view,” in accordance with Grant, as numbers don’t essentially correlate to customers with cash to spend. Brands must make the excellence behind if you find yourself talking to an viewers versus a client, because of participating throughout generations with various discretionary spending energy.
Making the excellence behind viewers versus client won’t change the tone of voice or content material codecs you might be utilizing, but it surely may affect the instruments you leverage, like including a shoppable product hyperlink by TikTok Store or participating particular content material creators. Nevertheless, persevering with to construct model consciousness and cultural clout extra usually additionally reinstates model desirability with present and potential customers, resulting in long-term achieve.
Brand Advertising and Constructing Relatable, Reliable Narratives
TikTok will help manufacturers enhance audiences’ normal consciousness of their enterprise, leveraging model heritage and creativity to hook up with audiences searching for to teach themselves.
“Content that resonates truly is credible, relatable and follows a story arc. […] Being able to tell the brand’s history is a credible story that the brand should be able to tell,” says Cleary.
Certainly, manufacturers can repurpose archive footage and historic advertising and marketing supplies, maybe share behind-the-scenes content material on creation processes, previous and current. Denim model Levi’s, for instance, options their model historian who particulars Levi’s adjacency to Western tradition within the US whereas the pattern was experiencing a resurgence when Beyoncé launched her album, Cowboy Carter.
The usage of light-hearted leisure and humour is one other key pillar in content material preferences that style, magnificence and luxurious manufacturers are tapping into, as audiences look to content material platforms for escapism.
“Give us something that is either a safe place to have a laugh or to relax, or just feel entertained or supported, so there’s more to this than engagement, than just a transactional experience,” says Craft.
Denim model Levi’s’ model historian particulars in a TikTok publish Levi’s adjacency to Western tradition within the US whereas the pattern was experiencing a resurgence. (Levi’s)
“When we lean into entertaining or more humorous content, it actually performs much better for us,” provides Wallengren. “This goes back to capturing behind-the-scenes content, having our ambassadors make jokes — they’re more relaxed and capturing a moment that’s quite real and authentic.”
Luxurious model Loewe, typically cited as exemplary for its use of the platform, leans into light-hearted content material, which permits audiences to see a brand new facet to the model universe — or “what makes Loewe lol,” in accordance with Grant.
The style home creates playful content material that makes use of cultural moments to amplify its merchandise and model narrative, like utilising audio recorded by Sofia Richie Grainge of her husband’s touch upon a pair of Loewe boots: “Looks like a very rich duck would wear that.” The model additionally posted a video of a Loewe bag being made, labelled “Nara Smith when her kids want a Loewe bag” — referencing Smith’s wildly widespread movies that seize her creating elaborate meals from scratch over a matter of hours.
Entrepreneurs may take into account exhibiting the model universe by the office itself, personalising the model by its staff. Grant references posts by health manufacturers Alo Yoga and Tala, the place the “social media manager clearly runs the account, is trying to hit the metrics, running around the office showing you this part of the lifestyle. That works.”
Alternatively, at E.l.f., make-up artists by to the C-suite “get directly and intimately involved with the community” by way of TikTok Lives, says Marchisotto. “That’s showing our brand inside out.”
These Lives sometimes draw hundreds of viewers. “Find me another C-suite of a billion-dollar brand that’s spending this kind of time with [their] community,” she provides.
The staff behind the scenes can also be vital to contemplate when producing efficient methods — as Good Tradition’s Mitchell explains, prioritising range of thought in your office will broaden artistic concepts and cultural references that may profit the success of campaigns.
“If you have a diverse work team in terms of age, gender, sexuality, race […] you then have a melting pot of ideas [from] people who are authentically absorbing information,” she says.
Product Advertising and Experimenting With Content material Codecs
Maybe essentially the most novel affect TikTok has had on the style, magnificence and luxurious industries is its affect on product advertising and marketing. Brief-form video requires rather more than static imagery to attach. In consequence, manufacturers have rushed to develop a way of goal and character behind their consultant content material.
Loewe pushes its product in internet-culture-coded campaigns — in 2024, the model launched a lo-fi animation of 4 other ways its Puzzle bag might stroll. By means of this easy idea, Loewe demonstrates an innate notion of what audiences on TikTok get pleasure from — humorous, tongue-in-cheek and unconventional leisure.
Marc Jacobs and Burberry have additionally leaned into Gen-Z-coded cultural amplification by working with satirical account @sylvaniandrama. Its creator has gained 2.5 million followers by crafting darkly humorous eventualities with the collectible collectible figurines. The product advertising and marketing advert placements have creatively woven the Marc Jacobs’ Tote Bag and Burberry Lola bag into story arcs whereas retaining the account’s tone of voice.
E.l.f. has seen success with content material that gives a “steady drumbeat of education and artistry”, in accordance with Marchisotto.
The viewers can be taught “how to get maximum payoff from the products, how to best utilise them, what type of makeup or skincare trends are happening and then how we help them achieve that through our products.”
Engagement metrics on TikTok exhibit audiences’ choice for academic content material — viewers search tangible, actionable insights. In any case, 50 % of TikTok luxurious lovers observe a luxurious model to maintain up with business developments, 40 % observe for outfit or model inspiration and 33 % observe a model for artistic inspiration, in accordance with TikTok Advertising Science FR Luxurious Insights Survey in 2022.
Instructional content material additionally resonates strongly with TikTok’s older demographic, with the 45+ consumer cohort 1.6x extra prone to search for details about the craftsmanship of a product, in accordance with the AYTM survey in 2024.
Levi’s has its tailors and in-store stylists showcase the most recent designs, providing styling ideas for viewers. Alternatively, Loewe particulars and celebrates the craftsmanship behind particular objects, like Taylor Russell’s 2024 Met Gala 3D-moulded bodice.
Totally different video content material will resonate with completely different audiences, so manufacturers ought to check out a wide range of codecs — 64 % of TikTok customers choose manufacturers which have a wide range of content material and 51 % of customers agree seeing a wide range of content material retains issues entertaining, in accordance with a research performed by Alter Brokers, commissioned by TikTok in 2023.
As a consequence of its lo-fi nature, TikTok additionally requires much less manufacturing time or funding to create a chunk of content material: “We sometimes use an iPhone, so it feels more platform-native,” says Wallengren.
A nonetheless from Burberry’s 2022 collaboration with @sylvaniandrama. (Sylvanian Dramas)
The pace at which developments transfer permits for manufacturers to attempt their hand noncommittally at connecting with the zeitgeist — even viral content material loses engagement in a matter of weeks, maybe days.
Marchisotto provides: “Your community is going to be way more forgiving than you think. They’re going to reward you in likes, comments and engagement and if you produce a piece of content that gets none of the above or hits a negative sentiment, then you know you’re on the wrong track.”
With a transparent understanding of your model and the areas by which it ought to function on-platform, manufacturers can strategically monitor the developments and content material most related to them. Not each pattern might be pertinent, so manufacturers ought to solely interact with these that can actually resonate with their viewers.
Sara McCorquodale, founder and CEO of social influencer intelligence platform CORQ, additionally recommends, quite than merely leaping on widespread avenues like trending sounds, that manufacturers ought to observe the information agenda for well timed, lo-fi lifts on product advertising and marketing. As an example, aligning a preferred purple carpet look into one thing from the model’s line.
“It’s this ability to identify the news that’s relevant to your target consumer base and insert your product into that [which resonates],” says McCorquodale.
This strategy permits manufacturers to interact with the zeitgeist at pace. For instance, manufacturers and content material creators have been fast to align with Charli XCX’s “Brat” inexperienced — Vogue referred to as it the “new Bottega green” whereas Grazia labelled it the “Prada-Approved Colour Trend”; Kate Spade New York made a “Brat Summer Starter Pack”, with its personal merchandise featured, whereas Coach gross sales associates showcased inexperienced luggage on TikTok as “Brat”.
To help manufacturers with creativity and responsiveness, to recognise key search phrases and rising developments, TikTok presents a Search Advertisements Toggle that lets advertisers entry insights on the distinctive search behaviour occurring on TikTok. This yr, the platform additionally launched TikTok Symphony, offering a collection of generative AI artistic options to assist produce TikTok content material sooner.
Paid Advertising and a Multi-Layered Promoting Technique
When creating efficient paid advertising and marketing on TikTok, the identical strategy to natural content material — being TikTok-first, narrative-led, emotionally attuned, entertaining and light-hearted — cuts by, resonating strongly with the viewers no matter advertising and marketing alignment.
“No longer are we advertising and speaking at [audiences], but we’re able to create opportunities to become involved with the audience and do that at quite a large reach,” says Wallengren.
Certainly, 50 % of TikTok customers agree the promoting on the platform is fulfilling. In Could 2024, Adolfo Fernandez, TikTok’s world head of efficiency options, informed Advert Age the enjoyment fee was roughly 1.6x greater than on different platforms. He additionally shared that TikTok’s Retail Return on Advert Spend (ROAS) is 3.5x higher than different channels, in accordance with knowledge collated by the corporate.
Brands can leverage TikTok’s paid-for promoting slots for a multifaceted technique. Coach, for instance, optimises advert placements by positioning paid-for and natural content material side-by-side. “Often, we [create] some of this more bespoke, behind-the-scenes, raw content [and] we run our campaigns alongside it, so there’s a larger share of voice,” says Wallengren.
“We’re always looking at first-to-market,” she provides. “For new ad placements — how do we become an alpha or beta when it comes to things like TikTok Pulse Premiere [which allows advertisers to place ads next to trending and brand-safe content]. We were able to utilise [TikTok Pulse] for the current Find Your Courage campaign, which allowed the brand to align contextually with premium content.”
Spark Advertisements on TikTok are a local format that allows you to collaborate with creators and share inspirational shop-and-tell tales, product critiques and extra. It additionally ensures that every one views, feedback, shares, likes and follows gained from boosting the video in the course of the promotion are attributed to the model’s natural posts. In-Feed Advertisements are one other format that means that you can hype up the most recent presents, merchandise and types, which seems in TikTok audiences’ feeds and lets them go to your model’s touchdown web page in only one click on.
These own-brand, paid-for advertisements can even leverage creators, with viewers trusting manufacturers 67 % extra with creator-focused advertisements on TikTok, in accordance with a research in 2022 commissioned by TikTok and executed by Edelman Information and Intelligence. Certainly, a way of neighborhood and creativity are respectively 1.8x and 1.6x extra prone to inspire TikTok customers to buy a luxurious product than non-TikTok customers, in accordance with a research by way of AYTM in 2024.
Different promoting choices to assist manufacturers attain audiences by advert placement embody High View, which supplies the advertiser essentially the most seen placement, serving because the very first video individuals can see once they go to TikTok. Obtainable later this yr, TikTok One will supply all the pieces required to make an efficient artistic commercial in a single place, with entry to creators, manufacturing companions and insights.
Obtain the white paper Commercialising the Zeitgeist: Crafting a Successful TikTok Technique
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It is a sponsored function paid for by TikTok as a part of a BoF partnership.