What is TikTok? - Everything you need to know about TikTok

If you've never heard of TikTok, then you're officially out of the loop.

This video-sharing app has spread like wildfire. Now it is overtaking every corner of the web. The company is growing continuously, and the young creators are populating it dedicate more and more time to it. Tiktok is becoming as recognizable as YouTube or Twitch.

What is TikTok?

Let's start with the basics. TikTok, a video-sharing platform that allows users to create and share videos on any topic.

Many videos on the app feature regular people, usually teens, and celebrities lip-synching and dancing to the popular tracks. Other videos center around short comedic bits, much like Vine, and the app fills the void for lovers of the tragically deceased video hosting service.

TikTok has become one of the largest short-form video sharing apps, but it wasn't always so well-known. It was first launched in 2016, and it was a little Chinese project called Douyin. It was rebranded into TikTok. Both apps are the same, and they run on different servers to account for censorship laws in China. The app gathered steam after reaching the U.S. in 2017, but it didn't gain a significant following until the Musical.ly merger.

TikTok's headquarters is currently located in Los Angeles. Still, the company has many other offices around the world, including in New York, London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Mumbai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo. Its mission is "to inspire creativity and create joy" as "the leading destination for short-form mobile video."

Who is TikTok for?

TikTok is most used by the people aged between 16 and 24, according to marketing agencies. But it's not just kids and their friends who are getting in on the TikTok phenomenon. Celebrities like Oscar-winning actress Reese Witherspoon and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon are entirely on board.

But, TikTok is for anyone and everyone. People of all ages enjoy the site, although its user base is increasing heavily in the younger generation. TikTok's reach is ever-expanding, too Because the app is famous all over the world.

Can you get famous on TikTok?

Yes, but consistency is key to it. You have to make enough videos that appeal to your followers, and internet fame is at your fingertips.
TikTok is only about two years old, and its A-listers don't have nearly the following of YouTube sensations. Still, account owners surpassing the multimillion-followers mark include 18-year-old Baby Ariel, who has grown her presence since being the first to hit 20 million followers on Musical.ly, and the leader, Loren Grey, who tops out at more than 32 million followers.

Can You make money on TikTok?

Yes. Although not in the same way, say, Instagram influencers make the big bucks. To monetize TikTok, one has to monetize their live streams. Users can attach their credit cards and buy emoji for their favorite live-streamers, who can then convert those emoji rewards back into cash.

Advertising on TikTok: Using App Features

Like social media sites Facebook or Twitter, TikTok user's content is based on trends and memes. It changes rapidly – what's popular one week won't necessarily be hot the next – and the users jump to new trends as soon as possible. While original content is also appreciated, and reactionary content is highly rewarded.

Working with Influencers

Working with a proven, relevant TikTok influencer to promote your product is a happy middle ground between spending thousands on TikTok commercials and trying to produce your own content. This is something that all sorts of companies have started doing, from established brands like Elf Cosmetics and Petco to smaller entrepreneurs wanting to promote a single product.

However, because you can't include clickable URLs in TikTok video captions, it's not always easy to direct traffic to websites from these videos. You can try to work around this by having influencers link to your store in their bio or the video comment section, but as you can imagine, adding this extra step reduces follow through.

How Can Brands Leverage TikTok?

TikTok does not have any space for traditional display ads and is not even in competition with other social media platforms, in terms of it being a marketing channel. However, due to its fast growth and rising popularity, many brands are now realizing the potential of TikTok as a marketing channel.

Several brands have utilized techniques like TikTok challenges and contests to get users to generate brand-related content. Brands are also leveraging hashtags in a more or less similar fashion as on other social media platforms to promote their TikTok marketing campaigns.

Take, for example, Guess brand's #InMyDenim campaign. On September 1, 2021, the Guess brand took over TikTok and invited all US-based TikTok users to their #InMyDenim hashtag challenge. The contest urged users to create video content wearing denim (of course) and using the hashtag. This was the start of TikTok's brand partnerships in the U.S.

Another way in which brands can use TikTok is to collaborate with TikTok celebrities to create brand-specific promotional content. This will be similar to any other influencer collaboration, just with the 15-second TikTok video format.