Partnership Series: The TikTok SXSW FYP Agency Experience

Within recent years, we’ve seen a meteoric rise in the popularity of TikTok. At Rise, we’ve been collaborating even more closely with TikTok to take our partnership to the next level. In fact, last year we increased the number of clients on TikTok by 3x YoY.

In addition to increased support, and access to product updates and betas, we’ve got exclusive access to fantastic TikTok-hosted events. This year, Rise attended the TikTok SXSW FYP Agency Experience in early March. This two-day immersive experience included panels and presentations from top agencies, brands, and TikTok SMEs. We’re here to recap the top three insights we took away from our time with our friends at TikTok! 

1. TikTok is transforming the agency model.

In 2020, TikTok ads were introduced to the market— and they’ve experienced exponential growth since then. In the last year alone, a significant amount of ad products have been added to TikTok’s ad suite, which signals the platform’s constant growth and commitment to innovation in the social media space. This is providing an enormous opportunity for brands to directly connect with their target audiences in a far more personalized way. 

So, how are agencies responding? How do TikTok’s ad offerings affect the strategies and the day-to-day tactical work that marketers do for their clients activated on TikTok? To create the kind of content that will be most impactful on the platform, agencies are breaking through traditional silos and increasing collaboration between influencer, organic, and paid social media marketing teams. And, especially considering that the basis of TikTok’s appeal is user-generated content, knowing how to wield cross-functional power for your clients will optimize the ways you can address the unique intent of your audience segments. 

However, joining forces alone isn’t enough to stay relevant on the platform. At Rise, we predicted that pairing the right marketing talent with the right tech stack will be key to long-term success. This means you’ll need to upskill your marketers to stay up-to-date with the huge swath of ad tech and formats that TikTok offers, which will help you to maintain fresh creative that resonates, all while avoiding ad fatigue. 

2. Personalized, measurable entertainment on TikTok is the key to success.

TikTok users are known to have a very specific set of behaviors when it comes to how they watch content on the platform. TikTok users seek out the platform specifically to be entertained, and tend to watch TikTok content while also watching something on television. This means you’ll need to create truly captivating and entertaining content in order to maintain relevance. The most effective way to do this is to tap into the power of personalization that’s woven into the fabric of the platform. 

For example, some luxury and beauty brands activated on TikTok have found success in capitalizing on user-generated content to create more authentic-feeling ad campaigns. Users can have a back-and-forth conversation with these brands through Stitching or Remix options on their TikTok ads. Additionally, many brands are finding that investing in the addition of influencers (also known in the TikTok community as content creators) has been key to growing their brand's reach and awareness through already-established audiences and fanbases. 

It’s also important to note that TikTok is but one of many touchpoints on a distinctly non-linear customer journey. In order to effectively prove the kind of entertainment you’re providing is creating momentum for your brand goals and objectives, you’ll need a way to measure the data from your campaigns. Last-touch attribution, in this case, won’t cut it— it won’t show the full picture you want to see, as it doesn’t paint the most colorful cross-channel picture. 

That’s why it’s recommended that you combine both MMM and multi-touch attribution (MTA) measurement efforts. While MTA encapsulates historical data and trends, MMM looks to define future investments. Joining these together will allow you to see how the different approaches you try on TikTok are impacting your full-funnel objectives. Consider investing in a measurement solution or partnership that will enable your team to see a streamlined view of how these two different areas of measurement are working together to drive results on TikTok. 

3. Be flexible (and have fun!) when you test new creative on TikTok.

When compared to any other social media platform, creative is of utmost importance on TikTok. Because TikTok is so new, distinctly defined best practices have not yet emerged— so, being flexible with your content creation (and testing creative approaches constantly) will help you determine what works best for your brand.

We recommend keeping these key creative principles in mind as you create and test your creative mix for TikTok: 

• Community is king, with a majority of users feeling they have a deeper connection with brands on the platform. 
• Create with longevity in mind. Because trends tend to fizzle out fast on TikTok, you’ll want to instead focus on longer-term themes you can leverage to authentically connect with your audience. 
• Creators will be your bread and butter. By partnering with an ideal content creator or influencer on TikTok, you can increase your brand’s favorability. 
• Clear-cut creative decisions will pay off. TikTok videos are known for their myriad of video editing and sound editing options. It’s important to make firm data-backed decisions about what kinds of creative elements will be most impactful in your TikTok content. What creators am I partnering with? Am I using the most relevant sounds and songs for my videos? How can I use the Remix feature to create extra payoff for users at the end of my videos? 

Taking Your Brand to the Next Level with TikTok

TikTok has made a significant splash in reaching brand goals, and we’re thrilled to see what lies ahead for this unique and engaging platform. The bottom line: TikTok is about having fun, and creating unique and entertaining content. Enjoy the experience, and your audience will, too! 

Ready to get your brand activated on TikTok? Contact us today!