Short video has become one of the biggest trends in Digital Marketing today, making content creators and brands bet on the popularity and influence of this new format.
TikTok, the main social network for short videos, has already reached the mark of more than 1 billion monthly active users, who spend an average of 25+ hours per month on the app. The growth is so large that it is worrying competitors like Instagram and Google.
Even with this impressive data, marketers still face a great challenge, creating content that engages with the consumer audience, as only 9% consider TikTok as their most engaged social platform, according to the State of Marketing Report 2022, released by Hubspot, Rock Content, Litmus and Wistia.
The same report (which you can download for free) shows that short-form video content like TikTok and Instagram Reels are the most effective type of social media content and have the highest ROI compared to any other format.
So, to help you get better results on this social network, I’ll list 12 brands doing great Marketing on TikTok and explain the content strategy behind them. Let’s go?
12 brands on TikTok with awesome content strategies
1. Semrush
Whoever thinks TikTok is not a place for B2B companies needs to change their mindset. One brand that is nailing their Marketing at the platform is the keyword research platform Semrush.
They present really useful information to search marketers in a fun and entertaining way, and that’s magical. Sometimes you couldn’t even say their posts are coming from a B2B company.
One content series that I like the most is the “You searched for WHAT?” series. They present an introduction to the search topic and then they present a satirical sketch about it. And, of course, to make it more hilarious, the search queries are all very funny.
@semrush The question that has divided people for centuries… is a hot dog a sandwich?🤔🌭#strugglesearch #debate #sketchcomedy #searchhistory #trending @google
♬ original sound – Semrush
2. Netflix
Netflix has over 26 million followers on TikTok and a legion of fans who engage and promote its content. Many of the videos are cut from the streaming content itself to promote releases, as well as behind-the-scenes content and exclusive interviews with the actors, always in a very light and fun way.
This makes the audience feel special when having access to unique content on the platform. In addition, Netflix’s profile on TikTok bets on quick games with the public and fun cuts from the series to increase engagement and organic sharing of its content.
3. WANNA
Influencer Marketing is huge on TikTok. The creators on the platform offer a great opportunity for your brand to get closer to your audience and even build a community around it.
When the fashion-tech startup WANNA promoted their new Augmented Reality app “Wanna Kicks”, they clearly aimed at millennials and Gen Z. That’s why they partnered with the creator @josephwsj, which became one of their first collaborations.
Victoria Fedorova, Brand Marketing Manager at WANNA, said through email that “as the sneaker culture nowadays became more about statement pieces and status than just sports performance footwear, we wanted to reach our potential audience in their everyday lives rather than going after fashion or sports-oriented creators”.
WANNA wanted to drive app installs, increase brand and product awareness, and growing their app community by partnering with TikTok creators seemed to be a great strategy.
Ultimately, creators need to keep up with cultural trends, social changes, and everything that impacts a consumer’s daily life.
@wanna_kicks Follow the link in BIO to install the app right now 🔥 #sneakerhead #rec #shopping #nike #dunklow
♬ LIMITS THE SKY – Mpax
4. NBA
The NBA is a great example of a brand on TikTok that has managed to understand the platform’s audience and differentiate its strategy on this social network. The Professional Basketball League uses its TikTok profile to present a lighter, more fun side of the company, with behind-the-scenes moments and player entertainment, bringing fans short-form content that quickly engages them.
5. Shopify
Another B2B brand on TikTok that really knows how to properly communicate with the audience on TikTok. And they are pretty experienced on the platform, since they’ve been posting there for more than two years now.
A little different from Semrush’s strategy, which focuses on a few video formats, Shopify tries to diversify their content with various formats. Even so, the overall topics are pretty consistent, to resonate better with entrepreneurs and business owners.
They tried and tested many video formats to get their consistency and huge engagement they have today. So, if your brand is starting to do Marketing on TikTok, finding this sweet spot is essential to gaining a following there.
6. GoPro
GoPro is a brand on TikTok that heavily relies on user-generated content to build their Marketing strategy on the platform. Giving your community a voice and making them spontaneously create great content for your brand is a successful strategy.
The company uses its TikTok account to share amazing videos made by fans and the results speak for themselves. They have more than 2.2 million followers on the network and they keep growing.
@gopro A #SharkWeek salesman 💰 Captured by @alexsharks #sharks shark #gopro #hypersmooth
♬ original sound – Spectiplier
7. Chipotle
Chipotle is commonly remembered by marketers when it comes to content on TikTok. No wonder the brand was the first major restaurant chain with an official TikTok account in 2019, using a solid strategy with videos, memes, and funny content, and making the brand relevant to a younger audience.
The brand also encourages its fans to participate in challenges, such as #GuacDance, which resulted in more than 250,000 video submissions in just six days. This led Chipotle to sell over 800,000 guacamoles on National Guacamole Day.
8. The Washington Post
With many companies investing in media strategies to get more brand awareness recently (think Hubspot acquiring The Hustle and Binance buying a $200 million stake in Forbes), getting to know successful newspapers and media outlets strategies on TikTok can help you understand what works there.
The Washington Post is a great example. They take their news and present them in short-video format, all with a humorous take. They invest in creative storytelling to not only convey an important message, but to engage and entertain the audience.
Be creative and you will surely succeed as a brand on Tiktok.
9. Ryanair
Ryanair is an airline that offers super cheap flights in Europe. It may seem that a company in this sector does not have much to show to entertain its audience, but even so, Ryanair shows that, regardless of the segment, companies can build creative, low-cost content that engages with their audience.
The brand takes TikTok trends and humor seriously, making its planes the protagonists of videos and creating light and fun content.
10. Fenty Beauty
Fenty Beauty bets on one of the most popular and effective types of content in the beauty segment: tutorials. The brand on TikTok invests in content to show makeup tutorials, product reviews, wear tests and brand launches.
In addition, Fenty hit the nail on the head when betting on another well-known type of content that generates a lot of engagement for brands, which is the “collaboration house”, where content creators live together to further expand their careers on social media and promote the brand organically.
11. Crocs
Crocs is a brand known on TikTok for its original colorful and fun content, with brand-specific hashtags (such as #CrockTok), and even jokes about the distinctive aesthetic of its shoes. Once again, we can see the content strategy of tutorials and looks for brands in the fashion sector on TikTok.
The brand’s TikTok account is also used to showcase new products and launch challenges, as it was the case of #ThousandDollarCrocs, where users were encouraged to “rate” their crocs in the most sophisticated way possible, generating over 3 billion video views in this campaign.
12. Gymshark
Gymshark is another brand that reinforces the importance of challenges on TikTok to engage and reach throngs of followers. The brand is one of the leading fitness brands on the social network, with more than 3 million followers.
One of the brand’s most iconic campaigns was the “66 Days: Change Your Life” challenge, causing the brand’s followers to upload videos of their own workout routine to earn a Gymshark subscription. This generated over 193 million views on the hashtag #gymshark66.
In addition, the brand invests in humorous videos that report the day-to-day training at the gyms, generating an identification of its followers with the content.
Inform and entertain the public
Companies are using TikTok to educate, inform, inspire and entertain their followers. As a result, marketers must increasingly invest in this platform and adapt their content strategy on this social network.
The brands listed in this article have many common points on how to build viral content and a qualified audience on TikTok.
Some of the initiatives are investing in memes, creative and funny content, company backstage, tutorials, challenges, and using hashtags that differentiate your content from that of the competition and generate a connection with your audience.
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