A Guide to Influencer Campaigns on TikTok Japan
Discover the Opportunities
TikTok rising into its popularity today in recent years brought in a new wave of influencers that focused on providing viral short-form videos of different kinds. What's truly crazy about it, was the sheer speed in which influencers came to be from the app, thanks to the low barrier of getting your content spread across the internet. So how can brands successfully utilize these stars to bring positive returns to their business? Let's find out.
Influencer Campaigns On TikTok Japan Are A Blue Ocean
The influence these influencers have on users is large, but many businesses and entities are still not accustomed to the thought of using these internet stars to represent their brands in one way or the other. The largest proof of this, is that one of our acquaintances who amassed a follower base of over 60k, is still having issues financing his livelihood, and even looking for a job. It seems that brands don't come to these TikTokers enough, but why is that?
It's simple: businesses think TikTok is just an app that highschoolers use to pass time when they're bored. And to be honest, I thought of it like that too at first, but the platform has grown to be so much more than that at this point.
Who Are The Creators On TikTok Japan
Users with various themes such as marketing, language learning, gaming, etc have flocked to the app, and that means there's that much untouched potential that organizations are missing on. Some creators have already made a name for themselves through other channels, and are just entering another one to follow the trend and not miss out on opportunities.
Others are those with talents that have what it takes, but couldn't get on the train early enough on other platforms when it was still possible to grow effectively organically. There are said to be over 3.1 million influencers on TikTok, attributing influencers as those above 1,000 followers.
How To Work With Influencers of TikTok Japan
Working with TikTok influencers come in many forms, but the key factor when deciding how you want to collaborate depends on your business and its objective from the partnership. If you're a business that wants to simply collaborate to receive awareness, there isn't much you really need to worry about as the platform is likely one of the easiest places to spread news across as many devices as possible.
Now, here's some crucial aspects you need to check before sending an offer to the creators:
Who's their followers? What's their audience?
What are they posting on other social media platforms?
How is their engagement rate? Do they only receive views?
Would the influencer be interested in buying your product him/herself if he/she was a customer?
These are key aspects that you need to take a look at beforehand, as not only does these affect greatly on how your campaign works, they also change the impressions people get on your brand itself. So choose wisely.
Here's another key point to note, there are some cases where using TikTok influencers wouldn't be as effective as others. Think of a brand that's selling toothbrushes only on offline stores for example. Even if they use these creators and become a huge success in terms of virality, most users wouldn't go purchase it by going to the store, as your brand doesn't allow them to purchase straight from the TikTok app. The call to action in this case would be nonexistent.
Now, you may think that getting it viral would have some positive effect, as TV commercials have the same principles. Well, the difference between those two is that people aren't looking for 10 seconds of entertainment with no brain activity needed, when watching the TV (not to mention the commercials get repeated countless times). People on TikTok are just looking for ways to pass time, and they won't remember what they watched after an hour of using the app. So how would they get off their cozy couch and go to an actual store?
Best Practice of Collaborating With TikTok Influencers
For businesses that do benefit from partnering with TikTok creators, the most important thing you need to keep in mind, is that users don't like it when you stick a product up their face. Don't try to make the influencer listen to every direction you say, and draft the description that they have to follow word by word. Let the influencers implement their style into the creative and descriptions, so that your brand message gets delivered naturally to the ears of users. The creators are an expert at their craft, and as long as you choose a good partner, they know what works with their audience and what doesn't.
Looking to try a TikTok influencer campaign? Say hello from the form below and we at AdVertize will support you from planning to execution for the best possible results. If you're interested to learn more about digital marketing, check out our top digital marketing agency blogs for Japan.