Feeling Younger with TikTok Promotions
As a platform, TikTok thrives on digestible, engaging content. If it isn’t fun to watch or fun to join, then we would recommend finding other online marketing options. Whereas advertising on TikTok is a more performative, open type of engagement, old marketing techniques will come across as stale and stuffy. But if your business is willing to risk looking silly, the platform provides an excellent opportunity to target younger audiences on their terms.
In this article, we’ll highlight some of the best examples of what advertisers are doing on TikTok and how their engagement strategies tie in to the emotional cores of their services or products, making every post, repost and response an added reinforcement of the brand messaging.
“Quote from Matthew Ceran about TikTok Ads, their importance in the evolving online marketing landscape, and their future as an advertising and branding platform.”
- Matthew Ceran, CEO 565 Media
TikTok Ads Case Studies
1. Guess Jeans
One of the original hashtag challenges on TikTok, Guess Jeans’ #InMyDenim campaign is still held up as a primary case study in TikTok Ads success stories.
#InMyDenim started a trend of users posting videos of themselves transforming from ratty clothing into fashionable denim outfits, (preferably Guess Jeans branded), reinforcing the idea that anyone can upgrade their fashion with denim products. Some posts were accompanied by thematically chosen tracks like Bebe Rexh’s “I’m a Mess”.
Using a combination of brand takeovers, sponsored influencers like prominent TikTok personalities @ourfire and @madisonwillow, the campaign lasted for about a week.
During the 6-day campaign period, #InMyDenim realized over 5,550 user-generated videos, 10.5 million video views, 14.3% engagement rate and over 12,000 additional followers for Guess’s Business Account on TikTok. The promotion resonated with consumers and considerably boosted brand affinity.
Source: TikTok Ads
2. Kool-Aid
When looking for a broad audience, celebrity endorsements are a good start. But it’s important to make sure that the celebrity is a good fit for the brand and has a conceptual tie-in to the brand message.
Kool-Aid deserves a special shoutout for its ingenious tie-in with rapper Lil Jon. The brand launched a music video featuring the rapper and the Kool-Aid man, and following up with a hashtag challenge #OhYEAHChristmas. The challenge encouraged users to post videos of themselves (extremely) enjoying their Christmas celebration, with a $10,000 prize thrown in for incentive.
The campaign garnered over 10,000 videos from fans and became the brand’s first successful TikTok campaign.
Image via tiktok.com
3. Red Bull
With an eye on cornering the extreme sports content on TikTok, the Red Bull account provides a daily adrenaline rush for fans. The high-octane content has been reformatted for short, bite-sized clips, and targets specific niche sports communities with popular hashtags like #skydiving, #parkour, and #skimobile.
The profile has almost 5 million followers and continues to use the platform to expand the Red Bull brand past the energy drink product, and reinforce its extreme sports messaging.
4. Spikeball
Again, if you want your brand to be successful on TikTok, it’s best to lean into the aspects of your brand that make it fun. For a game like Spikeball, it comes naturally.
The profile uses the cute tagline “If volleyball and foursquare had a baby” and consistently posts slow-mo trick shots and incredible moves from players around the world. It’s a fantastic platform-specific strategy that on the surface, gives users that “wow” aspect that brings them to the platform. And as a secondary benefit, it helps establish Spikeball as a legitimate sport worthy of the attention.
The profile has almost 300,000 followers, over 5 million likes, and over 50 million views today!
Source: Spikeball TikTok Profile
5. Mucinex
Pharmaceutical advertising is always a tricky sell, especially to teens, and especially with strict FDA rules for advertising over-the-counter products. How do you promote the potential benefits of an OTC drug without running afoul? Take advantage of existing trends.
The #TooSickToBeSick challenge asked users to share their before-and-after looks as they got into Halloween costumes, as either the before or the after clips would tie into how you feel when you are sick. No medical claims. Just the feeling.
The campaign made headlines for generating over 984 million views in 2019. The hashtag is seeing a revitalization in the lead up to Halloween 2020 as well.
#toosicktobesick on TikTok
6. Universal Pictures
In 2020, the year of increasing need for creativity due to our collective indoor insolation, TikTok has become a popular destination for magic tricks, pranks and video illusions. As a video medium that prizes quick content and the expected, magic tricks especially fit the bill.
To capitalize on this trend for its upcoming film The House with a Clock in Its Walls, Universal Pictures launched a branded hashtag challenge called #FindYourMagic. This promotion encouraged users to post their own magic tricks and illusions, And the campaign provided branded music of ringing clocks to tie back into the theme of the upcoming movie.
More than 1.3 million likes and 19,000 pieces of user-generated content later, the campaign was a spectacular success.
Source: TikTok Ads
7. Chipotle
Less Tok, More Guac. For brands that perhaps don’t have a flashy dance tie-in or extreme sports slow-motion shots, brand affinity and celebration is a good place to start. Chipotle’s Lid Flip Challenge was born.
Based on a real employee who had gone viral for their creative way of assembling burrito bowls, the Lid Flip Challenge gave users a fun, simple template for adding their own content. Think of the water bottle flip challenge from 2019 and give it a branded spin.
111,000 videos were submitted to the Challenge and it created a record-breaking digital sales day driving app downloads and delivery among the key Gen Z audience.
Source: Chiptole TikTok Profile
8. Benny Blanco
To promote the upcoming release of Benny Blanco’s remixed version of Graduation, Universal Records took advantage of a popular video trend currently popular on TikTok – The hand wipe.
Users would typically hold their hand up to the camera to obscure a video cut, revealing a change of clothing or setting after pulling their hands away. To capitalize on this trend and integrate the song’s theme, the campaign used the hashtag #schoolyears, where seniors would show their progression over the years of middle and high school.
The campaign clearly resonated with teens, as it generated 6 million views, almost 1 million hearts and over 81,000 user generated pieces of content. The song itself saw 4 months of sustained growth after its debut.
#schoolyears on TikTok
Feeling Inspired?
Do you want to know more about our TikTok ads services at 565 Media? Don’t hesitate to contact us or call (323) 902-7439. Our experts will come up with optimized ad campaigns tailored for your business.
If you’re looking to effectively and efficiently boost ROI with your marketing budget, 565 Media is your top choice. Simply connect with our on-demand team of full stack developers and start with a list of what problems you need solved. Our team specializes in developing customized, scaled marketing campaigns geared towards generating profitable leads and growing your business.
