TikTok as an advertising platform: why and why not

A lot of people nowadays are being drawn to social media platforms especially when new platforms and features come into the competition. In this regard, many competitors take this to their advantage to promote their product.

TikTok, like other social media platforms such as Vines and Snapchat, became a phenomenal hit. Not just in teenagers but also in the general audience. Launched in 2016 in China, the Chinese-owned app has become popular because of its feature, which you can edit, dub, and/or capture videos for your pleasure. However, the report says that there is an alleged leakage of private data among users of the app. It may seem not important for some users though since the app continues to grow as time goes by.

We might need to balance our concerns whether or not to use TikTok as an advertising tool for the business.

Pros of TikTok as an advertisement platform

A wider set of audience

Since being a phenomenal hit among people, over 500 million users were actively using the app. The goal of a marketer is to reach potential clients or customers to advertise their products and services.

Advertise to a specific area or community

Like other social media platforms, such as Facebook or Youtube, TikTok has an algorithm that would specify your target audience to advertise a product. Since it is working with most countries in the world, it is easier to spot a lot of potential clients.

Early bird comes with a promo

If you ever had an encounter from malls or concerts having an “early bird promo” this also has the same concept to advertisers, too. This time, compared to other mainstream media, TikTok has fewer advertisers. It tends to lower its advertising fee and since it is new to the market, it has fewer competitors compared to others. So, you get more than what you pay for.

Cons of TikTok as an advertising tool

With every pro, you need to, as an entrepreneur, consider the consequences of every investment since the advertisement is one of your risk in doing so. Here are some things to consider.

A wider range of audience does not guarantee success

Ironically, having a wider set of an audience does not necessarily equate correlatively to its success. You may be a victim of the bandwagon, which you are going with the flow of the trend. It may seem you have reached a wider set but it does not mean that your ad is effective.

Focusing more on the app than your product

From the basic concept of business and advertising, it is to identify your target audience. it is a misconception that some or most entrepreneurs are more focused on the platform than the audience which may cause the failure and ineffectiveness of the ad.

Bad Public Relations

Since a lot of media sites reported the data privacy issue of TikTok, people are still using it. However, this is different from the marketing strategy. There is a concept in Public Relations that says, “Bad PR (Public Relations) is a good PR.”  The goal of a PR specialist is to inform people about a certain product, personality, or company in whatever way to present it. By advertising to a certain platform, such as TikTok, with data privacy cases, for example, people tend to be curious about it so a lot of viewers may see your advertisement. However, in some cases, this is a risk that most people do because it may also tarnish their image by doing such.

The rawness of the app for its effectiveness

TikTok may seem a phenomenal hit among teenagers and some in the general audience. Though it seems that it is already popular nowadays, it still got to prove the effectiveness of advertising through the app. Unlike other Social Media Platforms, Facebook as being the prominent one has more credibility to work effectively than the others.

How to know if you are using a social media platform effectively as an advertising platform?

Social media, being an advertising platform, is relatively new compared to the traditional ones, such as print (newspapers and magazines) and broadcast (radio and television). Traditional platforms tend to based on the demographics of their audience. In Social Media, though, there is a lot to consider, aside from the demographics, like their interests based on the pages they visit or liked, and such.

However, there is little to no data that shows how effective an ad or a campaign can be. Instead of worrying about these, whether what social media platform to use, you might consider re-examining the profile of your product. This will help you determine what is best for your product, not just TikTok, Facebook, and other mainstream platforms. You might as well consider LinkedIn for professionals, Twitch for gamers, and such. These options have a better focus on their audience. It is also not bad to consider taking the traditional platforms.

Have you ever thought of using TikTok for advertising? Click HERE to read about how to engage more audience in your social media platform!