In today’s episode April Ford sits down with Jessi our Marketing Assistant and Tayte our Social Media Content Account Manager to talk about TikTok, a social media platform that has grown substantially in the past 24 months. It has had such an impact we have seen other platforms scramble to keep up with the innovation. Its focus on vertical interactive video speaks directly to the audience. It is real, direct, and growing in younger demographics at a rapid rate.
In today’s episode April Ford sits down with Jessi our Marketing Assistant and Tayte our Social Media Content Account Manager to talk about TikTok, a social media platform that has grown substantially in the past 24 months. It has had such an impact we have seen other platforms scramble to keep up with the innovation. Its focus on vertical interactive video speaks directly to the audience. It is real, direct, and growing in younger demographics at a rapid rate.
April (00:01):
Welcome to Digital AF. In today's episode, I sit down with Jessi and Tayte. Jessi is the person I work with all the time here at AprilFord. She is the marketing assistant for our brand. And Tayte has joined us only a few weeks ago as one of our social media content account managers. Today, we talk about TikTok, a social media platform that has grown substantially in the past 24 months. It has had such an impact. We have seen other platforms scramble to keep up with the innovation. It's focused on vertical interactive video, speaks directly to the audience. It's real, direct and growing in younger demographics at a rapid rate.
Introduction (00:41):
Digital AF. The digital marketing podcast that features real conversations from those who live and breathe the digital agency life. April Ford digital agency shares their tips, tricks, and exposes the truth about what works and what doesn't. Welcome to Digital AF. Let's get into it.
April (01:09):
Jessi, we're about to launch our TikTok strategy for AprilFord. As a brand using the platform, I wanted to talk to you today about the five trends you think brands should consider focusing on. The first one on your list that you gave me earlier was trending dances. What the hell is a trending dance?
Jessi (01:27):
If you're on TikTok, you would see that a lot of the videos on there are mainly girls, but it could be anyone, doing dances to an audio, like a sound. There's usually a bit of copy or something else on there that will make the video more relatable than someone just standing around dancing.
April (01:47):
Who's making up these dances?
Jessi (01:48):
That's a good question. There are certain influencers, it's huge in America, and there's a few key people that make up these dances and then everyone jumps onboard and copies their dance with the sound. And then, that's a great way to have your video trending because it's already something that people are looking at, that dance, that audio. Anyone can makeup these dances, but it's a lot easier to follow what someone else is already doing because it's already an established viral trend.
April (02:20):
Where's the audio coming from? The music that they dance to?
Jessi (02:24):
You can find them on TikTok search. A lot of times, people just search up one of the popular sounds. And then, you can add that to your favourites and then you can upload a video with that sound through TikTok.
April (02:35):
Do you, Tayte, watch the dancing TikToks?
Tayte (02:38):
Doesn't really come up on my For You Page, to be honest.
Jessi (02:41):
Yeah. It doesn't really come up on mine either. I think it comes up on a lot of younger male demographic. I think they're on there watching.
April (02:49):
Your sister's really into it though, isn't she?
Jessi (02:50):
Yeah my sister... yeah, she's there dancing.
April (02:53):
How old's your sister though?
Jessi (02:55):
She's 15. I think a lot of that age group, everyone that's in school now. Yeah, they're doing these dances and they get so many views.
April (03:07):
They love it.
Jessi (03:09):
Yeah. I know. And I'm like, what is even happening?
April (03:09):
It's super cute. I mean, even you see... I mean, I'm obviously never going to dance on TikTok, but it's cute. You see something that are like moms with their daughters or their kids or something like that doing these dances.
Tayte (03:21):
I definitely think it brings people together...
April (03:23):
Yeah.
Tayte (03:23):
... to do something.
Jessi (03:24):
Yeah. I've done some with my grandma. She didn't know what she was doing, but I think it made for some great content.
April (03:31):
The next thing you've got is funny skits or something like that. What is that?
Jessi (03:37):
They're the main ones that come up on my For You Page. Your For You Page is basically a feed of videos that are tailored to you.
April (03:46):
So the algorithm or something?
Jessi (03:48):
Yeah. The algorithm on TikTok actually gets people's interests a lot quicker than other social media platforms. Basically, it finds anything that you're liking or interacting on their channel, but I'm pretty sure it also will use what you're looking at on other websites and social media platforms, and give you a feed of things that you're interested in. The comedic skit ones, they're just basically people finding situations or, I don't know, just funny things that happen that are relatable to people. They're just really funny to relate to. If you had a business, like for us with marketing, you'd want to be showing just the annoying things that happen to us here.
April (04:28):
Can you make the logo bigger?
Jessi (04:30):
Things like that.
April (04:33):
Can you think of one that you've seen that even is relatable just for you as a person, in your age bracket, or something that you're experiencing at the moment?
Jessi (04:42):
Yeah. I love the Inspired Unemployed. I watch their videos all the time.
April (04:47):
They are very funny.
Jessi (04:48):
They're very funny. And then, I seem to get shown these same people. I think Tayte sent me a video yesterday of this...
Tayte (04:56):
The Valentine's Day one?
Jessi (04:58):
With the girl from New Zealand?
April (05:00):
What was it? What was it, Tayte?
Tayte (05:01):
It was like, obviously, Jessi and I are the only single ones in the office. It was just mocking someone who was being like, why would you want flowers on Valentine's day? Who would want that?
Jessi (05:15):
Yeah. Pretty much. It's a lot funnier that we've just made it sound.
Tayte (05:19):
It was relatable. That's right.
Jessi (05:21):
It was really relatable.
April (05:22):
Would you describe it as a modern take on a meme? Because it's video with someone interacting, I suppose.
Jessi (05:28):
Yeah. I get a lot of ones of people that are...
April (05:36):
They're just there to make you laugh or make you feel like someone else understands...
Tayte (05:40):
Yeah, is going through something like you or...
April (05:42):
Yeah.
Tayte (05:43):
... experience something like what you're going through.
Jessi (05:45):
Yeah. But it's usually like something relatable. It doesn't even have to be something funny, but they're just turning it...
April (05:50):
Into something funny, or like
Jessi (05:52):
Like it's funny how sad it is. That's happening to me as well. That's great. We're all in the same boat.
April (06:01):
The next one on your list-y list that you gave me is glow-ups.
Jessi (06:05):
Yes.
April (06:05):
What the freak is a glow up?
Jessi (06:10):
I love watching glow up videos. A glow up is basically when you show a before and after of something.
April (06:15):
Okay.
Jessi (06:16):
A really common one is a beauty makeover or something.
April (06:19):
Yeah. Cool.
Jessi (06:19):
Where you show someone before, like you've just got out of bed or something, and then you do a cool transition or something like that, and then it'll show you with full glam makeup. But it can also be interiors. If you had an office, you could show what it looked like before you moved in and then the after of it.
April (06:36):
It's like a before and after?
Tayte (06:37):
Yeah, basically.
Jessi (06:39):
Yeah, basically. Yeah. You can always... You can do that even with your work or products you're making and show the before and after of it.It's just really quite interesting.
Tayte (06:48):
I feel like house renovations are a big one as well.
Jessi (06:50):
Yeah.
Tayte (06:50):
They go viral. Yeah.
Jessi (06:52):
Yeah.
April (06:52):
Awesome. Now, next one. Seamless transitions. Tayte, can you explain what a seamless transition is?
Tayte (06:59):
A seamless transition is when you just make it look like you haven't split two clips.
April (07:04):
Okay.
Tayte (07:05):
It's just like it all happens in one and you don't even notice that you've gone from the first shot to the second shot.
April (07:10):
Right. Could you explain an example?
Tayte (07:15):
I've seen a lot where they twist the phone, and then... I don't know how to explain it. You'll twist the phone and then the next shot will start as you're doing that. Or you walk around the house and you'll look in one room, and then there'll be someone and then they'll do something with the phone. Then, the next clip starts straight away.
April (07:33):
It's like it's obviously filmed separately, but it feels like it's the same?
Tayte (07:38):
You don't even notice that it's changed. Yeah.
April (07:41):
Yeah, right.
Jessi (07:41):
If you're doing that, I feel like it has to be really good quality. You can't half do it. It'll just look really bad. But also, it could even be like, I've seen people changing clothes, what they're wearing. That's great for fashion brands. They do that where you're like... you'll jump up and down and then you'll be in a new outfit.
April (07:59):
That's a transition.
Jessi (08:00):
Yeah.
April (08:01):
Because I've seen ones where they're throwing their stuff on the ground or jumping...
Jessi (08:04):
Then they'll come back up.
April (08:07):
I've even seen ones recently where it might be two people and they're dressing outfits, like the same clothes, but differently. Or one stays the same, and then the other person is just constantly changing outfits.Is that a seamless transition? Is that what that is?
Jessi (08:23):
I would say so, yeah.
April (08:24):
Yeah. Okay, cool. And then last one on your list is behind the scenes. Tayte, what is behind the scenes?
Tayte (08:31):
I think behind the scenes shows you a more authentic insight into what's happening behind the walls of a company.
April (08:37):
Yeah, right.
Tayte (08:38):
It shows who the people are, what you're doing, rather than just what's on the outside.
April (08:42):
Rather than the marketing.
Tayte (08:43):
Yeah.
April (08:43):
It's like the real...
Tayte (08:45):
Like an inside look into what's going on.
April (08:47):
What's some examples of behind the scenes that you've seen recently that you liked?
Tayte (08:51):
I like the day in the life kind of videos. They're fun.
April (08:54):
What's that?
Tayte (08:55):
It's when someone will walk you through what they do in a day. It might start from before they get to work and go through till after. If they're getting up in the morning for a walk, what they're having for brekky,and then takes you through their day, what they do at work.
April (09:07):
Does it show only the glamorous side or does it show the real side?
Tayte (09:10):
A lot of the time, it does. Probably just show the glamorous side, I think. Yeah.
April (09:14):
Because I was thinking, a day in my life is not that exciting.
Jessi (09:18):
But you can get the best clips of it and put it together.
Tayte (09:20):
It's always a highlights reel, isn't it?
April (09:23):
What about you, Jessi? Have you seen any cool behind the scenes that you like?
Jessi (09:27):
There's a small business that I really like, and she just does all these cool behind the scenes. It's a pottery business, so she'll show her making it. She does days in her life as well, but I think it's really cool to just see how a product's made from start to finish.
April (09:41):
The effort that goes into something.
Jessi (09:42):
Yeah. You can see that there's actual effort put in it. It just doesn't magically appear, this product.
April (09:47):
I think people underestimate how much effort goes into creation of things, whether it is a service or a product or something along those lines. Sometimes that's nice to see, even if it is for 15 seconds.
Tayte (09:59):
I think for us, something that we do behind the scenes is when we show... Jessi, you've made a lot of good ones lately. Like what we're doing on a shoot or behind the camera, all that kind of things are really coolto see.
Jessi (10:10):
Yeah. I think it's good to show not just the final product because there's so many people and just so much hard work that goes into a lot of the stuff that we do.
Tayte (10:18):
Yeah.
April (10:18):
Yeah. I think from our perspective, even a social media post is usually touched by five different people in our office. It's not just one person. Yeah.
Tayte (10:30):
Yeah.
April (10:31):
Cool. Thanks for sharing those insights. Have you got any tips that you think brands should consider when looking to introduce TikTok to their marketing strategy?
Jessi (10:41):
Yeah, I have a couple of tips. I think knowing your target audience and your brand really well is helpful, just so you know that the content that you're making, would it relate to your target audience? And also, you want to keep it true to your brand. But a really good TikTok tip that I learned the other day was that you want to have shorter videos, even around the seven second mark.
April (11:03):
Wow.
Jessi (11:04):
It's like... Yeah, for some reason, I think because people watch the whole video because it's so quick from start to finish. And then also, if you leave TikTok open, it'll just keep replaying that same video.TikTok will see that and be like, okay, that videos getting great engagement, and will make...
Tayte (11:21):
The views go up.
Jessi (11:21):
Yeah, the views go up, but also...
April (11:23):
Because they've watched the whole video?
Jessi (11:24):
Yeah.
Tayte (11:25):
re-watching because it keeps replaying.
Jessi (11:26):
And it'll make it go out to a lot more people because the algorithm will be like, this is a really popular video, so it'll keep...
April (11:35):
Yeah.
Jessi (11:36):
... feeding engagement up.
April (11:37):
Yeah, and feeding it through. Is there a discover section or something like that?
Jessi (11:40):
Yeah, in the For You Page.
Tayte (11:43):
It's just random people. It's not people you follow necessarily. It just serves you content that they think you might be interested in.
April (11:49):
Yeah, cool. There's good opportunity for brands to be in front of people even at zero to low cost.
Tayte (11:55):
Yeah.
April (11:55):
Yeah, okay. Cool.
Jessi (11:57):
Yeah, I think adding trending sounds to your video is also a great tip just because people can find it when they're searching up the sound, and it just makes it a lot more relatable. If you're there watchingTikTok, you'll know... You'll start to pick up on when new trends are coming, so you want to be on top of that. Really, that's like...
April (12:15):
And think about that all the time.
Jessi (12:16):
Yeah.
April (12:17):
Yeah. Sound is a really big part of TikTok, isn't it?
Jessi (12:19):
Yeah.
Tayte (12:20):
Yeah.
April (12:20):
Yeah, which is... I think they've tried to introduce that in Instagram. I just don't think it has adapted as much as what TikTok has.
Jessi (12:29):
The Instagram algorithm seems to be very different toTikTok.
April (12:31):
Yeah. What's your last tip?
Jessi (12:33):
My last tip...
April (12:35):
Was that your last tip?
Jessi (12:36):
I've got another tip, who knows? I can just keep bringing up tips, really.
April (12:40):
What's your next tip then? Not your last tip.
Jessi (12:43):
I think creating high quality videos is important because you don't want to create something that people don't want to watch. But also, quantity is really important. You'd want to be posting video at least once a day, and more than that if you can. I know that some of the big TikTokers, they'll do 10 videos a day. It's crazy. That's their job though. But although you want the quality to be good, you also want to keep making sure... If you want to grow a following, which obviously, if you have a business, you'll be wanting to grow a following on TikTok, I think you just need to keep uploading videos and coming out with new content.
April (13:15):
When you say quality, is that hiring a videographer? Is that using the best cameras in the world? What is quality? When you say quality, how would you describe quality?
Jessi (13:24):
I think because it's on TikTok, I don't think everyone's on there getting videographers. That's not really what that platform's about. I think it's about creating instant content. But also, I wouldn't want to watch a video with really awful lighting and you can't even hear what they're saying. You just want it to be something that people can watch and enjoy.
April (13:44):
Yeah. What do you think about that, Tayte?
Tayte (13:46):
I think you're totally right. I think when it comes to creating quality content, it's a mixture of everything we've just talked about.The seamless transitions, I guess using a good camera. You don't want to... nota bad camera, but even just your phone.
April (13:58):
Yeah.
Tayte (13:58):
And having it steady, that kind of thing.
April (14:01):
Yeah. Not moving it around.
Tayte (14:02):
Yeah, exactly. Using the audio, all those things come together to create high quality content.
April (14:09):
Thinking about the whole experience.
Tayte (14:09):
Yeah, exactly.
April (14:10):
It's not necessarily about the best camera in the world or the top camera or videographer. It's the whole experience of it. Cool. Have you got any tips, Tayte?
Tayte (14:19):
Yes, I do, actually.
April (14:21):
What have you got for us?
Tayte (14:23):
One, Jessi and I were talking about yesterday actually is when people... On TikTok, you can reply to comments with a video, so it's a very good way to keep engaging with, I guess, your followers and what people want to know.
April (14:35):
Does that create another TikTok video?
Tayte (14:37):
Yeah, it does. And then, you can go back into the comments and it will tag back to the previous video. A lot of the time, if I see one and it's responding to a comment, you can click on the comment and it will take you back to the previous video and you can watch the whole story unravel.
April (14:52):
Yeah, right. That's pretty cool.
Jessi (14:53):
You can get really dragged into it though.
Tayte (14:56):
You can. Yeah, you can. And it is good for brands too. Even if a customer has a question or something like that, you can respond with a video rather than getting put it up in words. Yeah.
April (15:05):
Yeah. Or like, what does the packaging look like? Or how does that open or something? You could actually open up the product rather than it being...
Tayte (15:11):
Answer it.
April (15:12):
Yeah, writing the answer.
Tayte (15:13):
Yeah. Okay. Cool.
Tayte (15:14):
Exactly.
April (15:15):
Awesome.
Tayte (15:15):
Another one we were talking about is referencing pop culture. I think it's interesting, I don't know, when you're watching a TV show or something that's trending and then you see those, either the characters or the sounds or the music, or even just sayings and quotes come through in content that you're watching on TikTok.
April (15:31):
Pop culture is so important for what we do.
Tayte (15:34):
Yeah, 100%.
April (15:35):
Some people say to me they don't have time to watch TV series. What are you doing with your life?
Tayte (15:43):
I know. It's so funny.
April (15:44):
No, it is really important because you have to... One, you have to see how the world's changing or what's trending at the moment.
Tayte (15:51):
Yeah.
April (15:51):
And sometimes, it's hilarious.
Tayte (15:52):
It just creates relatable content, I think.
April (15:54):
Yeah, 100%.
Jessi (15:55):
The one that's trending at the moment, I think we were talking about it earlier, was the Kanye ones.
April (16:01):
Where he's covered? No?
Tayte (16:03):
Is that the Super Bowl yesterday?
April (16:04):
I didn't see it.
Tayte (16:05):
He's just everywhere at the moment.
April (16:07):
There's a lot of memes out about Kanye.
Tayte (16:10):
Yeah.
Jessi (16:12):
Yeah. I probably wouldn't be doing that for my business though.
April (16:15):
Yeah, no, that's fine.
Tayte (16:15):
But he is getting a lot of... He was trending over the SuperBowl.
April (16:18):
Wow.
Tayte (16:19):
Yeah.
April (16:19):
That's amazing.
Tayte (16:20):
Yeah.
April (16:20):
For what? Was he wearing something?
Tayte (16:22):
No, just Kanye.
Jessi (16:24):
Just him.
April (16:26):
Just being there. Cool. I think it's really different when you look at it from a brand perspective, and I think it's important that you learn how to use it in a brand safe way. Some trends are probably not quite right for your brand because you always want to think about the risk, but I think the benefits far outweigh that and you should just be trying to apply those trends through to your business if it makes sense. I don't think you'd have doctor doing a dance. It's probably not the right message to put out.
Jessi (16:58):
Yeah. It might not sound super professional.
April (17:02):
But just thinking about where your audience is hanging out, who your audience is, and then how to speak to them in a really authentic way.
Jessi (17:08):
Yes.
Tayte (17:09):
Absolutely.
April (17:10):
Check out our TikTok to see our new strategy roll out over the next couple of weeks. Follow us at April Ford agency, and thanks for tuning in. Thanks, guys.
Jessi (17:18):
Thank you.
Tayte (17:18):
Thank you.
