TikTok surpassed two billion downloads in Q2 2020, just five months after it passed the 1.5 billion download mark.
Now with 800 million monthly active users, TikTok has quickly risen to become one of the most popular social media platforms of 2020. Naturally, brands of all kinds are now getting involved, trying to engage TikTok’s user base.
Here are eight of the best examples of brand marketing we’ve seen on TikTok so far.
Elf Cosmetics
With four billion views and three million user generated videos, Elf Cosmetics’ ‘Eyes Lips Face’ challenge has been described as the ‘most influential campaign on TikTok’ to date. The campaign involved the creation of an original song (called ‘eyes lips face’) to go alongside the brand’s hashtag challenge.
A number of influencers promoted the song in their own videos, which then spurred on other celebrities and users to do the same. The song ended up going viral – not only on TikTok but other platforms including Instagram and YouTube. In response, Elf Cosmetics created its own music video to coincide with the release of the song in full.
@ellendegeneres#eyeslipsface #donjulio
The campaign’s success largely stems from the fact that it was deliberately designed to feel native to TikTok (rather than cut and paste from other platforms). As a result, Elf Cosmetics was one of the first brands to prove the potential of the platform as an advertiser, also spurring on Elf and many other brands to create similar campaigns with original branded audio.
NBA
The NBA was one of the early adopters of TikTok, but the coronavirus pandemic (and the suspension of the basketball season) has meant that it has increased its focus on the platform. One of the reasons NBA content is so successful on TikTok is the variety of content it produces – which ranges from sporting challenges to behind-the-scenes pranks – as well as the amount of videos, with the brand typically posting five to six times per day.
With 11.6m followers, the NBA has built a large and loyal following on the platform. While sport is of course its main draw, humour remains a core USP – one of its most popular videos involves NBA mascots throwing cakes into fans’ faces.
@nba???? Happy National Cake Day! ????
