Warning*** The following posts contains cute dogs and cheesy videos. Read on at your own risk….
Unless you have been living under a rock for the past year, you will have undoubtedly heard of the latest social media platform TikTok.
Hosting over 500 million users, TikTok’ popularity has dramatically increased with Android users spending a staggering 68 billion hours on the app in 2019 alone!
The Chinese video based app allows users to upload 15 or 60 second video clips whilst offering a large range of filters and creative editing options.
As a marketer understanding new and emerging channels fascinates me, so with this in mind I decided to set up a TikTok account for my dog (I thought this would resonate better with the audience on TikTok) as an experiment and share my experience with you all.
So with out further ado, internet meet Milo (in his most successful TikTok video to date which gained over 61,000 views, being watched over 160 hours)…….
@annoyingmilo##dogsoftiktok ##foryoupage ##funnydogs ##dogs ##viral ##funnydog♬ Kiwi used this sound Ok ByE – speedster.jordan
Milo is my Jack Russel dog and the hopefully a soon to be famous TikTok star.
A little information on Milo:
| Likes | Dislikes |
| Long walks | The post |
| Squeaky toys | Baths |
| Naps | Cats |
| Belly rubs | Behaving |
So using this good boy, I created the TikTok profile @annoyingmilo and have shared my findings below:
How easy is it to upload videos?
It is really easy to add new content to the site. A simple click of a button allows you to either film a new video from your phone or choose an existing one saved in your phones gallery.
The app itself allows you to pause the video during filming to allow for more creative shots and you can also upload images to be shown in a slideshow on the platform.
You can upload multiple videos at a time with the app offering clever transitions and fades between shots.
Once you have finished filming you can add songs, captions and effects to ensure your end product is the best it can be.
It is worth noting that if you choose a song with copyright issues the app is fast to find out and will mute your video.
How does the analytics work?
Analytics doesn’t come as standard for new profiles. In order to see your analytics you need to go into your account settings and add it to your profile.
The analytics page shows the following information:
- Video views per day
- Number of followers per day
- Profile views per day
- Top performing content
- Follower information such as demographics and activity
You can also access analytic data for individual videos which reveals:
- Total play time
- Total views
- Average watch time
- Traffic sources
- Audience territories
- Number of likes, comments and shares.
Its worth noting that the analytics is really, really slow! It doesn’t update until early afternoon each day and the time in which it updates often changes, so it is In no way real time.
If you’re looking for a good Tiktok analytic tool check out Cloutmeter – this should help you overcome this problem.
How to get your content seen
Once you start using the platform you will soon realise that there are trends and hashtags you can jump on to increase your views.
The most popular hashtag is #foryoupage
If you get on the for you page you will undoubtedly see huge levels of engagement. The #foryoupage is essentially Tiktoks way of saying trending videos.
There is a search function within the app to see how many times a hashtag has been used. You need to look for the most relevant and popular one for your page and create content that fits within it.
Should your brand be on Tiktok?
TikTok it would appear have two main priorities right now. The first one is to draw celebrities and influencers on the platform.
If you spend five minutes on the app you will see that known public figures have set up their own account after TikTok approached them.
The second priority is that TikTok is very keen to let brands known about their ads. You will see brands such as Samsung and Adobe now featured on your timeline with advertisements.
The above suggests that this channel is going to continue to grow, however, just because it’s the new ‘in thing’ doesn’t mean its right for your brand.
The platforms demographic is quite young and interested in easy, digestible and fun content. If this style fits you as a brand, then great! Make sure you check it out. However, don’t change your style to suit this platform as the benefits to brands are still relatively unknown.
