brands : to TikTok or not?

February 2020

Hands down (or actually up), last week, a room full of platform experts & brands at Shoreditch House overwhelmingly voted that TikTok is NOT the new Instagram. Those not liking change, applauded. I love change, but I do feel that IG currently presents far better and wider opportunity for brands & long-term growth than TikTok currently does. Though everything changes. IG also does a little more to protect its users

- even if it does ridiculously sensor women’s nipples over other far more unsuitable content.

While I largely feel this is because people don't like change, we cannot ignore the stats and popularity. It is absolutely huge. Last year it was the 2nd most downloaded app in the world, with 700million downloads in 2019. Many love it, they feel it's fun, engaging and brings positivity, creativity & collaborative communication. And its growth is clearly insane, faster than any other social platform ever. So credit where it's due, it is definitely a platform to watch, and definitely a place for creators to potentially gain huge growth with massive viral-ability, regardless of whether it's the new IG or not. It is different and probably shouldn't be compared, rather stand in its own light. Then leaving a big unanswered question, is there space for both?

There are however many negatives that I don’t feel the platform is doing enough to correct. Be it endless scrolling and lack of warning to users (literally with no end as it's chronological) or the really big ones - not protecting children from predators, through to the inequality of restricting & suppressing reach of content from fat, disabled and LGBQT+ creators - a misguided attempt to 'protect' them from bullying. And I am not even going to go near political censorship. But with my moral compass to the side, from a brand perspective, it just currently is not as strong for brands looking for long term brand recognition and results.

That doesn't mean it won't change as it will evolve, particularly as it will look to further monetise, and need to keep brands on-side. Some brands have already jumped in and seem to be having good results, when they quite simply create content that fits within the platform and appeals to the audience on that platform. Re-purposing won’t work here. This doesn't mean that we should down tools or panic about our beloved IG. But we should always be mindful that everything will evolve and we do not own any of these platforms. Another reminder to work on your owned platforms, growing your own audience and customer base, without such a reliance on others. 

So for creators, a huge opportunity to not only grow on TikTok with the ability to explode quickly, but also the potential for a large audience transfer with that growth - to your existing channels. And brands, if you are a brand seeking a younger audience, are able and brave enough to create TikTok native content, then it might be something to consider as part of a wider marketing plan. But for your longer term brand growth - comparing just these two platforms as they currently stand, IG wins. And the @thedigifairy #DigiDebates audience agrees; 67% say TikTok is NOT THE NEW INSTAGRAM. 

*I can’t help but feel however the swing towards the popular IG, was resistance to ‘another’ thing to adapt to/with.

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