The TikTok platform is filled with young audiences creating dance challenges, comedy skits, and all manner of fun and lighthearted content. But TikTok can feel like a strange environment for brands, as many usually struggle to find their footing after joining the platform. This is because they do not understand the kind of content to create. Instead, they treat TikTok like traditional advertising platforms.

However, some brands are already winning on TikTok. These can be a good example of how to create a good TikTok content strategy for businesses. In this article, we look at some brands already winning on TikTok. But before we do that, let us look at the overall TikTok environment for brands.

Why Brands Struggle on TikTok

A good TikTok strategy for brands focuses on connecting with their target audience through fun, relatable content. One of the factors that the TikTok algorithm considers when recommending content is content that resonates with users through likes, comments, watch time, and shares.

Brands can create this kind of content by joining trending challenges, sharing TikTok UGC, or using popular sounds to improve their visibility. However, many brands still struggle on the platform for several reasons, such as:

Being Inauthentic

TikTok users prefer relatable content that feels authentic rather than scripted or overly polished, but brands still focus on creating promotional content that misses the platform's vibe. When users encounter a video that feels like an ad, many will skip it without a second thought.

Brands should remember that TikTok is all about realness and should, therefore, eradicate a corporate tone and polished production, and instead create authentic, spontaneous content. You can feature your employees, share UGC, and behind-the-scenes videos to show the human side of your brand. Use a casual, conversational tone, and film the video in an everyday setting rather than a studio. This can ensure you have relatable and approachable content.

Not Evoking Emotions

Connecting emotionally with your target audience can be one of the most important factors determining your TikTok success. Whether you do that using excitement, humor, or nostalgic content, content that triggers your audience’s emotions is more likely to be remembered and shared. According to research, 8 out of 10 brands don't create content that emotionally connects with their audiences, which makes their content strategy fail.

You can use testimonials and user-generated content that show how people react to the product. When you create content that elicits an emotional response, it can cause a bigger impact.

Content that Ignores Trends

Trends are big on TikTok, and trends move very fast. Another reason brands fail on TikTok is that they do not align their content with popular trends, whether hashtags, sounds, or challenges. When they do so, it is already too late, which means such videos do not resonate with the target audience.

Make sure you incorporate trends into your content, whether through trending sounds, popular challenges, or viral memes that align with your messaging. When leveraging viral trends, speed is very important. Therefore, take time every day to review your feed and identify rising trends you can use to align with your brand messaging.

Not Adding a Hook

TikTok users don't have the luxury of time to decide whether to watch your videos. That means if you don't capture their attention in your first three seconds, you will lose them before they get a chance to engage. If you bury your message or take too long to get to your key points, you will lose viewers before they engage with your video.

Remember, the first impression is everything. Therefore, you need to begin your video with a surprising fact, a bold statement, or a thought-provoking question that instantly hooks the viewer and gives them a reason to keep watching. Consider what will make them stop scrolling to see such an outstanding visual.

Not Using Storytelling

Storytelling is popular on TikTok. Another mistake brands make is not using storytelling in their videos, such as day-in-the-life content, behind-the-scenes content, or mini tutorials that help connect audiences at a personal level. When creating social media content, use a structure with a beginning, middle, and end, even for those short clips. You can also introduce a situation or show, showcase your product in action, and add a clear call to action or takeaway.

Not Tracking Success

Running a TikTok campaign without tracking success is another common mistake that brands make. This leaves them without a clear understanding of the strategies they should double down on. If you want to succeed with your TikTok strategy, you need to track results such as comments, shares, likes, and watch time. This will help you gauge whether your content is resonating with the target audience. 

Examples of Brands Succeeding With Their TikTok Strategy

If you are looking for inspiration for your brand strategy on TikTok, here are the brands you need to learn from:

Bumble

Bumble is an app designed for friendships, romances, and business connections. The goal of the app is to build genuine connections with both new and existing audiences. One of the platforms the app uses for marketing is TikTok. Brands have collaborated with creators on the app, such as Brittany Broski (with over 6 million followers) and David Dobrik (with over 25M followers), to create authentic content that blends seamlessly in the For You page, helping it capture the community's attention on the platform.

Additionally, the app also uses native In-Feed ads to market itself. It also features on the TikTok Ads Manager to promote its in-app events. These marketing strategies helped the brand increase its number of brand installs by 5 times and reduce its cost per registration by 64%. 

Peace Out Skincare

Another brand that is using TikTok to increase sales and traffic is Peace Out Skincare. In 2020, the brand started organic seeding and gifting to TikTok influencers. One of its breakthroughs came when influencer Kaelyn White, with over 380K followers, posted a before-and-after photo after using their pore strips. This video was viewed 700K times.

However, its biggest breakthrough came when HJyram Yarbro, a popular skincare influencer with over 6.8 million followers, created a TikTok duet that responded to  White’s video. Viewed as an expert in the skincare niche, this helped build momentum for the Peace Out brand.

These two influencers helped the brand grow its pore strip brand by 4 times in 24 hours, and the brand sold 15,000 units in a single day through its site. In fact, the brand reported selling more in one month than in an entire year.

Simmons

Simmons leveraged TikTok to revamp its 150-year-old mattress. It created a branded hashtag challenge (#Snoozzzapalopoza) to promote a new and playful brand that would appeal to its modern consumers. The brand collaborated with diverse creators consisting of dancers, comedians, celebrities, and athletes to encourage different audiences to participate, with the brand partners showing their creativity.

The results? Over 1.1 million TikTokers participated in the challenge, creating over 2 million videos. With the challenge garnering over 6.3 billion views, the 6-day campaign also increased the brand’s engagement, boosting its brand awareness among Gen Zs and resulting in a 107% increase in sales in one week.

Arby’s

Arby's uses TikTok to gather customer feedback and even co-create with its audience. For instance, one user bought a flat-screen TV worth $25 that only displayed the special offers from Arby’s menu, and the video garnered over 16 million views. Arby’s also created a duet with a creator and launched the $25 missing menu, where customers could order using the code "I have your TV." The fast food menu screen also displayed the creator.

The campaign helped Arby’s gain over 200K followers, with the #Arbys hashtag reaching over 88 million views on TikTok. Through the content co-creation strategy and the special menu item, the brand participated in social conversations, remained culturally relevant, and grew brand awareness among younger demographics.

Ocean Spray

Another successful TikTok campaign was Ocean Spray's collaboration with Nathan Apocado. The campaign started with Nathan filming himself using a skateboard to cruise home after his car battery died, while he hummed Mac Dream and drank from an Ocean Spray juice bottle. This prompted other TikTokers to buy Ocean Spray juices and hit the road on a skateboard, recreating the viral video.

It resulted in the #Oceanspray garnering over 350 million views, and the virality caused the brand's stock to double overnight. The brand also helped build momentum for the video by partnering with the creator. After that, they created another campaign known as #DoggfaceDanceVibes that encouraged viewers to join a choreographed dance.

In Conclusion

While TikTok has proven to be a hard nut to crack for many brands, it is clear that there are some brands that are already experiencing success with it. Therefore, if you are looking for inspiration for your TikTok brand campaign, the above brands should offer you one. You can also learn from the tips we have shared on succeeding with your content creation on TikTok. We recommend you read our guide on tips to blow up on TikTok.