Marketing Strategies on TikTok: The Good and the Bad
By Julia Sames | July 25, 2023
TikTok marketing is not for the faint of heart. It requires absolute fluency in the culture of the app, an agility to pounce on trends at lightning speed, and lots and lots of engagement with other accounts.
All that being said, a brand can be successful by sticking to the one golden rule of TikTok: do not, under any circumstances, try to sell your product or service.
TikTok is useful as a marketing tool only in the advancement of brand awareness and brand relatability. The second you start trying to convince people to buy your product, they will flee. People are here for entertainment and entertainment only!
These five brands do a great job of toeing that line:
The good
Vuori
Vuori is an interesting example here, because they come the closest to “selling” their clothing. However, notice how it is framed in their content. “What we’ve been obsessing over lately.” “Gifts my mom won’t stop bugging me for.” And lots and lots of lifestyle content. This isn’t selling. It’s influencing, and it works.
Microsoft 365
I’m including Microsoft as an example to show how silly and trend-forward you should be making your content. This is one of the largest corporations in the world, and they’re making content that makes fun of their old products, and beautifully meme-ifies their current offerings. It’s subtle, it’s hilarious — we stan this multi-trillion-dollar corporation.
Glossier
The OG pro at millennial marketing is in fact still killing the game over on Gen Z’s app. They’re doing it all — ASMR videos, tons of creator collabs, CapCut memes, stitches, and behind-the-scenes content. Glossier is always a good touchstone for social media marketing!
Starbucks
We love that this account consists almost entirely of creator collaborations. It’s not only creators drinking Starbucks, it’s also creators recreating a 2008 Starbucks date, going through all the cups in their car, and doing their nails to match a Starbucks drink. Again, there’s no explicit selling going on here, but I bet you have a hankering for a Starbucks drink after watching these!
UpTop Treats
UpTop Treats is one of our clients, and our content creator Sarah is absolutely killing it on their TikTok. Their videos are full of cool transitions, humor, trending audio, BTS, and even a bit of Sarah herself! This goes to show that a few good video clips and a bit of TikTok ingenuity can go far on this app!
OK, wow, it feels so mean to call out brands that aren’t doing so well on TikTok. I hope no one behind these accounts ever sees this! If you do, it’s all in the spirit of education!
The bad
Rooms To Go
Rooms To Go’s TikTok is pretty blah. No creator collabs, no trending music or memes, no fun edits. The music they use is giving off a bad royalty-free vibe. That being said, they’re NOT selling, and they’re doing a good job showing off their diverse furniture pieces.
Jeep
Jeep’s TikTok strategy does not feel catered to the app. There are no faces or inventive creators on their feed. It’s just Jeeps, and it makes their whole feed feel like a commercial. On the other hand, they have tens of thousands of followers, so who am I to criticize?
Costco
Costco has over 60,000 followers and no content! While it makes sense for some companies to secure a handle on TikTok and not use it, Costco has such a rapt audience! People love them! They are missing a huge opportunity to reach them on a deeper level.
Worried that your company’s TikTok account would fall in the “bad” category? We can help with that! Give us a shout!
Julia Sames
Julia is a Content Creator for AMR. Julia has always loved reading, cooking extravagant meals, and essentially all activities that take place on or near the water. But now that she lives in Boulder you can add hiking uphill to that list, too.