TikTok Marketing Done Right

TikTok is the hottest app to share and explore content. It frees companies from typical forms of marketing by allowing personality and creativity while building engagement and reach.

In this article, I will look at four brands successfully marketing on TikTok.

4 Brands on TikTok

Puma, the sports apparel company, builds exposure through branded hashtags. Nearly every post has a tag, such as #PUMAfam and #PUMAfootball.

#PUMAfootball keeps users engaged with the company’s content.

Videos on TikTok tagged with #PUMAfootball have accumulated 159 million views, mainly featuring prominent football (soccer) players using Puma’s footwear. Another hashtag, #PUMAvault, connects with older products, content, and company info.

Branded hashtags allow Puma’s marketing team to keep audiences connected to the videos and facilitate quick searches of the company’s name and other posts. To be sure, Puma has a huge advertising budget. Regardless, branded hashtags are an effective tactic for any company.

Posts tagged with #PUMAvault share older products and content.

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Chipotle is another brand that markets on TikTok by understanding its target audience. From listicle videos to product launches, Chipotle uses unpolished, authentic humor and personality to describe its menu items to prospects.

A video introducing Pollo Asado (grilled chicken) received 4.2 million views in roughly a week.

Chipotle shares a fun TikTok video promoting Pollo Asado, a new menu item.

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Elf Cosmetics knows how to utilize influencers. In 2020, the company commissioned a song — “Eyes, Lips, Face” — a spoof of Kash Doll’s 2018 hit, “Ice Me Out.” Elf then launched a branded hashtag challenge (#eyeslipsface) on TikTok via a team of micro-influencers, who encouraged their audiences to dance their way to $250 worth of cosmetics and skincare products.

Videos tagged with #eyeslipsface reportedly have 9 billion views to date.

The takeaway? Create challenges for your audience on TikTok, wherein users generate content.

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Vineyard Vines is a U.S. clothing and accessory retailer that understands TikTok’s fun-loving meme generation. Any campaign on TikTok should remember that audience.

Here’s an example, a video with a pink whale mascot walking sadly across a garden with the caption, “When you’re working an event and get kicked or punched by a little kid for the 50th time.” The video captures a trend of using Owl City’s song Fireflies excerpted only to hear “I’d like to leave” as the punchline. It was funny and received many shares and comments.

Vineyard Vines shares a humorous video.

Keep Experimenting

Remember that your initial ideas on TikTok might not work. But keep experimenting. On TikTok, good ideas are rewarded no matter how small the account.