Entrepreneurs, trademark owners, tech startups, or local business owners are realizing that digital platforms are a must if your brand, service, or product is to survive the digital age. We focus on TikTok as a platform where DTC marketers are gaining traction and what business owners and startups can learn to level up their digital marketing reach.
When it comes to scaling your business it’s important to protect your intellectual property, copyright, and trademarks. Working with a digital media and tech lawyer will guide you on how to use social media platforms to leverage your products and services as well as guide you on what should not be disclosed when it comes to marketing.
How DTC Marketers Are Using TikTok
With one billion active users and growing, TikTok is a social media platform that offers immense value for marketers and users alike. A study conducted by Neilsen, a consumer research company, found that their uses describe the apps as authentic, genuine, unfiltered, and trendsetting. Because TikTok is a creative platform where content creators use popular songs, and voiceovers, and participate in popular challenges it feels entertaining and genuine for all who engage with the platform, including marketers. “Advertising on Tik Tok is viewed as real, unique, and fun,” says Matt from the Search Engine Journal.
Zain Kahn, a Twitter influencer, discusses how companies and individuals can leverage marketing and psychology to grow their outreach and predicts marketing on TikTok will be bigger than on Facebook and Google. His prediction has a basis on human psychology, what millennials and Gen Z value, and what studies have shown.
TikTok is a platform where people of all ages, ethnicities, and genders showcase their personalities, talents, and unique offers. One of the keys to success on TikTok is delivering quality content consistently on a daily or as often as you can basis. This builds trust among the audience. When a product is being marketed and sold by someone you follow who happens to produce creative and fun content you like, you are more likely to trust the person and therefore more likely to purchase a product. As social creatures, it is within human psychology to seek relationships and tribes, even if they are digital.
According to Wallaroo, 60% of TikTok users are between the ages of 16-24, who are considered Gen Z. 26% are between the ages of 25-44, the millennials. Gen Z users are considered to be the trendsetters and the influencers of the digital age, which really began with Millenials. Gen Z has carved the landscape when it comes to what they value and want. “They’re looking beyond tangible products and actually trying to understand what is it that makes the company tick. What’s its mission? What’s its purpose? And what is it actually trying to build for us as a society?” says Bo Finneman.
The pandemic ignited a market shift in terms of delivering products and services to people. The world was forced into lockdown and retail stores suffered tremendously. A common trend for those that managed to survive and thrive was their ability to deliver to the consumer, coined “direct-to-consumer” or DTC.
Twitter and TikTok influences such as Lauren Labeled and Savannah Sanchez are examples of marketers and consultants that specialize in DTC marketing. A single TikTok’s ability to reach thousands of views makes it an effective DTC marketing tool. TikTok’s hyper-creative, personalized, and uniquely entertaining content makes it a lucrative marketing platform that fits the values, wants, and likes of Gen Z and millennials.
Digital Marketing and Your Business
TikTok is a media outlet that continues to surprise people. Since its inception in 2016, it has grown in its reach and scope. You can find almost any niche, hobby, and interest on the platform. At first glance, this platform may be seen as being for entertainment purposes, but at its root, its popularity is in accordance with the values of the current digital and convenience-oriented consumers. The bottom line is that the best marketers meet the consumer where they are at.
At L.A. Tech and Media Law Firm, our focus includes consulting our clients on best practices when it comes to the digital and tech landscape. Social media is a platform that can offer many advantages for business owners, stakeholders, and entrepreneurs. All brand and business owners are well-advised to consult with an experienced marketing trademark attorney and intellectual property law firm in Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta, Miami, or Dallas.
