Being On TikTok Is Not Your Silver Bullet

“You have to be on TikTok”. Really?

Of course being on TikTok ( being = advertising) is fashionable. Probably the most recent and persistent marketing fad (unless a new one appears between writing and publishing this article).

As all media channels, TikTok and its social media counterparts are good at something and not so good at something else. The mix of media needs to be adjusted to target audience and campaign objectives, and nobody wins if we start with “You have to be on ….”.

First, see if this is a demandgen (we used to call this brand building 🙃) campaign or a leadgen (formerly known as sales activation).

Leadgen needs fast results; for it, use fast media: social media, news portals, paid search, emailing. The downside of fast media is the low attention it gets from people.

Demandgen is a slower process. It means building familiarity and connection - getting your brand known, associated with things that are relevant for your customer and, ideally, telling your story in a memorable and emotional way.

For this use slow media, that gets high attention: ads in cinema, podcasts, or specialty magazines, products placed in movies, series or games, sponsorships - they all put your brand on your customer’s mental list and build a familiarity that will only help when the time of purchase comes.

In between fast media and slow media, low attention and high attention, there is TV. TV is a different breed. It is still the most effective medium for both brand building and sales activations. The old saying “Can you afford TV? Do that. If not, do something else.” still applies. TV is constantly losing audience but it continues to be the most robust medium.

The lesson here: start with what you need to do for your brand and then decide which are the tools that will help you get there. Never start with the tools and be wary of fads!