We get why marketing can be difficult. There are just so many strategies – including influencer marketing. TikToks, Reels, YouTube Ads, podcast spots, email campaigns, social media branding, and sooner than we know it, we’ll be all figuring out our marketing strategies for the Metaverse.
But as each strategy rolls out, entering the maze that is modern marketing, there are still the ones that have already found their paths, holding strong in both business and busy-ness.
Our maze winner today is influencer marketing.
Some context on influencer marketing
When TikTok rose to stardom, influencer marketing took a back seat in terms of attention. Realistically, it was still going strong. The number of influencer marketing related services/companies grew by 26% in 2021. Furthermore, the industry is set to reach $16.4 billion in 2022, up from $13.8 billion.
Even so, with the average Joe creating the majority of viral TikTok content, marketers turned their heads to TikTok advertising strategies and leveraging user-generated content (UGC). Or at least, adopting the style of UGC in their marketing campaigns.
It did seem like the nonchalant, average person was the new influencer. But as we had our eyes fixed on the latest trend, influencer marketing found a new home. Right in the center of UGC and the social platform people were fervently exploring.
Influencer marketing is big on TikTok
As impressive influencer marketing was on traditional social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram), influencer marketing on TikTok has impressive weight as well.
We can take a look at skincare brand Eos as an example. They spent 21% of their entire marketing budget on TikTok, and it resulted in a 2500% increase in orders, 45,000% increase in site traffic, and 32.3 million views on the branded hashtag. The ROI on that must be insane.
Let’s home in…
How exactly did a campaign get such results? With not-safe-for-work (NSFW) content, of course. But not the NSFW content you’re probably thinking of. TikTok influencer Carly Joy, who has 1.1 million followers, posted a shaving tutorial exposing “the secret for how to bless your f-ing cooch.” Viral stuff. The TikTok has 5 million likes, and gained 17.8 million views by April 2021.
Eos said it led to a 25-fold increase in orders on its website, and 450-fold increase in site visits to its shave category.Bless the cooch? More like blessing Eos. What do you think Eos did next? They doubled down.
They released a limited edition product line named “Bless Your F#@%ing Cooch,” printed with Carly’s directions. While it stopped there for the shaving cream, Eos continued their TikTok strategy with the branded hashtag #eosflavorlab.
The lowdown
This project enlisted 11 artists from TikTok to create art pieces out of the Eos lip balms, and since launching, each video has gained millions of engagements, and the hashtag has over 32.3 million views.
The blessing with Carly Joy happened to be a brilliant intersection of influencer and UGC. It goes to show how combining valuable information with an entertaining format (TikTok UGC in this case) can create an incredibly powerful marketing campaign.
But even if you weren’t blessed with Carly’s unique, candid showing, Eos’ further efforts in #eosflavorlab shows that leveraging (popular) artists’ and TikToker’s reach is an effective way of marketing.
Same formula, different ingredients
Structure-wise, influencer marketing remains the same. It’s only the style of the content that has changed.
Creators are the expert chefs here, supplying the ingredients for viral, effective marketing content. All the brands have to do is set up a program and let the creator do their thing.
In a way, these influencers are the same as the average Joes we thought were running the UGC content. They’re regular people after all, except they happen to have huge followings. What we’re saying is, while TikTok might seem new and different, in terms of influencer marketing, it’s not so different for businesses. Influencer marketing remains a strong option.
It doesn’t have to be mind-bogglingly expensive either. Just as marketers found niche, less expensive markets to market in (using low-cost options such as micro-influencers), you can be successful with low-cost strategies on TikTok too.
SKINN Cosmetics, a small skincare brand decided to bet on product seeding. They sent free products to influencers with no obligation to post, and crossed their fingers that word-of-mouth sharing and organic content would take the lead.
And it did. SKINN saw a 192% jump in sales compared to the month prior to sending the products after an influencer mentioned SKINN’s product in their social media. Plus, they saw a 19% increase in web traffic from social alone.
Final thoughts on influencer marketing
The bottom line is, influencer marketing works, even if it’s not really improving. The focus shouldn’t be on TikTok itself, but rather the content that its users are making.
Facebook and Instagram marketing weren’t successful just because it was Facebook and Instagram, they was successful because of the millions of users these social platforms have. It’s the style of content that makes TikTok seem like a player in a different league.
Otherwise, it’s still a social platform, and the same rules apply. Maybe that’s worth keeping in mind the next time a social platform rises to stardom, if any.
Also, always keep in mind that Voice123 has a vast selection of some of the finest professional voice actors in the world for you to choose from. Posting a project really is as simple as 1-2-3. Why not get on down an do it?
