TikTok has released their first What’s Next Report looking ahead into 2022 after the last year saw over one billion people turn to the social media app to create, share and discover entertainment.
The report provides insight into the top-performing categories on TikTok, ways of unlocking success on the app, tips for brands and business owners, the importance of music to authentic partnerships with creators and continued focus on brand safety.
Community commerce trended on TikTok as it was a launchpad for product discovery that sparked new shopping trends and drove cultural conversations for old and new products.
The platform noted that 73% of people feel a deeper connection to brands they interact with on TikTok compared to others, with 67% saying that TikTok inspired them to shop even when they weren’t looking to do so.
TikTok Shopping, a suite of e-commerce tools that turn videos and LIVE into shoppable entertainment, will arrive on the platform this year. It is set to provide solutions for brands, merchants and creators to harness the power of community commerce through the platform.
The report noted that TikTok music tends to transcend the platform, with 66% of people feel TikTok has had a big impact on the music industry and led people to research, stream, and buy songs they hear whilst they have been browsing the app.
This not only opens up new possibilities for both artists and brands alike, but it creates a new paradigm for sharing, creating and finding music. If brands want to push the music culture forward in 2022, it’s important to put the artists at the forefront of what they do and think (and act) artist-first.
It noted that while it does open new opportunities for artists and brands, it creates a new paradigm for sharing, creating and finding music, and added that if brands want to push the music culture forward in 2022, it’s important to put the artists at the forefront of what they do and think (and act) artist-first.
The report also added that music generates longer watch times on average and makes people less likely to skip content and makes people feel more positive.
Research showed that instrumental music generates the strongest brand recall, while R&B, pop and rap are most related to brand likeability, while brand tailor-made music generates the most intrigue and track clicks.
According to the report, research from Europe showed that partnering with creators on TikTok boosts view-through rates for TikTok specific ads by 193%, and branded content coming from creator collabs shows a 27% higher Ad Recall. TikTok users also agreed with 78% say that the best brands are ones that work together with users.
TikTok creator Marketplace will be the go-to destination for creator collaborations and a streamlined way to discover creators based on industry, budget, and business goals.
Brands can use that to search for videos mentioning their brand in order to identify creators who already know and love their products, leading to brand integrations that feel native and authentic. Through the Marketplace, brands can now connect with over 100K creators across 24 markets.
The TikTok report noted that as a platform that is committed to ensuring the safety of their community with age-appropriate privacy and safety settings, tools to promote kindness, combat bullying, campaigns to promote awareness around bullying and curb the spread of misinformation.
The platform added that they have listened to brands over the last year to expand their offerings to advertisers to ensure branded content shows up next to safe and suitable user videos. They offer four leading brand safety solutions for advertisers – the TikTok Inventory Filter, pre-bid solutions from OpenSlate and IAS and a post-bid solution from Zefr.
TikTok also noted that they partnered with the Technology Coalition GARM Aggregated Measurement Report, taking a seat on the board of the Brand Safety Institute and becoming TAG Brand Safety Certified globally by the Trustworthy Accountability Group.
Last year, the platform also launched their first two quarterly Community Guidelines Enforcement Reports and continued to host tours of our pioneering Transparency and Accountability Centres, and announced the establishment of a new physical centre in Ireland to build on our two previously announced centres in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.
“There is no finish line when it comes to the safety of our community. Looking ahead to 2022 we will continue to prioritise safety, solutions for brands, transparency, and partnerships to build an even safer platform for creative expression. 2022 promises to be a year like no other for brands on TikTok,” the report concluded.