As TikTok grows exponentially, so does the interest of marketers and advertisers. Brands are constantly trying to find new ways to promote on TikTok — striving to reach an audience of over 800 million monthly active users worldwide.
Before you start contacting TikTok influencers for your influencer marketing campaigns, it’s important for marketers to know how to work with TikTok influencers.
Natalia Sisik is one of the TikToks original influencers in Poland, even starting back when TikTok used to be Musical.ly. With over 1.7 million followers on TikTok, Natalia’s content is filled with comedy skits, singing, cooking, traveling, interviews, DIYs, and anything that sparks her curiosity.
Get an inside look into Natalia Sisik’s journey with TikTok and collaborations with brands:
Could you tell us about yourself? How did you first come across TikTok as a platform?
Before I started working on TikTok, actually it was Musical.ly in 2018 when I started, I published covers with my boyfriend on Facebook and YouTube where we only had 3k followers. For the first time, I heard about TikTok from a friend of the creator, Magic of Y, who showed us Musical.ly. And said that it’s a great application for showing talent, dance, comedy, cooking or sport. He suggested I create an account and it was in 2018.
As an early adopter of TikTok, how would you say the platform has evolved?
When I started working on Musical.ly, this application was just beginning to transform. I started recording at the end of May 2018, and in September, the application became TikTok. When I started creating on TikTok, lip sync videos were still popular but they were definitely less promoted. Comedies, dance, cooking, vlogs, make up, fashion, talent and sports worked the best. Currently, you can see the huge popularity of spoken vlogs where previously the creators added mostly music without using their voices.
There’s also a change in age of users. People under 16 are hidden on TikTok and their videos do not show up in the For You section.
The approach to Lives has also changed and there used to be a separate application, called Lively, and it was promoted constantly. Now, the creator's Lives option is not so popular.
There has also been a restriction on buying gifts on Lives. I can now only buy and send people gifts who are over 16 years old. You must also be 16 years old to stream on TikTok.
You have an impressive following of 1.7 million on the platform. How did you grow your community? Could you give us some insights into your strategy?
The most important strategy is regularity — recording trends and trendy music. Having good lighting and good video quality is also important. What's more important is that viewers watch the film from beginning to end.
TikTok is becoming a hot new topic among marketers. What are your thoughts on brands joining in on the fun?
Currently, on TikTok, you do not only see brand campaigns with influencers, but also ads and brand profiles that really work well on TikTok. Examples of such brands are Zaful, Washington Post, and Netflix.
Influencer marketing on TikTok is pretty new. What advice would you give to a brand looking to collaborate with an influencer on TikTok?
First of all, to listen to the creator's instructions to make the video look as natural as possible and not be an intrusive campaign — because TikTok does not like such ads.
Before starting cooperation, it’s worth seeing the reach of a given artist whether they will match a given campaign. Often, the number of followers is not the only important factor in influencer marketing.
What does it take to be successful on TikTok compared to other social media platforms?
I think there are many parts in common with other platforms (e.g. regularity or authenticity). However, on TikTok, as I mentioned, you can use popular trends or trending music to get your visibility. The most important thing about TikTok is that you don't need to have a large number of followers to get your video up to 5 million views. You can have up to 5 followers, and if your video is attractive enough then you can potentially reach 10 million viewers.
What is the No. 1 thing brands should consider before joining the platform?
Beginner’s content has to adapt to the guidelines of the platform: vertical video and interesting content. The viewer has to want to watch the video from beginning to end, without advertising the products directly, the product needs to be woven naturally in the video.
Many people believe that TikTok is tailored towards a younger audience. What are your thoughts on this?
I think that on this platform everyone can find their place regardless of age. Currently, I think there is even more content for older people than younger ones.
What improvements would you like to see in TikTok? Any functionalities that you miss at the moment?
So that when editing and recording in the video application does not lose quality. Categories could also be useful for example Comedies, Cooking, Make Up.
The Takeaway
When it comes to TikTok influencer marketing, TikTok influencers can build a bridge between your brand and their audiences. And the key factor with any influencer collaboration is trust.
Brands need to understand the influencer’s perspective and brand collaboration experience before starting any campaign. As long as the brand builds trust with the influencer, brands can develop a deeper connection with the influencer’s audiences and gain the results they need for their social media campaigns.
You can start by using an influencer marketing platform to discover the best influencers for your audiences and keep track of the right influencers for all your campaigns.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on socialbakers.com. Any statistics or statements included in this article were current at the time of original publication.
