TikTok has 1 billion monthly active users. That means 20% of people who use the internet use TikTok. If you want to reach them, you need to embrace the creative and unhinged nature of TikTok and its users. I’ve picked a few companies that are absolutely killing it on TikTok so you get ideas.
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Duolingo
Duolingo’s TikTok account is memes on top of memes. A meme lasagna, if you will. They had a moment a few years back when someone pointed out how demanding and straight up aggressive Duolingo notifications can get.
Duolingo took this as a marketing opportunity and leaned into the narrative. There’s a person at Duolingo in a giant green owl costume, running around and terrorizing people to finish their Spanish lesson.
They really leaned into the aggressive notification meme and took it even further.
They hired a skywriter:
They got on Time Square and chased people:
Spanish or vanish:
Lesson learned from Duolingo’s TikTok: All publicity is good publicity. If they paint you to be a giant murderous owl, be a giant murderous owl.
Ryanair
I don’t know whose idea it was to just hand over Ryanair’s corporate TikTok account to a gen Z intern, but they deserve a raise. Ryanair is a huge corporation, but their account is just plain, unsupervised shenanigans and meme culture.
They jump onto emerging sounds:
Ryanair is the one account on this list that has fully embraced the platform and immersed itself in its culture. Don’t get my wrong, other company accounts on this list post hilarious content, but Ryanair knows the TikTok trends and sounds the best.
Lesson learned from Ryanair: TikTok is not a place to take yourself seriously. Having a person dedicated to researching and engaging on the platform and come up with ideas does pay off.
Oreo Vs Chip Ahoy
Oreo and Chips Ahoy and two different companies and two different accounts. However I’m mentioning them together, because I love the narrative they’ve created.
A large portion of both accounts is devoted to messing with one another.
They went hard last Christmas:
The best part is: both Oreo and Chips Ahoy are owned by the same company. So you know this drama is elaborated specifically to gain views on both sides. *sarcasm* Totally not like YouTube drama. *sips tea*, *end of sarcasm*.
If you told me that my favorite pastime this year was going to be internet cookie drama, I would… actually I wouldn’t be that surprised, we live in a weird segment of history.
Lesson learned from Oreo and Ahoy chip: Research your competitors. You can learn a lot from their social media game. By all means avoid trashing them in public though, unless you’re owned by the same company and this is part of both of your strategies.
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is another example of a brand having a good understanding of the TikTok platform, and catering their content specifically to the TikTok audience.
While you might expect they’d use it for short-form news videos, the channel is filled with funny, engaging videos, often “behind the scenes” type skits to let viewers get a feel for the personalities behind the articles.
This strategy has resulted in 1.2 million followers and has undoubtedly bought WP some goodwill and credibility among TikTok’s younger demographic.
Lesson learned from The Washington Post: Making complex topics simple and fun to digest will get your message across to more people.
Gymshark
Gymshark is another example of a brand that fully understood TikTok, built a content strategy around it, and are seeing the results to the tune of 1.7 million followers on their account – one of the highest we’ve seen that didn’t previously have the backing of a large media company.
They post fun fitness challenges:
They make memes about gym culture:
And a combination of both:
They understand the value of consistent updates and are sure to post something at least once a day. Their content is engaging, but also motivational at the same time. And they do a great job at seeing what’s popular on the platform and adapting it to their brand, partaking in many of the popular hashtags and challenges.
Lesson learned from Gymshark: Your social media content doesn't need to be just about your product. Gymshark is doing a great job focusing their content around what their ideal customer is interested in.
Elf Cosmetics
With the popularity of transformation-style videos on TikTok, cosmetics are a natural fit on the platform, so e.l.f. knew they had to go big in order to stand out. First, they commissioned a song called “Eyes Lips Face” (the brand name’s acronym).
The song was so catchy Terry crews used it in one of his first TikToks:
e.l.f. then enlisted a team of influencers, both men and women, to launch #EyesLipsFace, a viral dance challenge where creators would show their eyes, lips, and faces to the tune of the song.
From a branding standpoint, it was brilliant. The song is catchy enough to get stuck in your head, and the lyrics of it ensure that you know (and never forget) what the e.l.f. in their brand name stands for.
The challenge itself was also fun, and because it didn’t require the use of cosmetics, it was more open for both men and women to participate. The result – 5 billion views and counting.
Lesson learned from Elf cosmetics: Music is a huge part of TikTok. Songs and sounds can attached to trends because they're easy to recreate. If you can make your own sound, go for it. You don't need a music production budget, all you need for your 5 minutes of fame is saying something memorable but relatable at the same time.
Crocs
Crocs are not the sexiest or classiest of footwear. Nobody knows that better than people who work at Crocs.
Their account is mostly used to showcase products and announce new releases, but they’re really smart about strategic partnerships.
They created a #ThousandDollarCrocs challenge. They encouraged their followers to “class up” their crocs as fancy as possible.
This campaign generated 3 billion views. Many digital creators use TikTok as a place to show off their creativity so this challenge was a great match for what the platform is about.
They also created a song that people can use to show off their crocs:
Lesson learned from Crocs: You are what your customers say you are. If customers tell you, you are ugly, then you’re ugly. Be ugly proudly. Make it your brand. Make it a challenge for your customers to make you look good.
Involve.me
You knew I was gonna say involve.me! My TikTok game is on point. If you don’t follow me on TikTok yet, WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH YOUR LIFE?
But seriously, my TikTok is basically mini versions of these YouTube videos. So if you like what you’re seeing, click the link in the descriptions and let’s be friends on TikTok.
On involve.me’s TikTok account you can find business tips,
lead generation tutorials,
feature highlights,
and an occasional puppy.
If you’re looking to grow your business, adding a few involve.me videos into your procrastination routine is the most low effort way to learn new things.
Lesson learned from involve.me: Every company is an expert about what they're selling. TikTok is a great place to share that expertise in short, digestible vidoes.
