Some exciting publications from TikTok have prompted interesting discussions around marketing on the platform as we wrap up 2024 and look toward 2025. Including platform-based solutions, key statistics and keywords, TikTok is providing advertisers with all the tips and tricks they could wish for to optimise campaigns and spark creative discussion over strategy.
The publication of ‘Q5 Season’, a playbook breaking down the hidden quarter between Christmas and early 2025, seeks to support advertisers in taking advantage of that post-Christmas period, where audience attention spikes, making for an important time for awareness and conversions, especially on social platforms. Top topics according to the playbook are expected to be related to apparel, food and beauty, with strong statistics across a variety of verticals. According to TikTok’s statistics, ‘#SelfCare’ will be top of the agenda for post-holiday consumers and shoppers. Their advice covers extending campaigns beyond the festive period, utilising targeted promotions to increase footfall traffic for brands, and promoting products in collaboration with the TikTok Creator Exchange. With 49% of top content users saying they anticipate creator shopping content, and 38% leaning towards hauls and reviews, audiences are looking to creators to fuel their post-holiday purchases. This collaboration with established creators may prove an invaluable opportunity for clients to brand favourability and purchase intent, especially within the beauty vertical. The Creator Exchange, alongside the Q5 Season playbook, is the perfect seasonal gift for brands and advertisers to optimise campaigns, as we bring the 2024 year to a close.
TikTok marketing strategy for sports advertising has been a hot topic following the publication of the ‘SportsTok 2025 Playbook’ in preparation for the coming year. The report features a demographic breakdown of the platform’s affinity for sports, with 57% of 18+ account users watching sports content on the platform. The playbook emphasises a 29% increase in interest in audiences after consuming sports content on TikTok, as well as 28% of users discovering entirely new sporting events. This suggests the need to consider opportunities for upper funnel targeting, as well as traffic and conversion-focused campaigns when building strategies for brands and clients. Additionally, the playbook offers a fantastic guide for optimising engagement that will resonate with online communities. It includes strategic tips on media flight dates to spark pre-event buzz, sustain excitement during the event and drive post-event debate, maximising engagement throughout sporting events and beyond. This may lead to brands and advertisers considering the opportunity of an upweight and longer flight dates, rather than short bursts at the point of sporting events. The playbook also offers TikTok measurement strategies for branding and full-funnel campaigns, concluding with creative solutions such as the TikTok Creator Marketplace and Symphony Assistant, and how these could be integrated within sports campaigns to maximise ROI.
Overall, TikTok’s latest playbooks, including the two discussed, highlight some fantastic advertising strategy opportunities heading into 2025, capitalising on the emphasis towards the pivot in audience perception of TikTok as an entertainment platform. The push into the increasingly popular TikTok shop presents untapped opportunities. Longer form content, such as those product reviews and hauls we’ve come to comfort-watch, along with debates around sporting events, continue to captivate the platform’s increasingly active communities. Together, these trends open some very exciting doors for creative and innovative campaigns as we approach next year.
