There’s been a change in the media landscape over the last few years.
Have you felt it?
It’s because of TikTok.
Yes, TikTok—the app you thought you didn’t need to pay attention to.
TikTok—the dancing app for kids that Trump just “saved”.
You might think TikTok hasn’t really affected you at all…
Except, it has.
That is, if you’re among the 92% of internet users who use social media. Nearly every social media platform has adopted TikTok-like vertical video feeds with interest-based algorithms that mimic its powerful “For You” page.
You no longer need tens of thousands of followers to get your organic content seen on social. Thanks to the power of that algorithm, as long as your content is compelling enough to keep people on the platform, the platform will keep serving it to more and more people.
Social media now offers a cost-effective way to test ideas, themes, and messages so that when you put dollars behind it, you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck. And that’s just good business sense for everyone—from a solopreneur to a Fortune 500 company.
Unfortunately, for boardroom warriors who haven’t caught onto this trend, their marketing strategy is a few years behind. And things move fast in the marketing world.
Topics Covered in This Video:
- How traditional TV commercials are losing ground to social media as a marketing powerhouse.
- Why TikTok’s interest-based algorithm is a democratizing force for content creators.
- How short-form, engaging videos have spread across platforms like Instagram (Reels), YouTube (Shorts), and even LinkedIn.
- The secret to using organic social content to test and refine your marketing messages.
- Why TikTokification makes paid advertising smarter by taking out the guesswork.
If you’ve been ignoring TikTokification, it’s time to rethink your approach. This video dives into actionable insights to help you create audience-focused content that stands out and resonates.
Not sure where to start? Start by watching this video, then connect with me on LinkedIn for more tips on how to make your brand thrive in today’s media landscape.
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Transcript
If you think you can ignore the TikTokification of social media, here’s why that’s a huge mistake for your brand and your marketing strategy.
In this video, I’ll explain how TikTokification is changing the game for marketers and five reasons why that is critical for your brand.
The first reason you need to know about TikTokification is because social media has eaten TV commercials’ lunch. Did you know that 92% of people use social media, and 88% still watch broadcast television? Our media consumption is now in our pockets. The average person is on social media for 1 hour and 53 minutes a day.
And here’s the kicker: What is the cost for getting your content on social media? It’s nothing. So, you get to reach out to your audiences for free using organic social—and organic social has recently become a lot more powerful.
Which brings me to the second reason: TikTokification has supercharged organic social media. Let’s talk about the TikTokification of social media. It’s not just about that short-form vertical video format. It’s also about the interest-driven algorithm behind their “For You” page. It tracks what content you’re actually watching and engaging with and serves you content that really fits what you seem to be interested in.
And that is the magic of TikTokification. Whether it be Facebook and Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, or Spotlights on Snapchat, now even LinkedIn has that vertical video feature. But even if you’re not on TikTok, you’ve been impacted by the TikTokification of social media.
In case you’re wondering, no, I didn’t invent the word TikTokification. Gary Vee talks about it in his latest book, Day Trading Attention. Since prior to TikTokification, marketing on social platforms had a similar dynamic to email marketing. You would spend time building up your follower base and then market to that follower base through your content. Much like email, only a small percentage of your social media audience would see each one of your posts.
Now, businesses, creators, and brands don’t need to have a follower base before they can start getting views and engagement. You could create an account on any social platform, post some content over the course of this week, and you actually have a shot at getting thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of views. It just depends on whether your content is good enough or not.
Learn to make compelling, relevant content at scale, and the platform will distribute your content to people who are interested in consuming it. And why would they do that? Because it keeps people on their platforms.
And with that, we get to our next reason why you need to know about TikTokification: Content is still king. TikTokification rewards authentic, valuable content that keeps target audiences engaged. Whether you’re educating, sharing thought leadership, or just being entertaining, if you’re keeping people on the platform, they will keep serving more and more people your content.
And that leads us to reason number four: You don’t need a focus group to figure out what kind of content will engage your target audience. A good place to start is to find out what your target audience is already engaging with on the platform within your niche. What are they already watching? A good rule is to make sure you’re creating content that adds value to their lives. The idea here is to focus on building a connection and relationship with your audience—not on the sales pitch.
Armed with all of that thinking and research, just start posting. Post often, and keep tweaking what you’re posting to figure out what messages, ideas, and themes really resonate with your target audience.
And that brings us to the fifth reason you really need to know about TikTokification: It can take the guesswork out of paid ads. By posting organically and testing out messages, themes, and ideas through your organic content, you will find what really resonates with your target audiences. Then you take those concepts, themes, and ideas and tweak them to create your paid ads, knowing this is the content that’s working—this is the content that’s resonating with your target audiences.
Social media offers a cost-effective way to test ideas, themes, and messages so that when you put dollars behind it, you’re getting the biggest bang for your buck. And that’s just good business sense for everyone—from a solopreneur to a Fortune 500 company.
And now, I’d like to hear from you: What brands do you think have really taken advantage of the TikTokification of social media? Or maybe you want to share a story about one of those old TV commercials you watched as a kid that you had to watch over and over again to get to your favorite show, and it just bored your brains out. I would love to hear about that too because I’m sure we can all relate.
Lastly, if you found this helpful, please hit follow for more tips on how to succeed in today’s media landscape.
