Introduction

Social media is defined by evolution. What started as chatrooms and small status updates has become an all-encompassing form of entertainment and mass communication. You can still find your chatrooms and status updates, but social media goes much beyond that now. There are social media platforms dedicated to photography, text, video, and even just sounds. There is a type of social media that touches on just about every existing content format imaginable. In this current saturated market, one content form is experiencing a massive surge in popularity, leading to the growth of a major platform centered around it: short-form video content and TikTok.

Short-form video content is typically defined as videos up to two and a half minutes long. While YouTube is the largest social media platform centered around video content, many of the videos on the platform run much longer. The average length of a YouTube video is 11.7 minutes, according to Statista. When it comes to short-form video content, the name to know is TikTok. TikTok is one of the most popular and fastest-growing platforms on the planet and is something social media and influencer marketers need to be aware of. TikTok influencer marketing gives brands a presence with a type of marketing content that is exceedingly popular right now.

Let’s explore the popularity of short-form video content and TikTok’s hold over this format, with an eye towards influencer marketing impact.

Short-form Video Content

Appealing to consumers in the way they want to be reached is part of the appeal of influencer marketing. People genuinely want to see content from the influencers they follow, which is why influencer marketing works so well. If you want to take things a step further, appealing to consumers from the people they want to hear from in the content format they enjoy most can be highly effective. This is what using short-form video as the core content format of your influencer marketing campaign can do.

There are many things to note about the power of short-form video content. For starters, it is the form of content marketing that has the highest ROI. According to HubSpot, short-form video marketing has the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy. Short-form videos are punchy and effective at communicating things quickly. They are visually stimulating and get core messages across quickly and in an easy-to-digest way.

Online video is one of the most popular things on the internet, and people are watching more of it than ever before. The amount of online videos people watch has doubled from 2018 to the present day alone. It is also consumers’ favorite form of communication from brands they like. According to Oberlo, 54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support. The same report showed that consumers’ favorite type of branded social media content is a video.

Consumers love short-form video content. It is only growing in popularity and should be a major component of any marketer’s strategy. If you are building your influencer marketing strategy on this content form, TikTok is the place to be.

TikTok’s Hold on This Format

TikTok seemingly came out of nowhere to become one of the most popular forms of social media available. It is particularly popular with a younger demographic, with 62% of its users in 2020 aged between 10 and 27, according to Statista. It is an app with a user base primarily composed of Gen Z and Millennials, and it is entirely centered around short-form video content. The typical TikTok is around 30 seconds, with a time limit capped at three minutes. That time limit is set to change to 10 minutes in the near future.

TikTok is all about short, punchy videos, even with the time limit changing. That is why so many brands are now using it as a key part of their social media marketing strategy. It allows brands to communicate using videos in a fast-paced, fun way. However, TikTok isn’t without competition in this sphere.

For brands that prefer to use Facebook Ads advertising infrastructure, there is Instagram Reels. Instagram Reels is almost a direct clone of TikTok. However, TikTok is considered fresher, as many of the posts on Reels are recycled TikToks. Still, there are many Reels users, and if brands prefer to center their campaigns on Instagram, Reels is a great way to get in on the short-form video content game.

TikTok is a great pathway for influencer marketers, with a young user base that is part of the demographic driving social commerce right now. TikTok has a ton of high-quality influencers, great marketing features, and is a space that all brands should be looking to enter right now.

Partnering with an influencer marketing firm can help brands develop high-performing social media strategies. Influence Hunter is a top influencer marketing agency with years of high-level experience helping brands across industries develop and deploy campaigns that deliver on strategic goals. Contact Us Today to find out how we can help grow your business.