In 30 seconds:
- Gone viral on TikTok one week, forgotten the next? Sounds like you need to translate your efforts into brand advocacy.
- How can you turn initial interest and conversion into independent, long-lasting and highly convincing love for your brand?
- Our experts shared their know-how – plus, get more insights in our report.
In our recent Fanbytes LIVE event, we focused on how to maintain momentum and build a long term, consistent Gen Z marketing strategy on TikTok.
The last part of our event focussed on advocacy: how marketers can foster a strong enough relationship with customers to create brand love and loyalty long after their campaign is complete.
In our final panel, we examined how TikTok is almost as much about creating content than consuming it. Levelling the playing field and opening up your brand to advocacy activities makes best use of the social media platform and naturally grows your brand – and we covered ways to do this.
Below are some of our top takeouts.
1. Advocates show up for your brand independently
How do you tell a brand from an advocate? Sonia Gordhandas, Account Manager for Fashion & Beauty, Fanbytes by Brainlabs explained, “advocacy is when you’ve found people who speak for you when you’re not necessarily in the room. So, instead of having an audience, you actually have a community.” Oliver Campbell, Social Media Publisher, Asda agreed; “they’re a brand guardian.” Lubna Mohsin, Social Media & Communications Manager, Estée Lauder explained further: “With a community of advocates, the conversation is a lot more dynamic. They actually talk amongst themselves when you are not there.”
2. Treat loyal customers and influencers as experts
How can brands inspire advocacy from their customers? Lubna from Estée Lauder suggested one key step is to reframe your thinking. Once you have convinced your network of the benefit of your products, she explained, “they’ve pretty much got the same amount of expertise that you do.” Especially when working with influencers, the next step is to let them frame their experience of your brand within their own context, to give credibility. “you want to be then able to believe a voice that’s a bit unbiased and will speak to the brand saying, “You know what, I’ve tried a hundred brands, but this one’s really my favourite and you need to try it too.”
3. Find ways to connect on a deeper level
Another key success factor in ambassador campaigns is to demonstrate how your activities as a brand are aligned with the passions of your audience. This will prompt users to speak about your brand as it is a reflection of their own interests. Oliver from Asda talked through a recent campaign that tackled cost of living concerns. “We’ve taken a subject that we know is really important to our customers. We’ve reflected it back out to them, and that signals to them that we know what they’re going through.” Lubna from Estée Lauder meanwhile spoke about the company’s focus on female empowerment. “If you’re able to create evocative storytelling opportunities using cultural cues, it becomes super interesting to be able to connect the legacy that you’ve had into current trends.”
4. Not all information needs to be up front
Leading advocacy campaigns with brand values was also something Fanbytes’ Sonia spoke about, particularly in relation to her ongoing work with luxury sex toy brand Lelo. By drawing out Lelo’s mission statement to empower young people, Sonia’s campaign overcame TikTok’s stringent safety guidelines and saw incredible advocacy as viewers resonated with the message. “It was less so about, “I’m gonna buy this”, but actually about, “I completely stand for what they stand for”. And actually the conversion from that point is easy.” Many e-commerce retailers prioritise ease of purchase experience, but for advocacy, sometimes the experience of a brand is more powerful away from the product page.
5. Connect with influencers early on
Fanbytes’ Sonia also had advice for challenger brands looking to build advocacy through influencers. “look at the conversation on social media of who is already talking about you, who is already potentially buying from you. And nine times out of 10, they will be small creators.” Don’t underestimate the power of these micro influencers: they have highly engaged communities who want to see them succeed – and trust their advice. And they won’t be micro forever. “as they grow, they’re like your day ones, right? They’ve been there with you from the start. That’s a great recipe for advocacy.”
6. Layer out-of-niche influencer partnerships to connect on more levels
Fashion brands use fashion influencers, gaming brands use gaming influencers – right? Actually, this panel covered how layering well-chosen out-of-niche influencers can increase advocacy for your brand. Lubna from Estée Lauder described how in a recent campaign, “A lot of the focus was on casting… getting people in the industry, that’s hygiene, and everyone’s doing that. But we wanted to tap into more communities that were most relevant to the benefits that we talked to.” The brand looked at conversations within these communities to identify where they could add meaningfully – and work with influencers who could tell a more individual – and impactful – story.
7. Community breeds advocacy
Throughout the panel, the importance of community in fostering advocacy was a key theme. Oliver from Asda explained, “Create an atmosphere and build a community. That’s how you get people to become advocates.” Lubna from Estée Lauder added that “turning an audience into a community on TikTok is very much possible – because TikTok’s already giving you the tools.” Fanytes’ Sonia concluded, “using influencers to bridge that gap and communicate in ways that you necessarily can’t as a brand is your biggest asset into infiltrating the different TikTok communities, and making them really see your brand.”
Get more of our TikTok advice
Going viral on TikTok may sound tempting, but will the impression you create last long enough to translate into advocacy?
Our event, ‘My Brand Went Viral on TikTok – Now What?’ covered awareness, consideration, conversion and advocacy, examining how brands can use TikTok to transform their relationships with consumers – and even be part of the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt phenomenon.
Read the full event takeouts by clicking the button below.
TikTok brand advocates = more connected than ever
Brand advocates are highly valuable: not only do they coax fellow consumers further down the marketing funnel; they are the final product of the funnel themselves – meaning their perspective is a reflection of the brand activities *and* a continuation of them.
Nowhere is this more powerful than on TikTok. The rise of “shoppertainment” on the platform has led to the phenomenon of brand advocacy content going viral – and even prompting copycats as users shop from the same brand and make their own video about the experience.
This pattern is the best of both worlds for marketers: it’s the huge initial splash of virality – but also sustained high performance as copycat videos create a snowball effect.
#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt is about participation
While these viral reviews and influencer recommendations may be hard to achieve every time, the strategy behind them should inform every campaign.
On TikTok, shopping is a community activity. Consumers discover brands and product recommendations via people “just like them” – whose interests (and often identities) align in some way with theirs. Therefore, to achieve and sustain constant high-performing advocacy on TikTok, brands must centre their activities around creating a strong sense of brand community. This will create a sense of belonging – and encourage others who will want to “join in”.
Now what?
Check out our event takeouts from ‘My Brand Went Viral on TikTok – Now What?’ for a fuller picture of our advice from the day.
Alternatively, get in touch to find out more about how Fanbytes by Brainlabs can deliver stand-out TikTok marketing for your brand, from influencer marketing services, to TikTok account growth, content creation and full-funnel TikTok marketing strategies.
Want to read more of our advice for growing your business on TikTok? Check out our articles below:
