TikToks with Your Boss? A Flourishing Marketing Trend or a Short-Lived Fad

Ever scrolled on TikTok and saw your boss lip syncing to a popular sound filter? Or playing along with a standardised trend, making content and enjoying themselves like any normal individual? Whilst it may be hard to believe, our bosses are people, too. As tempting as it is to take the narrative that they are robots, mechanically programmed and reset at the beginning of every week.

Now let’s rephrase the question. Have you ever walked into work one day, and had it blocked off in your calendar to make TikTok’s and Instagram reels for the team? Weird enough, you agree, even though you have never published content or engaged in such a way on your personal social media accounts.

The personalised, goofy nature of this content has emerged as a new marketing trend across many businesses, especially corporations. It is interesting to note that it exists, and is restricted solely to platforms such as TikTok, and Instagram reels. Due to the nature of these platforms, a specific type of market segmentation occurs, appealing to a set of audiences in a nuanced way.

Let’s break down marketing tactics across different social media channels, and how market trends have deemed it necessary, rather than optional, for corporations to jump onto this bandwagon, and represent themselves in ways they have not before.

Why do We Market Across Different Channels?

Cross-Channel marketing– the use of multiple marketing channels to promote a business or corporation– has many benefits in that it permits the business’s marketing messages to have a much wider reach and impact on their target audiences.

In the same vein, businesses are empowered, if not, actually forced to segment their markets, and tailor their marketing messages according to the relevant audiences that are present and active on those channels.

For example, a member of the target market can be present on Instagram, but not necessarily active on Facebook. Tailoring the marketing messages, and appealing to audiences across traditional and digital mediums therefore becomes a balancing act: how can businesses maintain a sense of consistency in their branding, whilst still ensuring their content is appealing and relevant to varied audiences?

Using multiple channels can therefore be beneficial in expanding reach, sustaining relevant engagement with customers, and communicating with them at their level, i.e. on a platform that they prefer and are comfortable on.

In fact, ‘making a positive impression on your audience requires meeting them where they’re at, giving them the attention and content that they need when they need it and how they want it’. It is therefore not unfounded that a niche has developed on the content shared and engaged with on Instagram reels and TikTok.

A Gap in the Market

Over the past twelve months, there has been an escalation in the marketing existing within the corporate field. Many established and solidified corporations, even market leaders, who are long-standing within the market place, have sought to change their tactics, and engagement with their followers.

Similar to how Twitter, now X, once encouraged short, to the point, yet impactful messages, the opportunities that Instagram and TikTok possesses now offers these entities an opportunity to still maintain their brand image and identity, whilst still showcasing the unique qualities and attributes of the people working for them.

Corporations, for example, Duolingo and Chipotle, use traditional mediums such as billboards or email marketing to communicate generic targeted messages for optimal conversions. However, once they have taken to these social media platforms, they give an insight into the people working for the corporation: they are human, just like you and I. They also use social media, are also exposed to the same memes and trends, and also share similar emotions and reactions when encountering situations and growth in daily life.

Such humanising adds a specific layer to these businesses'businesss’ brand identities. They are no longer just ‘there’ in the eyes of the consumer. They are now responsive and relatable, making their reach to the customer a lot more meaningful, personal and memorable.

Consumer trust is also improved, and fostered at a much more meaningful level now, than it was before.

Posting on TikTok

TikTok is a popular, and probably one of the most widely used social media platforms, from the onset of the 2020s. With short videos that can portray and depict absolutely anything, it has become the centre of mass consumption.

During the Covid-19 lockdown, it grew rapidly in both usership and followership: the normal and everyday individual could post their recipes, routines, outfits, make-up, singing and dancing videos, and music on the platform, and stand a chance to become an overnight sensation.

The rise of meme culture has made it very easy to adapt and tailor content in order to make it funny, relatable and personal to anyone watching it. TikTok’s algorithm ensures and maintains maximum engagement. If a corporation were to make an impression on a potential customer or follower, that individual will be inundated with similar content.

These echo chambers make it easy for digital content to reach desired market segments. Since TikTok is also a space for light-hearted exchanges and expressions, it makes it the perfect space for corporations to publish their memes, and emphasise their humane-ness.

Posting on Instagram

Instagram reels are slightly similar to TikTok, but are contained in terms of the length and nature of the content. Whilst TikTok content can present itself as more ‘real’, ‘genuine’, and ‘authentic’, there is a layer of performance, polishing and precision that accompanies Instagram.

It nevertheless offers corporations unique and interesting ways to interact and connect with their target markets. Voting polls and Instagram stories can be tailored to convey marketing messages, whilst still facilitating meaningful connections with audiences and followers.

Whilst an algorithm exists, it is not as powerful as the TikTok one. Chances of being exposed to relevant content are still, nevertheless quite high. The use of hashtags and key words can therefore be beneficial for companies wishing to bolster their brand identity.

Engaging with followers by replying to their comments, or commenting on posts you have been tagged in is also an interesting way corporations market themselves online. Their responses take on a slang and ‘lingo’ native to these platforms, ensuring they are on-trend, and most importantly, relatable to users.

The Limit Does, in Fact, Exist

Whilst this trend and new manner of engaging with audiences may be beneficial, there are some challenges and limitations to keep in mind upon implementation.

Challenges

Consistency: What is more important that projecting a brand image to your customers is the maintenance of that brand image. Every single piece of marketing material needs to be in line and accordance with that projected brand identity.

Staying authentic: Amidst the social media world and environment, it can be really hard to maintain an air of authenticity. Everyone is putting on a performance in some way or manner. An authentic voice, with authentic and trustworthy opinions goes a long way, and assists in creating and growing consumer trust.

Pressure to produce content: It is an effortful and timeous endeavour, but can be beneficial and worthwhile when executed effectively. Take the time to produce quality content, and use monthly meetings for content planning to avoid missing deadlines, and compromising on poor quality marketing material.
Algorithms: Whilst the algorithms can be beneficial and boost your social media metrics, it can also go the other way if not enough people are engaging with your content. Be sure to use relevant key words, captions, and hashtags to keep your post as optimised as possible.

Risks

A major risk associated with short form marketing is the response audiences will provide to materials published. Will they accept or reject it as the norm? Due to this, the following sectors are liable, and susceptible to:

Reputation Damage
Questioning of Brand Authenticity
Cancel Culture
Hate Speech
Breach of security

It is therefore crucial for corporations to keep in mind that whilst this angle of social media marketing is fun, and facilitates meaningful rapport building with the surrounding community, there are many factors to consider, and account for during the management process.

Is this kind of marketing here to stay? For the time being, it is a booming niche, and creates a sense of relatedness and camaraderie, directly bridging the gap between businesses and their consumers. Should businesses wish to maintain this trend, they will need to think of consistent and creative ways to engage with their audiences, and appeal to their segmented target audiences.