Influencers and the agencies that work with them are increasingly focusing their efforts on search content strategies, as TikTok recently launched a new monetization program to reward content that matches popular searches. But experts warn that brand safety and authenticity could be tarnished if they don’t strike the right balance, despite the platform’s popularity.
With the app’s growing popularity as a search engine, especially for Gen Z, agencies expect TikTok’s position as a search engine to grow in influence. More than two in five Americans use TikTok as their search engine, and roughly one in 10 Gen Z users are more likely to use it than Google as their search engine right now, according to Adobe. poll.
“It puts more responsibility on both the brand and the agency to be very diligent about how they’re reporting influencers, how they’re conceptualizing campaigns and just trying to stay authentic at all costs,” said agency CEO Jamie Ray of influencers Butter milk “Because it looks like TikTok, in many ways, is set up to gamify the content creation process.”
Even with the ongoing talks of a possible ban in the US, there has been no slowdown in TikTok’s ad revenue generation, quite the opposite in fact. TikTok saw a 20% increase in ad spending on the platform in the week following the House decision to pursue a ban in March, according to the analytics platform. tracer. The platform also saw a 7% CPM increase from February to March.
TikTok rewards search value
In March, TikTok said would consider “search value” as part of its content creator rewards in the platform’s new monetization program. As the app continues to prioritize search optimization and content strategy, it wants to incentivize creators to produce optimized content that matches what their users want, whether it’s keywords like “denim” or topics and trends like BookTok and viral foods.
In other words, this is another step in the development of TikTok search engine optimization.
Desiree Marchetti Russell, director of influencer marketing program strategy at Trade School, said the agency uses precise keywords to help creators produce captions, text overlays and voiceovers in their briefs for each campaign. “This meticulous approach aims to maximize search visibility on social platforms,” said Marchetti Russell.
Ray at Buttermilk said it makes sense that TikTok is embracing and incentivizing search content, given that Gen Z is already using the platform as a search tool. In particular, he expects that certain verticals, such as travel or restaurants, will benefit from focusing on the value of search and will use the opportunity to create more engaging content.
“Would you rather search something on Google and be hit with a wall of text, or would you rather search in an app and have that kind of ‘show don’t tell’ effect where you can try something before you buy it?” Ray told him. on Digiday.
Some agencies also anticipate that the tool will influence creators to tap into other niches and types of content they hadn’t considered before. Bea Iturregu, vice president of creator and brand partnerships at creator marketing agency Cycle, said the strategy for choosing creators remains the same, but the strategy for what they create has changed.
“If the audience is looking for ’90s outfits, then the creator can come up with a concept that incorporates ’90s outfits or leans towards ’90s nostalgia,” Iturregu said. “TikTok wants to make sure they have a video for every search a consumer makes, and the easiest way to do that is to incentivize the people who are already creating content on their platform to create more.”
Safety and brand authenticity
As part of the program, TikTok is also testing a new tool in select regions for creators called Creator Search Insights, which allows creators to find trending searches (based on a popularity score) in the app. A creator’s search value increases the more their content aligns with in-demand search topics to drive engagement.
But using the tool to guide content ideas can be a slippery slope for both brands and creators.
In addition to the risk of diminishing authenticity, Ray also raised the question of how TikTok will handle content moderation with that content and search rankings. It is unclear how TikTok will verify or implement security measures when rewarding high-value content that may pose dangers to users or promote misinformation.
“Google, from a content moderation perspective … they’ve got it down to a T,” Ray said. “What’s going to be interesting from TikTok’s perspective is this whole aspect of content moderation, and where does the truth lie?”
Ultimately, brands will need to take into account their budgets and security considerations. It becomes a matter of how much money a brand is willing to spend to rank high for a search term, Ray explained. For example, instead of working with one or a few creators on a specific search query, Buttermilk plans to focus on the entire community for a search term, such as beauty topics, to produce hundreds of content on around to compete in the list.
How AI and search are changing content
With the spread of generative AI, the broader search landscape is already changing. The BrightEdge SEO marketing platform launched this month data to Google’s AI-enabled generative search experience, SGE, which is expected to launch soon, though BrightEdge founder Jim Yu said there’s no set timeline.
According to the company’s data, an estimated 84% of queries on Google Search will have AI-generated content in the search result, with the healthcare, e-commerce and B2B technology industries the most affected That’s about $40 billion a year in advertising revenue for Google.
With social media, the integration of AI and more searches by users will create a new set of data for AI engines to drive research and content, Yu explained. For example, some platforms like Stack Overflow, a social forum for developers, have a deal with Google to introduce its AI search engine so that people see user-generated content in their results.
“Social is coming into the AI engine, so a lot more convergence of search and social [will happen] in this new era”, he explained.
Now imagine if TikTok content started showing up in Google search results – is it a marketer’s dream or worst nightmare?
Color by numbers
Captiv8 posted a recapitulate to top-performing brands on social media during the March Madness college basketball tournament, which ranged from sports drinks to shapewear founded by Kim Kardashian. This year marked the first time that the final women’s game, in which South Carolina defeated Iowa, surpassed the men’s game, in which Connecticut defeated Purdue. Some highlights:
In the first five days of the event, CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV drew an average of 9 million viewers, a record for the tournament, according to Nielsen ratings. The Iowa-LSU women’s game drew a record 12.3 million viewers, ranking as ESPN’s most-watched basketball game ever. The #MarchMadness hashtag on TikTok racked up 1 billion views just last month. For men, Oakland University posted the largest growth in social media followers, with a 167.72% increase. For women, Creighton University saw a 19.19% increase in followers. In terms of top campaigns ranked by total engagement, Powerade ranked first in the food and beverage category, with two activations and 16 posts earning $28.57 million in earned media value, a rate interaction of 3.08% and 355.59 thousand in total participation. Skims achieved the highest engagement in the consumer and shopping retail category, with a total of 16 activations, 32 posts that contributed $5.58 billion in EMV, an 18% engagement rate, and 813.74K. of participation
Takeoff and landing
Online Market eBay put its global media business, currently managed by GroupM’s EssenceMediacom which he is said to be planning to defend, pending review. The client said it expects to decide by the end of the second quarter.
Horizon Media ground media AOR duties, including all planning and activation, for Stoli Group USA, which includes Stoli vodka, as the brand reintroduces itself to the American drinking public. Sunglasses brand Viper chest chosen RIP as its agency of record for paid media efforts, including search, programmatic, social, affiliate and Shopify platforms, in North America and Australia.
Direct quote
“To me, it’s totally normal for clients to say, ‘Wait, if you can create the content much better, much faster, much cheaper, I want to profit from that.’ at one time Kodak was making a lot of money selling photographic film, and despite the fact that they invented digital photography, they went out of business… Any customer should expect to be passed on the enormous efficiencies that can be deliver through the AI gene.”
— David Jones, founder and CEO of The Brandtech Group, which has invested heavily in generative AI.
Quick read
Ronan Shields and Michael Bürgi broke the news of a complaint filed by data company Adstra against IPG units Kinesso and Acxiom for improperly using datasets to create a competing product without permission. I wrote about CG Life’s acquisition of digital store Toolhouse is just the latest indicator of the meteoric growth of the health and sciences sector among media agencies. Kristina Monllos looked at why Unilever’s Dove unit committed to NOT using generative AI in its marketing efforts and how it fits with the brand’s ethos.
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