TikTok 103: High Risk, High Reward

Hello, welcome back to our Everything to Know about TikTok series! If you need to catch up, here are TikTok 101 and 102 for your reading pleasure. 

In part three, we’re covering potential risks and rewards of using TikTok for your brand. TikTok exposure can be highly beneficial to your company; however, with great potential comes significant risk. Let’s look at what those stakes are, tips for avoiding common pitfalls, and how you can navigate these to reap the benefits of the world’s most popular social platform.

Risks of Using TikTok

Platform-Specific Concerns

Misinformation is no stranger to TikTok. A 2022 NewsGuard investigation found that almost 20 percent of the videos shown after a TikTok search contained misinformation. Don’t let this happen to you! 

Sharing incorrect or questionable info on social media can cause serious damage to your brand’s image, trustworthiness, and reputation. This is why, to prevent the spread of false information and harming your organization, it's crucial to verify the accuracy and sources of your content. Before resharing or referencing content, conduct basic fact-checking to ensure your content is accurate and appropriately reflects your brand’s stance, beliefs, and values.

In addition to TikTok’s misinformation problem, research from Ipsos and UNESCO shows that hate speech is widespread on the app. According to a September 2023 public survey of 8,000 social media users 18 and older across 16 countries, hate speech is reported to be most prevalent on Facebook (58%), followed by TikTok (30%). 

Given the impact and implications of hate speech, this is a significant consideration for your organization to deliberate in its decision to use TikTok. You should carefully weigh the risks of associating your brand with a platform that is known to have so much of this type of content. Given the unpredictable nature of the algorithm, interactions with potentially harmful content/creators taking part in these behaviors is a possibility. To avoid becoming associated with hate speech or other problematic TikTok trends, your team will want to dedicate time to researching hashtags, monitoring suggested content from your videos, and keeping an eye on your audience.

Time and Budget

Creating effective TikTok strategies often requires a significant investment of your team's time. Producing high-quality content involves careful planning, potential budget allocations, filming, and editing — skill sets that may mean hiring contractors since not all communications professionals have video creation backgrounds.

Given TikTok's high content demand and fast-paced environment, consistent content creation is crucial to maintaining relevance. This process can be resource-intensive, particularly for smaller teams. For a detailed breakdown of the TikTok content creation process, from brainstorming to publishing, check out TikTok 102, where we provide valuable insights into the time investment required for TikTok marketing efforts.

Potential Ban

TikTok has faced scrutiny over data privacy and security practices throughout the years, which is why you need to be aware of how evolving regulations may affect your content and data usage. (Side Note: If this is something you’re weary about before joining the app, know that you can browse through videos without making an account.)

These data security issues have ultimately resulted in a potential ban of the app in the United States. To read more about this current legal battle, you can find our summary of what’s happened to this point and follow along with our active news updates in the first part of our TikTok series, TikTok 101: Everything You Need To Know About The Platform Taking Over The Internet.

All this to say that right now is a tricky time to consider joining the app as it might not be around for much longer for U.S.-based brand use.

Navigating these potential pitfalls is crucial to embrace all the good TikTok can do for your brand. Understanding these challenges will help you better decide whether or not TikTok is the right platform for you.

Rewards of Using TikTok

Rapid Audience Growth and Visibility

Rapid audience growth on TikTok is possible thanks to its powerful algorithm, which amplifies reach to a broad audience likely to engage with your content. With a diverse global user base, TikTok enables brands to interact with audiences they may not reach on other platforms, especially among Gen Z and Millennials, making it an ideal tool to reach desirable demographic targets.

Community Building for High Engagement Rates

TikTok was born out of audience demand for more “realness” in social media. The platform’s emphasis on creativity and authenticity allows its users to build genuine connections with their followers. 

Fortunately, interactive features on the app, such as Duets, Stitches, and Challenges, give you opportunities to engage more closely with your audience by allowing you to build content around user-created TikTok videos. By producing genuine, audience-relevant content, brands can foster a sense of community and connection — which, in turn, creates an audience more likely to support your cause and help you reach your organization’s goals.

Potential for Viral Content

Engaging in trending challenges and using popular sounds on TikTok increases the likelihood of going viral. Going viral is both a risk and a reward, but the “rewards” greatly outweigh the risks (especially if you follow our advice listed in the section above!) Viral content has the potential to grow your audience immensely as a bunch of new viewers are introduced to you and your content. At the end of the day, your content won't be everyone's cup of tea, but gaining a bunch of new community members that do align with your brand is pretty rewarding. 

Now it’s up to you to weigh the risks and rewards of TikTok for your brand. The platform's creative flexibility allows you to experiment with different content styles to determine what works best for you.

If you do decide to hop on the TikTok train for its potential rapid growth opportunities, remember this important takeaway: Always prioritize your audience through the content creation process.

We’re here to guide you no matter what choice you make! Shoot us a message if you have any more burning TikTok questions!