TikTok helps brands manage cross-platform campaigns with new partners

Dive Brief:

TikTok named eight companies that specialize in content marketing as official vendors in its Marketing Partner Program to help brands manage their TikTok and other social media accounts within a single platform. The social video app is teaming with Brandwatch, Dash Hudson, Emplifi, Hootsuite, Khoros, Later, Sprinklr and Sprout Social, according to an announcement.
Marketers that use these platforms will have more flexibility to schedule when their branded content appears on TikTok and other social media outlets. They also can monitor engagement metrics for their videos and profiles, and compare performance across platforms to help optimize their content marketing strategies.
Marketers also can see a real-time view of conversations among TikTok users in the comments sections of videos. The feature can help brands in their social listening efforts to gain consumer insights and respond to users consistently, per TikTok. The company’s approved marketing partners are listed in its online directory.

Dive Insight:

TikTok’s integration with content marketing platforms can help brands to automate workflows as they post organic branded content among different social media apps such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and Pinterest. By having a more holistic view of their cross-platform efforts, marketers can make adjustments to their content marketing strategies more quickly or test the engagement within a single social media app before distributing content more broadly.

While wide organic reach can be difficult for brands to attain on social media as platforms change their recommendation algorithms to improve the user experience, content marketing is an important way for brands to maintain a presence on social media and build a following. A key goal is to nurture a social media community around a brand as followers share comments with each other or re-post content. In the case of TikTok, 59% of its users say they feel a sense of community when they are on the platform, while 77% say they read comments on videos, according to the company. That level of engagement makes user commentary an important part of prolonging engagement with branded media.

The addition of content marketing partners is another way that TikTok is working to make its platform more seamless for brands that seek to build a social media following. The company two years ago introduced its TikTok for Business Marketing Partner Program with 20 certified companies that specialize in managing campaigns, and has since expanded it to include dozens of vendors. As part of its efforts to support creative agencies, TikTok in April introduced its Creative Agency Partnerships (CAP) University. Enrollees in the five-week program learn how to use the platform to build brands and improve their marketing efforts.

Last month at its appearance the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s NewFronts, the platform introduced its TikTok Pulse contextual advertising tool to help brands place their ads next to the top 4% of videos on its platform. The company also began a pilot of an ad product called Branded Mission that gives marketers and creators a way to collaborate on videos that can be turned into paid ads.