TitTok-ification changed the rules. Now what? by Mitch Syrett.

For Industry's latest Social Sells report, our ECD Mitch Syrett spoke to Georgie Moreton, Deputy Editor, Creativebrief and shared his take on what brands need to grow. From algorithm-led discovery (thanks to TikTok-ification) to sound-on ideas and giving creators a proper seat at the table.

The most tectonic shift the social landscape has seen in the past five years is TikTok-ification. TikTok's growth has been unparalleled, hitting one billion global users in just five years, compared to over eight for Facebook.

As is often the case when a hot new challenger disrupts a market, the established players have emulated TikTok's strategy to protect their share: see Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat Spotlight. This fundamental shift in platform experience has triggered first and second-order effects that brands can, with the right strategy, leverage to their advantage.

Personalisation

Much of TikTok's success can be attributed to its algorithmic ability to understand interests and tastes at the individual user level. TikTok users spend an average of 58 minutes per day consuming content, compared to Instagram's 33 minutes. TikTok keeps you watching by showing you more of what you want and less of what you don't. So, brands need to get granular on the interests, trends, creators and conversations their audiences are engaging with.

Since the dawn of marketing, brands have meant different things to different people and on social it's happening at scale. Brands must walk a tightrope, between maintaining sufficient distinction and consistency across all content, while also building in enough flexibility to be relevant in the specific spaces they show up in.

Sound-On

One of the TikTok-ification effects that isn't discussed enough is the rise of sound-on usage. Just a few years ago, social was near exclusively consumed with the eyes only. That meant information had to be delivered through concise on-screen captions and visual narrative was the only tool available to hold attention.

With TikTok came sound-on as the norm, 88% of users engage with audio, and with that, the ability to deliver richer, more informative, more emotionally engaging ideas, trends, and conversations. It also unlocked one of advertising's most powerful emotional tools: music. The right sonic strategy on social can help brands drive distinction, generate emotion and even enhance product storytelling.

Face First

Sound-on social allowed us to appeal to a second human sense and in doing so, opened up new dimensions for visual storytelling. We came up off the flat surface and into the room. And in that room were people.

A study by Söderlund and Rosengren found that 91.7% of ads featuring a person's face attracted more attention than those without. We're social animals, genetically hardwired to respond to human faces. So brands must stop treating influencers and creators as a separate silo in their strategy and let people, their personalities, perspectives, and presence flow through.