TikTok For Luxury Brands

Throughout the pandemic, the video sharing app TikTok has become an undeniable player within the social media realm. The app was the most downloaded and highest-grossing non-game app globally in the first half of 2021, and has become an important platform for brands to market their products to the app’s 1 billion monthly users. However, marketing on Tiktok is not about having the highest quality ad, or the most unique shooting location, it instead focuses on creating trends and involving the users. Additionally, due to the platform's younger user age, these trends are often inclusive and can be done from anywhere with little to no investment. Also, due to the app’s high engagement rates, profiles with less followers still have a good chance of going viral depending on the quality of their content.

Why would luxury brands benefit from tapping into this market?

Simply put, TikTok has become too big to avoid as a marketing platform. With 54% of GenZ saying they actively use the platform, it is an excellent place to advertise to the next generation of luxury shoppers, even potentially converting new ones. It is now a go-to platform for all types of brands including high-end luxury brands. These companies have learned from the successful campaigns launched by early adopters. Two companies that have seen success in engaging with TikTokers are Gucci and Moncler which used hashtag challenges to spread awareness. These were the #accidentalinfluencer and #MonclerBubbleUp challenges which proved to be very successful by teaming up with big TikTok influencers such as Charlie D’amelio in the case of Moncler. By teaming up with established influencers, brands have the opportunity to tap into their existing follower base which in the case of D’amelio is 125.2 million followers on the platform alone. Contrary to traditional marketing which would focus on product placement and showing off new products, social media marketing is more about “creating content that’s entertaining, current and stimulates engagement”. This allows users to connect with the brands on a more personal level and participate in its marketing.

Why should luxury brands embrace this change?

Not only should the brands be embracing this change, but they should also be maximising this opportunity to target influential future customers. Due to the pandemic, online shopping will become the primary sales channel for luxury goods by 2025 and 20% of the luxury spending will be from Gen Z. This aligns nicely with the fact that in 2020, “80 percent of luxury sales today are ‘digitally influenced’, meaning that, in their luxury shopping journeys, consumers hit one or more digital touch points”.Luxury brands are now left with the choice to swim against the current or follow the social media trends that seem to be working for the brands that choose to partake. In fact, some brands such as Louis Vuitton arrived to the scene later than other luxury brands but have managed to accumulate 1.2 million followers in 1 year. Instead of posting content more traditional to their other platforms, LV embraced the TikTok lifestyle by posting more laid-back, behind-the-scenes videos at a higher frequency, almost 1 per day. This paired with TikToks with celebrities like BTS wearing new collections have resulted in Louis Vuitton gaining popularity on the video-sharing platform. In the end, TikTok has not only disrupted the social media world by becoming one of the biggest players overnight, it is also changing the way luxury brands distribute content and attract new customers. Extravagant ads evoking exclusivity are becoming a thing of the past and social media platforms like Tiktok are allowing brands to get closer to their clientele by involving them in the marketing journey.