Paid content on TikTok driving brand trust, loyalty: report

January 15, 2024

The short-form video app's What's Next 2024 Trend Report is now live. Image credit: Unsplash

A new report finds that 31 percent of viewers are more likely to stick with a brand after seeing an ad on TikTok.

Now live, the short-form video platform’s What's Next 2024 Trend Report aims to provide professionals with insights on its user base, and shifts in its “wants and needs in order to shape the year ahead.” Among other learnings, the company's fourth annual trend forecast advises that marketers move away from aspirational still imagery toward authentic displays in digital content to deepen bonds with audiences moving forward.

"2023 has seen our TikTok community of over 1 billion people regularly coming to TikTok to find community, surprise and delight,” said Sofia Hernandez, global head of business marketing for TikTok, in a statement.

“In an era where storytelling has become predictable, TikTok showcases creativity without a typical beginning, middle or end,” she said. “In 2024 we're going to see the TikTok community build on this in ways we've never seen before.

“Fueled by a blend of curiosity, imagination, vulnerability and courage - creative bravery will be infused into our daily lives."

For the report, the platform supports findings with data from the Global TikTok Marketing Science team that it says was gathered across multiple third-party commissioned research studies utilizing mixed methods approaches often including quantitative online surveys, exposure to stimuli in a mock TikTok environment and/or advanced analytics. Studies compiled from 2022 and 2023 are primarily used.

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The What's Next 2024 Trend Report expands upon the ways in which brands can employ smart long-term content strategies.

Driven by what it calls “Trend Signals,” defined as content patterns that show emerging behaviors and interests on the site, one area of analysis involves building trust.

In the face of increasing demand for transparency coming from today’s consumers, many luxury players are looking to bridge the gap with conversation starters that lead to further engagement and conversion. Advertisements placed on TikTok are helping drive impact here.

After encountering an ad on the platform, viewers are exhibiting a 41 percent increase in trust towards the brand. Image credit: TikTok

After encountering an ad on the platform, viewers are exhibiting a 41 percent increase in trust towards the brand. Furthermore, survey responses point to a 31 percent higher likelihood of developing brand loyalty from watching ads, and a 33 percent greater inclination to perceive the brand as a suitable match for their personal identity once viewed.

One effective tactic for connecting with consumers on TikTok lies in a brand’s ability to remain relatable, a challenge for luxury brands that have grown accustomed to leveraging exclusivity as a means of garnering interest.

South Korean automaker Genesis partnered with award-winning avant-garde beauty and fashion content creator Cindy Chen on promotional content, pushing community appeal. Image credit: TikTok

Distant approaches are proving less resonant with modern-day users as, in contrast to spaces dominated by aspirational images, TikTok’s unique environment encourages open and honest vulnerability.

The report emphasizes that on TikTok, trust is cultivated through the platform's receptivity to both sharing and receiving feedback. This loop sets TikTok apart, creating a space where meaningful and sincere community interactions thrive, offering a stark departure from the polished aspirational messaging that often leaves audiences skeptical on other platforms (see story).

Authenticity and access
The importance of speaking to younger segments on the planet’s fastest-growing social media app is paramount.

In 2022, millennials and Gen Zers accounted for all of the personal luxury goods market’s growth, according to a report from global consulting firm Bain & Company (see story).

Spending from Gen Z and Gen Alpha populations will grow at a rate three times faster than previous generations’ over the next six years. The group’s collective buying power is also set to make up a third of the market, rising in value to reach between 540 billion and 580 billion euros by the end of the decade, up 50 percent from an estimated 353 billion euros in 2022, by 2030.

The report emphasizes that trust is cultivated through the platform's receptivity to both sharing and receiving feedback. Image credit: TikTok

Estimates suggest that more than half of TikTok’s users were born from 1996 to 2012. The cohort remains commercially active.

A separate survey from the technology giant found that, in 2021, nearly 50 percent of Gen Zers on TikTok bought a product because it was presented to them on the platform (see story).

What is more, the report from TikTok lists that for brands that advertise across feeds and do so often over an extended period, viewers’ trust of the brand increases by 41 percent, a discovery unveiled in tracking scores from December 2018 to December 2022.

For luxury brands interested in optimizing interactions with Gen Z, the social networking site's release makes clear that authenticity, ease of access and, finally, consistency, comprise the winning formula.

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