What makes TikTok desirable for marketers & licensing programs

TikTok has been touted as the next “Instagram” by media experts including entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. It was the third most-downloaded app outside of gaming in 2019.

In 2020, TikTok is the short-form mobile video app every business, social influencer, digital marketer, and licensing professionals, should focus on.

Earlier known as “Musical.ly”, TikTok is spreading like wildfire with roughly 1.5 billion downloads to date. Due to the app’s algorithm-populated feed, “TikTok” users can go viral without even having a single follower. The users just have to implement the right trending hashtag at the right time and submit the right content to become “TikTok” famous.

If your target demographic is the youth, you couldn’t find a better platform to use than TikTok. If you’re a digital marketer targeting to exploit all opportunities, you can’t afford to ignore this platform. And for those of us in licensing, the party is just beginning.

Last month, The Joester Loria Group signed an agreement to represent WeWearCute, a leading “TikTok” lifestyle and product influencers for kids ages 6-13. Sisters Ashley and Emma, who post three-to-four videos daily, have amassed 3 million followers and have nabbed a whopping 250 million monthly views. The duo featured a vast array of heavyweight brands within its video content, including Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Mattel, Cra-Z-Art and Lipsmackers, as well as retail giant Walmart.

JLG will be representing the WeWearCute brand across bath and beauty, apparel, fashion accessories, home, publishing and other related categories.

Debra Joester, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Joester Loria Group, said, “We are delighted to represent WeWearCute in building Emma and Ashley’s brand in fashion, beauty and related categories. ‘TikTok’ is a window into youth culture, and Emma and Ashley bring an innate ability to create engaging content that resonates with today’s youth.”

Recently, TikTok released a year-end recap, the “TikTok” Top 100, in which the app ranks its top videos, creators and memes for 2019 across content genres spanning sports, beauty and style, pets and dance trends. The list accounts for views, shares, likes and trends.

Vanessa Pappas, General Manager, “TikTok” North America and Australia, stated, “Creators are such an important part of our ecosystem, and monetization is something we hear often,”, told The New York Times. “We’re at the beginning stages of exploring different models and ways we can connect creators with brands and opportunities. We recently rolled out ‘TikTok’’s creator marketplace that connects creators to brands. We’re definitely in that exploratory phase, but we’re focused on what ways we can best serve our creative community.”

In 2020, TikTok will continue to lead the pack among social platforms, and while its content creator-brand connection processes are still in their infancy stage, now is the time to leverage TikTok for brand promotions and licensing opportunities.