„Same but different“ - TikTok

Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and now TikTok. The abundance of social media channels currently in existence is huge and often makes new market entrants think: yet another new platform that actually only packages what the established channels already offer us. But is that really the case?

Our digital strategist and TikTok expert Manuel Kuhn clarifies questions such as "What makes TikTok different from the other social media channels?" and "What actually makes the platform tick?"

TOWA: You've already held a webinar about TikTok and have been intensively involved with the short video platform. What is the main difference to other platforms?

Manuel Kuhn: The main difference, which is very interesting from a strategic point of view, is the fact that TikTok reinterprets the topic of "social media" in a completely new way and is possibly the first time it has been properly charged. With Facebook, Instagram and the like, it's more about connecting with my friends, finding out what they're posting and posting content for my own community. In other words, I mainly try to build my own network here and not communicate much beyond that.

And what about TikTok?

With TikTok it's the other way round. It's all about being inspired by new creators and in turn being encouraged to create content myself - this also results in TikTok's intensity of use and the success of the platform. Interactivity is therefore a key feature. Users create content about which an ongoing exchange takes place. In this way, TikTok creates a community that is not at all interested in following friends. The community is interpreted much more broadly - I don't necessarily have to follow someone in order to interact with them. This means that the "media" from "social media" in particular is taken up much more strongly than on other platforms.

How exactly does the platform "animate" user-generated content?

This focus of the app becomes clear as soon as you look at the user interface - there are two buttons for creating new content. The first is the classic "plus button", which can also be found on Instagram, for example, and the second is a second button that allows the creator to use sounds from a viewed video for their own video. This can either be a video that imitates the existing video, a reaction to it or completely new content based on the sound of the existing video. Here you can also clearly see where TikTok comes from - it is a sound-based app that, unlike other social media platforms, requires more than just consuming content. The functions are therefore more focussed on turning the user into a producer.

Are there other functions in which this interactivity comes into its own?

For example, there are so-called "reaction videos". I use existing videos and incorporate them into my video - this means that TikTok allows creators to make direct reference to external content. A similar format is the duet, in which several sources are specified, from which a video is then assembled and then reacted to. This can of course lead to an extremely large number of creative levers, which can then be used again as a creator. The functionalities of TikTok therefore allow for a lot of creative potential. The content is not only limited to entertainment, but also to everyday topics such as giving and getting inspiration.

With regard to the distribution of TikTok content on YouTube, so-called "TikTok challenges" are particularly prominent. What does this mean?

I also find that extremely exciting. Compared to Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat, TikTok relies heavily on challenges. It is extremely worthwhile to take part in these challenges, as you don't have to think long and hard about what content to post. The user can orientate themselves very strongly on what TikTok suggests and can also find out from other videos what content works well and what content other users are producing. Challenges very often correlate with sounds - a good example of this is the Stand-Up Challenge, which used the "Woah Song". By mixing the two formats, not only the Stand-Up Challenge has developed, but also other challenges. This shows once again that music is the decisive factor in how TikTok users interpret and utilise content.

TikTok itself does not publish any information about its algorithm. Can you nevertheless give us an insight into how TikTok actually "ticks"? Perhaps first of all the question: What performs on TikTok and why?

If you look at what content works well on the platform, which in turn is a strong indicator for the algorithm, videos in which the musical background leads to a build-up of tension that promises an interesting ending and only resolves itself shortly before the end of the video are worth mentioning. Users "hang on" and watch the video again to see the ending in more detail. The algorithm is therefore strongly influenced by the number of views of the video - the more often I watch a video, the higher the algorithm ranks this post.

One factor that influences the algorithm is therefore the frequency of views per session. Are there any other factors that influence the TikTok algorithm?

What is often noted in this context is that the TikTok algorithm is adapted by AI to a much greater extent than other platforms. This means that it also changes very quickly, of course. However, some quality factors always play a role in the evaluation. These include, as I have just mentioned, the "viewtime" and the number of views. Reactions are also extremely important. Here, the measure or the big KPI is 10% in relation to the views as a reaction. Another factor is the use of hashtags, which of course also plays a role in spitting out content to people with certain interests. In addition, as already mentioned, there is the option of making challenges - this is also most likely taken into account by the algorithm. Downloads are also a key factor, as is the speed of the reaction increase. If I don't gain any major reactions in the first few hours of posting, the algorithm will categorise my video as less relevant and therefore won't "fuel" it any further. The last important quality factor is "Published Account" (Account Authoity) - the algorithm looks at how consistent the channel is. This means how many bad videos it has (e.g. cliffhangers without resolution) or other key figures such as the number of views on my account, how many followers I have, how consistent I am in the content I publish and how high my re-watch rates are. For example, influencers who already have a large reach can continue to achieve a large reach. If you want to build up a channel in the long term, you should therefore make sure that the aforementioned quality factors work together.

In the webinar about TikTok, you talked about "spreading in waves". How exactly can we imagine this?

Exactly - I mentioned this in connection with how the algorithm works. Let's assume you post a video - this video is then played to a tier group, i.e. practically an initial target group. The video is initially distributed randomly in the For You Page/For You Feed - between 300 and 500 viewers. If the response figures and the quality factors work together there, then your video has the opportunity to get into another tier group and is played to a larger target group there. If this tier group is also reached with the corresponding numbers, your video will be played in another tier group. These groups are very relevant as they reflect what we have also seen in a self-experiment - the views come very strongly in waves. So it can be that a video works very well at the beginning, then nothing happens for 2-3 days and then lots of views and likes are added again - this can build up over several weeks. This means that it can take a relatively long time for a video to go viral.

What conclusions can you draw from this in terms of content?

If we now think about the content we want to produce, then music should be used to build up suspense. In addition, the content should be surprising in order to encourage the user to watch the video several times. This is a very good rule of thumb for how you should prepare your own content if you are aiming to achieve a high reach or many views. Apart from that, the channel is super exciting as it is very different from Insta & Co. As a company that primarily focuses on younger target groups, the channel is a real must from a reach perspective alone. However, it must be said that advertising opportunities are currently only available in Germany. It remains to be seen until the advertising manager is also introduced in Austria and Switzerland. We will definitely stay on the ball here!