Once upon a time, Facebook ruled the roost when it came to social media marketing. As a platform, it enjoyed the highest number of daily active users amongst its competitors, and although it still has a huge user base (and still the highest by many metrics), it’s fair to say Facebook’s star could perhaps be beginning to fall.
There are many reasons for this; public relations issues, the proliferation of alternatives, and the younger demographic moving away from Facebook are all reasons it could struggle into the future. There’s a good chance Facebook is being supplanted by TikTok when it comes to marketing, and here’s why.
TikTok followers mean everything
Nowadays, the number of Facebook friends you have is pretty much immaterial. While pages with large followings do well when it comes to marketing, the fact is that TikTok followers are a much more important measure of whether or not you’ve managed to achieve social media popularity.
This is exactly why many TikTok users turn to platforms like TikFree Followers, which offer, as the name suggests, free TikTok followers; they feed your account with organic accounts, not bots, which means you can get a higher follower count quickly. These sites exist to help people achieve TikTok popularity because TikTok is clearly the platform of choice to market your brand.
Younger users are flocking to TikTok
If your brand targets younger users or demographics, then you absolutely need to be on TikTok rather than Facebook. Research shows that young users are leaving Facebook or just never signing up to the service in the first place, while TikTok is exploding when it comes to Gen Z and age groups below 30.
There could be lots of reasons for this. Facebook has historically struggled with misinformation, something younger users are much more au fait with than older users. In addition, Mark Zuckerberg’s company Meta has committed PR faux pas after faux pas in recent years, which could be turning more ethically conscious users away from his platform.
TikTok still has its fair share of older users
Of course, lest you think TikTok is a platform exclusively for young people, think again. Even if you’re trying to market your product or service to an older user base, there’s a good chance you’ll reach them on TikTok. No social media app is exclusively used by a single age group, after all.
Even if users don’t see your content on the TikTok app itself, they might be engaging with other apps, such as Instagram and YouTube, on which TikTok montages regularly appear. If you want your brand to be successful with its chosen demographic, then being on TikTok paradoxically also increases your chances of being seen elsewhere.
TikTok marketing is a little different
When users see ads on Facebook, they’ll often simply click away, knowing full well that they’re watching an ad and just wanting to get on with the content they wanted to see. However, on TikTok, things are a little different; users don’t tend to engage with traditional ads quite as much, so influencers reign supreme.
Influencer marketing can be much more effective in certain situations. If you’ve got a product or service that can be demonstrated in organic conditions, then you need to enlist influencers to help you market it. That’s where TikTok shines; influencers are more visible thanks to the visual nature of the service, whereas Facebook is more heavily text-based.
TikTok ads are cheaper
While it’s true that influencer marketing is often more effective, TikTok does also offer a conventional advertising scheme, and it’s a good idea to take advantage of it. TikTok is actually cheaper than Facebook; you can run ads for $20 a day, which is a solid amount for even a small business (although it may not be viable for sole traders).
Thanks to the unique nature of TikTok, advertising is often done through content rather than traditional campaigns. This can also be significantly cheaper; after all, if you can create your own content, then you don’t need to pay any influencers to promote what you’re doing! This can help because of the unique way the For You algorithm works.
Content is king on TikTok
The TikTok For You Page (FYP) shows content that’s similar to what you’ve already viewed on TikTok. This can sometimes be a double-edged sword, because it establishes a clear comfort zone, but it’s great for advertisers.
If you want users to view your content, you don’t need to engage with any kind of intense promotion. All you need to do is build the content organically and then let the FYP algorithm do the rest. It’ll show users your content if it’s similar to what they’ve already watched, which is good for you because it means you’re attracting the right people!
A mix of TikTok and Facebook is best
If your advertising budget can stretch to it, then incorporating both TikTok and Facebook into your social media marketing strategy is critical. While TikTok is supplanting Facebook in many ways, the fact remains that Facebook is still hugely popular and influential, so neglecting it will come at a cost.
This goes for other social media platforms, too. You shouldn’t ignore platforms like Twitter and Instagram when it comes to your marketing; these apps also have huge user bases that will engage with your content if it’s appropriate for them, and creating an account is free, so you’re missing out if you don’t sign up.
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