The Debrief | What TikToks Rise Means for Fashion

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Backgrounds:

It seems Instagrams autonomous rule over fashion is finished. While the Meta-owned app still has more users, a growing number of brands and creators are turning to TikTok as their go-to marketing platform. As TikTok ascended to Gen-Z-favorite status, fashion and beauty used the app as a space for experimentation, while doing most of their marketing on Instagram. That is starting to change and its shaking up the way brands approach their social media channels.

The content demands on brands are just escalating and escalating, says BoF contributor Chantal Fernandez.

Key Insights:

• Just a year ago, TikTok wasn’t taken seriously as a marketing platform by fashion brands, which struggled to adapt their polished content to its loosy-goosy approach. Now, its seen as a place where all brands need to have a presence. However, returns on TikTok marketing investment aren’t great yet. The app is still pretty new, where Facebook and Instagram have decades-old, more sophisticated advertising platforms.
• For influencers, wannabe influencers and regular users, TikTok is appealing because it has created a relatively level playing field, where anyone could go viral at any moment. Casual, personality-forward content is preferred over high-production, over-the-top shoots and scenes.
• Instagram still plays an important role for influencers and brands. It can serve as a channel for reaching older consumers, showcasing products and can act as almost a secondary website or blog that people refer back to.
• Prompted by the rise of TikTok, social media is moving away from being social and more toward acting as a sort of recommendation machine, where algorithms decide whats shown to users.

Additional Resources:

• How TikTok Won Over Fashion: Instagram has more users, but for a growing number of brands and creators, TikTok has replaced the Meta-owned social network as fashions go-to marketing platform.
• The Returns on TikTok Ads Dont Match the Hype Just Yet: Despite TikToks booming popularity and lower cost compared to Instagram, brands and experts say the return on ad spend doesn’t yet match more-established platforms, though that doesn’t mean brands can ignore it either.