Mastering Immersive TikTok Influencer Marketing for Brand Success

As we’ve said time and time again in the Field Guide, TikTok is a platform that plays by its own rules—nobody else’s!

In many ways, it isn’t a natural stage for showcasing a product and driving conversions; finding success with influencer campaigns on TikTok is all about immersing your brand within the fabric of everyday moments.

TikTok stands apart from Instagram or YouTube in that it’s a space where users feel as though they are part of the content and the life of a creator. As Korina puts it:

"Think about TikTok as you're right there with them. You're not watching somebody do anything. You're getting ready with them, you're cooking dinner with them. You're actually kind of there."

Korina Sanchez, Performance Marketing Manager at Chomps.

Whether you’re a veteran at working with TikTok influencers or diving into TikTok for the first time, this chapter will guide you through everything you need to know to book quality TikTok content.

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What role should TikTok play in an influencer marketing strategy?

If you’re planning on using TikTok for influencer marketing, you’re most likely already using other social platforms to this end. So, it’s important to think about how TikTok fits into your broader influencer marketing strategy.

First and foremost, recognize that TikTok is a fundamentally different platform than Instagram or YouTube. Organic content performs extremely well on TikTok, whereas conversion-driven campaigns haven't yet shown substantial returns for a lot of brands.

This is where different social platforms can serve different roles in your overall strategy. For example, Instagram might be your primary channel for direct-response using formats like Stories, while TikTok influencer content serves more of a brand awareness function.

“I just usually think “okay, this is strictly for brand awareness.” As long I'm mentally going into that with it in mind, then I'll put the money behind it. In most cases, I haven't experienced enough conversion yet to sell me on “Oh, I should be putting more money here for integrations.”

Kendall Dickieson, Head of Social and Influencer at Graza.

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Go narrative-first

So, how should brands collaborate with TikTok creators for authentic content? It’s engaging narratives, rather than straight promotional talking points, that resonate most on TikTok. As explained by Korina, emphasizing the story and context around a product or brand is a lot more impactful than going after quick promotional hits:

“I would say if you have budget and you want to use TikTok, lean into something that's going to be a more of storytelling and a hook than a really quick direct response. I think product launches and new arrivals are kind of a really great time to tap into TikTok.”

Korina Sanchez, Performance Marketing Manager at Chomps.

It’s this immersive style of content that makes TikTok so engaging (and addictive!) However, this also means that TikTok creators need to do a lot more than passively show off a product in a video. The key to a successful influencer campaign on TikTok is booking content that feels authentic and seamlessly integrated into the user’s experience.

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What to book on TikTok

TikTok is known as THE platform for short-form video, so it’s easy to assume the platform offers fewer placements than Instagram or YouTube. But what actually qualifies as short-form video? When is a video on TikTok not just a video?

Long-form vs. short-form video

• So, what actually qualifies as a short-form video on TikTok?
• Since the app launched, TikTok has steadily increased the video length it supports. Back in 2016, videos were just 15 seconds long, contributing to its reputation for bite-sized viral content. Today, videos recorded with the app can be up to 10 minutes in length. So, what is the ideal video length for TikTok influencer content?
• Generally, 45 seconds or less is a good sweet spot for short-form TikTok videos featuring influencers. Alternatively, you can explore splitting a longer video into several deliverables that can be posted individually as a part of an ongoing series:

“If you want to create something longer form, I suggest breaking it up into smaller bite-sized pieces so people can follow along. That will also push your brand up in the search and allow more people to engage with the content.”

Amber Kai, Head of Creator and Brand Partnerships at Sequincial.

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Dedicated Video

• Dedicated TikTok videos focus entirely on the brand and a partnership. This allows for more controlled messaging, and also the potential to repurpose this content as either ads or organic posts later:
• “If you're looking for the creator to speak about your brand and this is a piece of content you want to have a spark code for to turn into an ad or repost as organic content, then a dedicated video would be best.” Cristina Vintimilla, Senior Influencer Marketing Manager at Oura Ring.
• Generally speaking, dedicated TikTok videos perform best when they are used in a UGC or Spark Ad capacity, but the creator doesn’t actually post it to their feed.

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Integrated Video

• Integrated TikTok videos incorporate a brand into content more subtly than dedicated videos. This creates a more organic and less ad-like experience.
• The great thing about integrated videos is that they can be used to seed your brand and product into influencer content over a long period of time. As Kendall explains, this strategy ultimately lays a solid foundation for brand recall in consumers that leads to future purchases:

“Some of these TikTok creators are doing three videos within the next month and a half where they don't have to say anything about Graza; they just have to use it. I think it also helps if you're a brand who has nationwide distribution, because someone sees their favorite creator using it, they can go to their local Target or Walmart and see it.”

Kendall Dickieson, Head of Social and Influencer at Graza.

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What to book on TikTok Shop

As a 100% shoppable channel, TikTok Shop offers brands an entirely different set of content placements to work with when comes to creator partnerships:

Live shopping: Allows users to shop directly from a live video.

Shoppable videos: Direct shopping via in-feed videos

Product showcase: Shop directly from a brand or creator account

Shop tab: View products, shoppable content, and campaigns in one place

When it comes to TikTok Shop, volume is the name of the game. In order to generate virality and those big ‘moments’ that lead to awareness and sales, you need to be aggressive in booking a lot of content and figuring out what works best for your brand. As Micah explains, you need a lot more experimentation before you can start refining your formula:

“After you unlock volume and you hit your viral moment and you start to see signal, at that point, it switches to 80 -20 rule. You'll get more bang for your buck by spending most of your effort trying to replicate in 10X what you're getting out of the stuff that's working.”

Micah Whitehead, CEO and Co-Founder at ZeroTo1.

Once you know who your top TTS creators are, you can make an effort to form long-term partnerships and up their reward incentives. Best of all, you can even share this recipe for success with other creators, so they can better understand what content performs best—and then everyone wins!

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What is the overall vibe you want your content to hit?

When you’re hitting consumers with quick snippets of content, the mood you’re trying to channel really matters. So, what is it you want consumers to associate your brand with? As Kendall explains, this will determine not only the deliverables, but also the creator you choose to partner with:

“I get really collaborative, no matter the platform. But on TikTok specifically, are we going more the humor route or are we going more for education? Usually based on the creator, that kind of determines itself.”

Kendall Dickieson, Head of Social and Influencer at Graza.

It's important to be flexible and open to collaboration with creators in this regard. While you have your own preferences and guidelines as a brand, creators know what resonates with their audience—especially on TikTok, which is a lot more fickle than other platforms. So, also let their expertise guide the content's tone and style.

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How can brands maximize their TikTok influencer campaigns through paid media?

Ultimately, TikTok is best suited for brand awareness efforts, rather than direct conversions. For this reason, influencer deliverables on TikTok are well-suited for paid media or Spark Ads:

"Ultimately on TikTok in order to really get things to go large and viral, boosting content through paid media is really one of the best ways to do that."

Jonathan Claydon, Chief Development Officer at Acceleration Partners.

Once you’ve identified which creators and types of content are performing the best organically, paid promotion is a natural next step to expand the visibility of your TikTok partnerships.

Remember: The key to success with booking TikTok content for influencer partnerships is to embrace all of the ways that TikTok is different from other social platforms; potential virality and the strong performance of organic content means that traditional ad formats are typically not successful on TikTok. However, you can leverage that powerful storytelling culture showcase how your product is adding to those everyday moments.

We’ve finished up our series of chapters on booking influencer content across platforms. So, what happens after you’ve decided what content to book? This is the time to put your negotiation hat on—and the Field Guide is here to help!

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How does TikTok differ from other platforms for influencer marketing?

TikTok fosters a sense of active involvement in a creator’s content. Users feel as though they're directly participating in the influencer's activities, whether it's getting ready for the day or cooking a meal. This requires brands and creators to focus on creating content that viewers can feel part of, rather than simply showcasing products or lifestyles from a distance. Additionally, TikTok's algorithm and user behavior tend to favor organic, authentic content, blurring the lines between branded and non-branded posts.

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Why is storytelling important for TikTok influencer campaigns?

Unlike traditional advertising, TikTok thrives on narrative-driven content that keeps users invested. Good storytelling allows brands to seamlessly integrate messages and product mentions into content users already enjoy, making it feel less like an ad and more like an entertaining, educational experience. This approach also allows for more creative collaborations with influencers, leveraging their voices and content style to tell brand stories in authentic ways.

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What’s the difference between dedicated and integrated TikTok videos for brands?

Dedicated TikTok videos are focused on the brand or product, with the influencer creating content specifically to highlight the brand's offerings. These videos are useful when brands want content that can be repurposed as ads, or shared on their own channels. Integrated Tiktok videos incorporate the brand or product more subtly into the influencer's regular content. This could involve the influencer using the product naturally as part of a broader format, such as a ‘Get Ready With Me’ video, or mentioning the brand organically within their usual content. Integrated videos feel more authentic, resonating better with audiences who are skeptical of traditional ads.

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