TikTok Made Me Buy It

Like many millennials across the country, I downloaded the fast-growing app on the eve of quarantine to pass some time at home. Within a few weeks, its algorithm of showing randomly suggested 6 seconds to 1-minute long videos hooked me and I can’t stop watching. Similar to Facebook’s Watch system, TikTok will show you selected videos on your “For You” home feed based on your interaction with previously watched videos. For example, if you like or share a video of someone doing tricks while using roller skates, soon your feed will show you tons of roller skate-related content.

Thanks to stay-at-home orders throughout the world, many homebound people are looking for ways to occupy their time that minimizes interaction with others. Picking up fun hobbies like drawing or painting or practical hobbies like gardening and sewing have become wildly popular again due in part to makers and hobbyists (like roller skater Ana Octo and seamstress/photographer Sarah Hambley, both of whom have over a million followers) showcasing their talents on such a consumable platform. These content creators are having fun and making art, so why shouldn’t I be doing that as well?

I now am the proud owner of a sewing machine and have been making protective face masks for weeks. I also bought four plants, one watercolor paint set, a new sketchbook and sketching pencils, and currently have a pair of roller skates on backorder. If you had told me three months ago that many of these items would be sold out nationwide, I wouldn’t have believed you. Thankfully, I got the former products before much of the rush—if you look at online shopping databases, you’ll see many of these items are completely sold out with unconfirmed restock dates.

As TikTok is cementing its spot into the phones of millennials and everywhere, how should marketers use the app to make their product the next “sold out” thing? Crafting, at-home workouts, recipes and DIY home renovation are all trending right now, so if your product can somehow include itself in those narratives, now might be a good time to start looking at incorporating TikTok content creators into your marketing strategy.

Melanie du Mont is an Account Coordinator at Bond Moroch.