TikTok’s Branded Mission is an innovative tool for influencer marketing, allowing brands to create a “mission” for content creators to submit creative videos.
TikTok’s Branded Mission takes influencer marketing to new heights. Allowing companies to crowdsource user-generated content, the feature creates a new form of two-way engagement between creators and brands for maximum benefit to both sides.
TikTok created the industry-first advertising solution in an effort to expand on the already powerful marketing function of the app. After finishing beta-testing, the feature will be available to all accounts, helping TikTok keep its top spot in social media marketing.
Find out what sets Branded Mission apart from other advertising features on the app.
Branded Mission’s Functionality for Business Owners
Like other TikTok tools, Branded Mission is simple to use. Here’s how it works from the brand side.
Account owners set up a “mission,” customizing the format based on marketing goals. Users can choose from specifics that ask content creators to tag hashtag challenges, show new ad products, use branded effects, display brand logos, lip sync with music, and more. The brief also includes space for brands to name the flat fee they will offer to the creator of the chosen content.
These details become a creative brief that any TikTok creator above 18 years old and with a minimum of 1,000 followers can submit to. Eligible creators can submit up to 3 videos of relevant content when the brief goes live, adding their spin on the prompt in a short-form video.
TikTok’s famous algorithm then recommends “brand-safe” top-performing videos in a shortlist to the advertising brand on their Branded Mission Page. The brand chooses a “winning” video that becomes an in-feed ad, and the other submitted videos will appear as organic TikTok videos on the For You Page. The winning creator then receives the cash payment of the agreed-upon amount. This dynamic presents a few significant benefits for brands and creators to take their content further.
Benefits for Brands
1. Broader Access to Creators
The creator community on TikTok is large and exponentially growing. So considerable is the amount of content creators and influencers on the app that it can be overwhelming for brands to parse out who to work with. In the same vein, connecting with influencers isn’t always an easy task. Branded Mission eliminates those issues by seamlessly connecting influencers with brands, producing a two-way street, and offering the opportunity for additional partnerships. Brands can meet creators they may not have access to otherwise. And, the only requirements are that creators be over 18 and have a following of 1,000 or more. It creates an access point for micro-influencers with genius content to get their foot in the door, giving brands unique content from new visionaries.
2. Greater Transparency
Historically, the brand-creator relationship is a one-way interaction with frequent negotiation and seclusion. Branded Mission is different. Creators get to reach out to brands, rather than being scouted. They can choose to participate if they are interested in the brief and pleased with the promised payment. By keeping payment transparent and presenting the brand’s creative expectations, the relationship is more mutually valuable than other types of influencer marketing.
3. Better Content
Unleashing a creative prompt to the TikTok ecosystem offers the opportunity for better content for brands. Rather than giving a brief to one influencer and seeing what they do with the content, with Branded Mission, companies can choose from a collection of creative content to find the best fit. Accessing the creative power of the entire TikTok community, brand campaigns built with the ad solution are bound to be more authentic and engaging, two prerequisites for successful TikTok content.
4. Increased Exposure
By pairing the larger access to creators with the better quality content these creator collaborations can offer, brands can accumulate more media impressions, ad traffic, and potential earning. Even though brands choose a winning video, the entire process of developing a marketing campaign using Branded Mission allows for greater reach within the influencer community. Gaining brand awareness and the possibility of new customers just from influencers alone, Branded Mission can increase exposure before the advertisement is even posted. After it makes its rounds on users’ For You Pages, the media campaign gathers more views and engagement.
How to Incorporate Branded Mission into Your Social Media Strategy
It’s clear that TikTok’s Branded Mission is another development in the app’s short-but-significant history of making waves in the digital marketing space. As this new feature proves its worth for brand owners and content creators, we’ll likely see more updates to the app to give brands better access to better content and more successful marketing strategies.
Keep your finger on the TikTok pulse with First Media. Our industry knowledge, paired with award-winning digital media capabilities and mass-followed publishing channels, gives us access to the viewers, creators, and marketing strategies that can take your brand further.
