TikTok recently celebrated reaching more than 8.5 million Australian users and 350,000 Aussie businesses on the platform. Audiences are willingly influenced by what they see on TikTok and use the platform to find inspiration on where to dine out. They are moving away from more traditional review sources and towards the quick, visually appealing video summaries offered up by influencers, friends and family alike.
Globally, TikTok boasts over 1 billion active users a month. To put that in context, there are only 4.8 billion internet users in the world, so 20.8% of all worldwide internet users are on TikTok. And if that’s not enough, check out these stats:
Pretty impressive right? But it’s not just consumers who are benefiting from this booming social media platform. Like other social platforms, businesses can create their own channels on TikTok, which can help increase brand awareness, drive sales and even improve staff engagement. Restaurants and business owners often choose to showcase content like behind-the-scenes footage from the kitchen, special menu items, discounts, or partnerships with influencers. Due to the popularity of the medium, Australian businesses are experiencing record-breaking sales and life-changing success, often from just one 60-second video. The influence of the TikTok platform is undeniably powerful, so much so that the future of marketing for the Australian food and beverage industry may rest in the hands of social media influencers who leverage that power.
So, how does it work - and how does it drive sales? TikTok is largely dedicated to short-form videos, which typically range from 15 to 60 seconds, however recent years have seen the introduction of 3 and 10 minute videos. The platform is best known for its highly effective algorithm, which leverages machine learning to analyse user behaviour and suggest hyper-targeted content.
TikTok’s influence on sales traces back to the viral nature of its trends. Propagated by sharing, hashtags, and using “trending sounds” and templates, these videos spread like wildfire and drive consumer interest in specific products or services.
Brooki Bakehouse (QLD) – Craving Customers to Bakery Bliss
Due to her international success, she now has found a way to ship her cookies nationally as well as internationally, to social media users who aren't local but want a piece of the Brooki Bakehouse. She built this all by sharing her day-to-day operations of running the bakery. The videos are simple, and from day to day they are often very similar, but consumers love to see the story of Brooki and the processes that go into operating a bakery. The keys to her success are likability, consistent posting, a decent product and an aesthetically pleasing bakery.
Click here to checkout Brooki's page.
Chebbo’s Burgers (NSW) – Backyard Burger Boy makes it Big
During his first weekend of trading, the Roselands food truck sold out of almost 500 burgers. With continued success, Chebbo’s Burgers introduced their flagship brick-and-mortar venue in Marrickville.
So popular is Ali’s personal brand, that he now sells Chebbo’s merch and his own signature burger patty smasher from his website. The secret to Chebbo’s TikTok success? Consistent posts, an engaging and honest personality and a great product.
Click here to visit Chebbo's page.
These case studies show just how simple it can be to generate interest in your products and services by adding TikTok and social media marketing into your marketing mix. Do you have a standout burger on your menu? Get on TikTok and shout about it. Make interesting content about it and encourage your customers to do the same. If money allows, hiring a social media agency could be all it takes to elevate your presence on TikTok to the next level.
Have you heard of cloud bread? Butter Boards? Dalgona Coffee? Pancake Cereal? These are all food trends that were made popular by TikTok. Influencers and businesses across the app have created their own take on these trends and in doing so, capitalised on the potential virality of the content.
Keeping your finger on the pulse of trending TikTok content can help you stay ahead of the algorithmic curve and get your products front and center, within the reach of all the hungry media consumers out there.
But it’s not just about looking for food trends. TikTok trends span many genres, and some of the most popular ones aren’t about food or products at all. Getting creative and utilising these trending memes and topics to make your brand stand out in new and memorable ways.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
Create content, build community. Social media is all about... well, being social. It gives you a platform to showcase what your brand and business is about and it gives you an opportunity to attract potential customer. Viewers want to see your unique personality, brand and product. They want to buy from a real person, not a faceless entity.
The trick the building a community is to refrain from being salesy or promoting products in an obvious way. You want your customers to feel a part of your brand story and be interested in what you have to say, because it's something different every day. You can build your community by showing to the people within the business and how they make the products. Or the consumers and how they enjoy the products you serve. This indirect marketing doesn't give off salesy vibes and helps you build a community that is engaged and interested in what you have to say and offer.
Influencers make the TikTok world go around. Anyone with an audience (no matter the size) can have great influence over the behaviours of those users if their community is engaged and interested in what they have to say. And brands and businesses leverage this to influence prospective purchasers of their products.
It's a great strategy as the influencers who are most likely to partner with them will have audiences that have a high propensity to try the product. This approach allows the brand to target highly niche audiences with high likelihood of purchasing.
The trick to working with influencers is to have skin in the game. Have a view on how your brand should be perceived and find influencers that are aligned with your brand ethos. With TikTok, it's not always about followers. The algorithm will favour quality content that hits the mark, regardless of if someone has 2 or 200k followers so finding the right fit is important.
Finding local influencers in your area will help attract visitors within your area. Here are a handful of trending popular influencers in Australia at the moment:
Here’s a quick TikTok on 2024 food trend predictions so you can plan your content and stay ahead of the curve!