In this edition of the Glossy+ Research Briefing, we take a look at marketers’ current TikTok investments, despite the threat of a potential ban in the U.S.
55% of surveyed brands are dedicated to growing their TikTok presence
Advertisers are sticking with TikTok even as next year’s January 19 deadline for TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the app fast approaches. Legislation signed by President Joe Biden on April 24 gave the China-based ByteDance 270 days to sell the popular social media platform to a U.S. company. The move was criticized by some for encroaching on citizens’ First Amendment right to receive foreign speech.
Although the threat of a ban continues to loom over TikTok, advertisers are not slowing their investments in the app. In Glossy+ Research’s summer brand survey of 66 marketers, 55% of respondents said they are dedicating more resources to growing their TikTok presence. Over a third of respondents (35%) said they are currently selling products on TikTok Shop and almost a third (32%) said they have increased their ad spend on the app this year. In comparison, only 12% of marketers said they had pulled back on their TikTok presence due to the potential ban.
Some brands are even expanding their TikTok presence on the TikTok Shop — just three months before the deadline for ByteDance to sell the app approaches. In September, Make Up For Ever announced the launch of its TikTok Shop storefront. The brand had already achieved notoriety on TikTok earlier this year when it went viral thanks to user-generated videos that mentioned the brand’s top selling items, like this TikTok from Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee that attracted 15.4 million views and 1.3 million likes.
“We were trying to find a way, through communication, distribution, innovation and content, to break the barriers and be more accessible for the everyday consumer who may be a novice and not an expert at makeup. TikTok Shop made sense,” said Sonika Malhotra, North America gm at Make Up For Ever. “This year, we’ve seen there is a big fan community for the brand on TikTok, so what better than [to invest] where there is a community that loves the brand and talks about it and to give them access to the product?”
According to a study from NielsenIQ and Dash Hudson, TikTok holds a promising opportunity for beauty brands. Adults in the U.S. reported spending a total of 4.4 billion minutes per day on TikTok in 2023 — a 500% increase since 2019. Additionally, the TikTok Shop market continues to grow rapidly. “TikTok Shop made its mark by reaching the #12 position in beauty and personal care e-commerce retailers in the U.S. by November 2023,” said Anna Mayo, vp of beauty thought leadership at NielsenIQ.
