It’s Not Magic, It’s Marketing
The fantasy of your song going viral on TikTok is a seductive one. Gather influencer proposals from a half dozen agencies, have management pick their favorite, and voilà! Magic, right?
Having been on the receiving end of thousands of these requests-for-proposal – and involved with many of the largest viral trends in Musical.ly and TikTok history – I’m writing to expose the flaws in the popular “spray-and-pray” approach, and to offer a measured alternative that relies instead on data: our new product offering, Lauunch.
There are four ingredients in every viral TikTok trend: creativity, distribution, timing, and luck. I believe a unique combination of these is responsible for every song that’s ever gone viral on TikTok. The challenge is pinning down the exact recipe for your song.
Virality may have occurred magically for others, but it will most likely not happen the same way for you. Our mission with Lauunch is to reduce your marketing plan’s reliance on spontaneous virality and replace it with intelligent, tangible campaign design based on a set of core principles (which I’ve assigned classic TikTok trends titles for fun).
THE SEVEN PRINCIPLES OF TIKTOK MARKETING
Supalonely
TikTok creators want only one thing: to become famous. Position your artist’s music as a utility for creator growth and you will be handsomely rewarded. See: Famous Is The New Popular
Put Your Records On
A song doesn’t trend on TikTok because it’s your focus single; it’s your focus single because it’s trending on TikTok. Disconnect your TikTok marketing strategy from the traditional “priority record” mentality and give every song a chance to be “the one.”
Boss Bitch
Treat every campaign like a startup would: test hypotheses, iterate your way to success, and measure this success by your ability to ensure that every dollar spent is with more information than the one before it.
Just The Two of Us
There are two phases in a successful viral marketing campaign: Discovery and Distribution. Being aware of which phase you’re in – and when to move forward – is crucial.
That’s Not My Name
Don’t waste money trying to distribute a trend that has not been validated. If you have to ask, then you are most likely still in the Discovery phase. Act accordingly.
Dancing in My Room
When artists can audition sounds and trends to an existing TikTok audience, it puts the entire operation at an advantage. Be a resource for your artist on their journey to TikTok fame.
ok boomer
Repeat after me: “I am old and out of touch. I cannot create the next viral TikTok trend out of thin air.” Give yourself a break, and find a better way…
Congratulations! You’ve found it. It’s called Lauunch.
WHAT IS LAUUNCH?
Lauunch is a digital focus group that connects viral marketers with expert creators to uncover the optimal TikTok marketing strategy for a song. It’s 99Designs for viral marketing. With Lauunch you can crowdsource creative concepts from actual experts instead of trying to invent the next viral trend in the boardroom.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
Step 1: Submit full songs for review by Lauunch’s global community of expert TikTok creators.
Step 2: Our experts review your song and submit creative proposals in the form of draft videos showing how they would position the sound to become a trend.
Step 3: Evaluate dozens of visual proposals in on our simple dashboard.
Step 4: Design your campaign strategy based on the results.
Step 5: Begin the Discovery phase of your viral marketing journey with data, information, and confidence.
Some artists seem blessed by “the internet gods.” The rest of us require a systematic and principled approach that puts every song in the best possible position to “go viral.” The focus group model – gathering and absorbing feedback from a statistically significant number of independent experts in your target market – has been the backbone of consumer product marketing for nearly a century. Lauunch makes it available to the music marketing industry for the first time. Visit lauunch.io to learn more and set up a demo.
- Max