Will TikTok Overtake Google?

Our imagination was ignited by Prabhakar Raghavan, Google’s Vice President of Knowledge and Information at Fortune's Brainstorm Tech conference. He said that young users are more and more willing to use TikTok and Instagram instead of Google to search for information about certain activities like cooking, makeup, and repair. If the video-hosting service began to overtake the extremely important activities of internet users (crucial for advertisers), the market could change significantly in a few years.

Central Europe, including Poland, is the fastest growing market for TikTok. The Chinese giant has been present on the Polish market for over two years and its growth and success has been constant ever since. More and more marketers include it in their advertising campaigns to reach younger audiences, monitor the involvement of users, and influence purchasing decisions. With 13 million real users (according to Gemius), TikTok is currently the third most popular social media platform in Poland, following Facebook and Instagram.

Who are the TikTok users? 

90% of Polish users of TikTok in Poland are aged between 18 and 44 (over 50% belonging to the cohort of 18-24), and the platform is more appealing to women than to men (57% vs. 43%, respectively). They are open to innovation and new experiences. They spend 4 times more money on digital content than users of other platforms (average EUR 22/month), and use new purchasing platforms such as Vinted (30%) and AliExpress (36%). 81% say that they are usually the first to learn about new trends among their friends (vs. 61% for users of other platforms).
 
According to Kantar (based on the data provided by the Chinese giant), TikTok users do their shopping online more than users of other platforms. One out of three buys cosmetics and clothes at webshops at least once a month (vs. one out four on other platforms), and one out of three every day (vs. one out of five on other platforms). They also carry general future purchasing potential. Within the next year, 45% of the users plan to buy a flat or a house (vs. 30% on other platforms), 62% plan to buy a car (vs. 45%), 70% plan to replace the smartphone (vs. 60%), and 45% plan to open a bank account (vs. 30%). 

Last year, TikTok was dominated by content in the categories of comedy, food, drink, and family. In Poland, sports and educational content were particularly popular. However, the key content type is still music. 

Marketing on TikTok 

TikTok users are above average in their openness to marketing communication: 72% of them declare that they do not mind the presence of content from brands on the platform, and 63% say that they like advertising and actively watch ads. 81% say that brand authenticity is important. 64% declare that they are looking for environmentally friendly products, and 63% intend to choose brands that are socially responsible. 

In Poland, you can find a whole lot of industries and segments such FMCG, tech & telco, banking, gaming, fashion and beauty that are already present on TikTok. The biggest brands that work on the platform are T-Mobile, AliExpress, PZU, Samsung, McDonald's, Maybelline New York, and Rossmann.

One of the most successful local campaigns was created by McDonald's Polska. The videos of ""We put on the masks"" resulted in 340 million views, and was (so far) the most extensive activation ever on Polish TikTok. New Balance’s campaign promoting the latest shoe model on the platform brought the company a 6% increase in awareness and a 6.6% increase in advertising recognition. Maybelline New York’s brand campaign and range of products Super Stay Matte Ink brought 15 million ad impressions and the lipstick became the #1 product in the lipsticks segment within the make-up category.

Where is TikTok heading in Poland?

After the pandemic, the industry is focused on making money. Despite the very difficult geopolitical situation and concerns about the surveillance of European citizens by Chinese companies, marketers have a kind of “psychological repression” of this problem. In spite of behind-the-scenes talks and fears, more and more marketers decide to cooperate with TikTok. However, this openness may change if China decides to make military decisions significant to the world. Brands might reject cooperation in that case, just as it happened with Russian companies.