There is certainly an obsession, or fascination at least, around all aspects of TikTok. Several New York Times pieces have gone deeper into the platform, and there is no shortage of stories on how the short content platform tied to music is both dominating the under 16 global audience, and at the same time trying to find an older audience as it seeks to expand its reach.
On the sports side, some leagues, the major ones like the NBA, the NHL and the NFL, have formed some short of partnership, but very few athletes have found the right way yet to engage with an audience that is very engaged (some amazing demo numbers globally here).
So what did we do? We went to a creator…of content…and first adopter, one of those we regularly check in with, Buster Scher, the co-founder of Hoops Nation, and an ardent TikTok devotee now.
You can list to the short podcast (18 minutes, very Tik Toc in length for podcasts) that Tom Richardson and I did with Buster earlier in October at the Columbia University Sports Business Conference, but here are some quick highlights if you don’t have the 18 minutes.
It’s what Vine was, but better. Buster talked about the lost opportunity of short form Vine videos on Twitter, and all the equity that vanished once the option was removed. TikTok, uses a very wide music library, which came from its acquisition of Music.ly, to combine the best aspects of Vine (which was only six seconds of video), with robust music choices. The longer form combination allows advertising to help monetize, which is something that Vine never had.
What’s the value proposition for content creators, per Buster?
- The platform treats content creators better than any other platform; once you clear 100,000 followers you are assigned someone to help you grow your work.
- Creators can make $$. The revenue split is better than any other platform, especially as it compares to a platform like Instagram.
- Easy discoverability. The TikTok sophisticated analytic system is driven by likes and sharing, and rewards those with widely engaged traffic. As your likes go up, you get more exposure. More easy exposure leads to quick growth.
- Massive scale. The global growth of TikTok amongst its demo is unlike anything else, making it very interesting for brands that crave a younger audience.
Who do you find? One of the most compelling stats that came out was that 54% of the audience is not on any other social platform. That makes its audience pretty unique, and very different for those who are looking to engage in other social platforms. A TikTock plan may need to be exclusive just to that audience. He also pointed out that there is very little migration from other platforms to TikTok, the standalone offering is driving itself.
Fast track for the engaged. Scher pointed out some pretty compelling stats for those who have mastered the platform. As of mid October he had surpassed 200,000 followers and was gaining over 20,000 a day for Hoops Nation. Another staggering comparison was with Overtime Sports, the wildly popular and disruptive video platform which has rest the video clip business geared towards a younger demo; Overtime took three years to get to 2.5 million followers on Instagram. With a dedicated TikTok plan, they got there in three MONTHS.
While Buster did point out that athletes and even many celebrities have been slow to embrace the platform, he mentioned one for the outlier generation who has mastered an audience; Howie Mandel. The “Deal or No Deal” host has used TikTok to amass almost 4 million followers, so take that Gen X!
Where all this goes for outlets like teams, leagues, athletes and celebrities is still to be determined. There are many questions as to what long term engagement looks like, but one thing is for certain; the first adopter has found a new home, and we thank Buster for the tutorial. By the way we also have a longer form podcast with Buster from a few months ago, you can find that here.
Keep learning!
