Today, creator-led marketing is a crucial component of a brand’s broader marketing stack. Especially in the face of a potential economic downturn, brands are leveraging creator relationships to endorse their products, ultimately inspiring consumer trust and driving ROI in a way that’s unmatched by digital marketing alone. CreatorIQ’s Influencer Marketing Trends Report uncovered that 67% of responding brands had increased their investments in influencer marketing over the previous year.
For consumer packaged brands (CPG) in particular, the most influential brands have officially broken into influencer marketing, and are setting the stage for the industry at large. Just look to health-conscious soda brand OLIPOP, which accrued 37k additional TikTok followers and 233M views for #OLIPOPPartner content in 2022 alone.
According to TikTok—a CreatorIQ technology partner—paid return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) on the platform outperforms both other digital media and traditional media. With CPG brands only spending around 1-6% of their media budget on TikTok, it’s apparent that by implementing a fully integrated TikTok marketing program, these brands can see improved campaign performance with less spend.
But what does successful TikTok marketing look like for CPG brands? Below, we’ve sourced three examples from leading CPG brands, along with key learnings to help inform your influencer marketing strategy.
Clorox Sparks Positive-Impact Conversation With TikTok Ads
In 2022, global consumer products manufacturer Clorox focused heavily on positive impact, in line with its company philosophy to provide this impact for the “millions of people who invite us into their homes.” Through ad campaigns designed to start meaningful conversations that also drive brand awareness, Clorox enjoyed a 40% EMV boost year-over-year ($11.9M), with 21% of this total deriving from TikTok ($2.5M). In a paid partnership with media brand Refinery 29 (@refinery29 on TikTok), Clorox promoted its Disinfecting Mist spray through endorsements that saw creators candidly discussing issues pertaining to healthcare. In all, Clorox saw a 28% YoY surge in EMV generated by TikTok.
So what exactly did Clorox do right? It’s no secret that users view TikTok as the ideal place for discovering authentic content. While this rule often pertains to earned content, such as hashtag campaigns, paid campaigns on the platform are no exception, and can drive impressive results when done in tandem with a strategic brand partner. By teaming up with Refinery 29, Clorox spoke to the media brand’s audience in a way that felt authentic and informative.
BEHR Inspires Creativity in Home Improvement
House paints manufacturer BEHR knows how to inspire its followers, making the seemingly obligatory chore of house painting into a creative experience that homeowners can look forward to. In 2022, the brand invested in paid partnerships on TikTok with top design creators, who showcased home transformations using the brand’s vast array of paint colors. BEHR’s No. 1 EMV-driver was budget-friendly home decorator Amanda Vernaci’s brand Come Stay a While (@comestayawhile on TikTok), which inspired $820.7k—an 825% YoY increase—largely via #TodayLetsPaint, a sponsored campaign highlighting home transformations. In all, the hashtag prompted $142.5k EMV, while #BeforeAndAfter drove $120.6k EMV across 10 TikTok posts. In all, BEHR enjoyed $6.1M EMV on TikTok, a 138% YoY boost on the platform.
With millennials having an average attention span of just twelve seconds, marketing content on video-first platforms like TikTok must immediately capture viewers’ imaginations. To achieve this, it’s essential that brands allow creators the freedom to tie ad content into trending online conversations. Handing the creative baton to TikTokers can help your brand iterate on popular content themes, such as #BeforeAndAfter transformations or #DIY home decor.
Mountain Dew Taps into Sports Culture, Securing Significant Boost in TikTok EMV
When it comes to attracting a target audience of young-adult males, global soda brand Mountain Dew knows the “name of the game.” The PepsiCo subsidiary immerses itself in all things sports, especially on TikTok—a wise decision, given that sports and fitness ranks as the fourth-most popular category on the platform, attracting 57 billion hashtag views. In 2022, Mountain Dew enjoyed $14.8M EMV, a 24% YoY boost, with TikTok accounting for 19% ($2.1M) of this total. To spark this momentum, Mountain Dew put itself at center-stage of the skateboarding world with its “Unlock the Spot 2022 Dew Tour,” a skateboarding competition held in El Segundo, CA in July 2022. Following the event, #UnlockTheSpot inspired an impressive $135.9k EMV on TikTok across seven posts.
Mountain Dew not only honed in on a niche demographic, but effectively galvanized the skateboarding community by sponsoring an industry-leading event. As a result, the brand saw notable EMV generation from the event’s hashtag. User-generated content (UGC) is central to any brand’s success on TikTok, as it drives engagement, creates authenticity, and builds trust.
With 60% of consumers on social media following CPG brands that interest them, these brands boast profound, largely untapped potential on TikTok. As CPG brands look to advance their TikTok marketing strategies, the platform will play an increasingly central role in the creator economy at large. For more information, and key learnings out of the above brand examples, download our Guide to TikTok Marketing Best Practices for CPG Brands.
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