Fight the Fall in Winter Engagement with a Q5 TikTok Strategy
We all learned in elementary school that there are four quarters in a whole, so what’s this “fifth quarter” you’ve heard about? It refers to the critical period between Christmas and the end of January in the new year. This overlap in Q4 and the subsequent Q1 is a time when there is often a drop-off in commercial activity as everyone recovers from the holidays and gets ready to start anew.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities to revenue for your business, though. In fact, TikTok recently released a study and strategy playbook to support business marketing efforts during Q5.
5 Takeaways from TikTok’s Q5 Report
The holidays are a busy time of year, so who has time to read a whole report? Well, we do. It’s our job. While the report wasn’t chockful of unexpectedly mind-blowing tidbits, there were important data that we will use to inform future campaigns. Here are our top takeaways the marketing report:
1) Holiday-themed videos 🎁
Everyone does their holiday-related video publishing from Halloween to Christmas. TikTok research has revealed, however, that people are still searching for fun holiday-themed content in the aftermath of their celebrations. The drop in publication reduces competition, meaning that any holiday-style content your brand publishes in early January will potentially achieve more views and reach a larger audience.
Consider post-holiday content like reviewing gifts, un-decorating and telling user stories recapping holiday adventures.
2) Shopping-related content 🛍️
Half of the respondents in TikTok’s Q5 engagement survey said they were clamoring for more shopping-related videos from their favorite creators. In short, the holiday shopping frenzy doesn’t end when we toss away our old cat calendar and unwrap our new one. Brands can’t hit the snooze button in January because there’s a receptive audience online who’s still ready to shop. Explore the current retail content trends and modify them to fit your brand.
Showcase products, show off the post-holiday aftermath in your store, or do gift unboxings. Better yet, check your metrics to understand which of your previous shopping videos made the biggest splash.
3) Self-care shopping 💅
Over a third of respondents revealed that they are looking to buy more for themselves in Q5. Whereas most people see the holiday season as a time to be selfless and score a deal for dad and mom, shoppers see Q5 as a time of self-care and self-love. Focus on videos with the #SelfCare hashtag and encourage your audience to pamper themselves with purchases and experiences that they might have missed during the holidays. Anything that supports their personal goals is gold.
Motivate audiences with the gifts they wished for but didn't get, and encourage them to indulge in self-care or luxurious living.
4) Carousel content 🖼️
A carousel is a social media post with multiple photos or videos that users can swipe through. Usually associated with Instagram and other static image-based social networks, TikTok also offers the ability to publish multiple images in a single post. The platform has found this underutilized post format to increase click-through rates by up to 20%. If you’re looking to smash user expectations and increase engagement, put together a few collections and test them on your business profile.
Only you can decide the perfect combination of content for a carousel, but we personally love carousels with continuity. Let each slide be part of a single story, or tell a single story from multiple perspectives as users swipe.
5) Creative quality 🎨
Last but not least, focus on the creative quality of your videos. TikTok’s Q5 research revealed that creative quality is responsible for nearly half of all incremental sales driven by advertising. Seek to surprise, delight and entertain your audience with high-quality and innovative content that's not like every other video on the feed. Stand out, do something new, and convey your brand's unique selling propositions through visually inspiring images and videos.
We know that most brands are tired by the end of the year, so switch it up. Solicit ideas from friends and family members, or swap accounts for a day with a non-competitive partner brand to get outside perspectives and reach new audiences.
Take Back Q5 with Data-Inspired Strategies
Q5 is a notoriously challenging time for most brands to stay lively. Fortunately, you've got insightful marketing data on your side. With TikTok’s rich user survey data, you can recapture an exhausted audience ready to kick back with some self-care and entertaining content. Become the brand they look to during this decompression phase after the holidays to build brand loyalty and inspire a few extra sales in the final quarter.
For more impactful marketing tips and tricks for this special time of year, give our team a call today.