Despite TikTok’s increasing importance to marketers, the majority of brands are not getting it right, and their videos on the social media platform are under-performing.
According to new research, 84% of the video content released by brands on TikTok fails to generate strong positive emotions, capture attention, or enhance brand recall.
The mini-study conducted by DAIVID, which aids advertisers in assessing and enhancing the impact of their content on a large scale, also found that 24% of TikTok videos were triggering strong negative emotions, potentially damaging to brand reputations.
Their study evaluates the effectiveness of video content being shared on the social platform using a variety of metrics, including the positive and negative emotions elicited by each video, the attention they generated, and the impact the content had on various brand metrics, such as brand recall.
The study’s findings include:
- Only 16% of the branded TikTok videos scored higher than the average Creative Effectiveness Score (CES) of 5.8 out of 10 – a composite metric created by DAIVID that combines the three main drivers of effectiveness: attention, emotions, and memory.
- 60% of branded TikTok videos were simply forgettable, with below-average positive emotional responses and below-average brand recall. They also ranked above the global average for causing confusion and boredom.
- 24% of branded TikTok videos triggered strong, extreme, negative emotions like anxiety, fear, discomfort, disgust, and shame.
- Overall, branded TikTok content was 9% less likely to generate intense positive emotions than the global average and attracted 2.5% less attention.
In a press release, Ian Forrester, the CEO and founder of DAIVID, said:
“This research reveals that the vast majority of content being released on TikTok simply isn’t up to scratch. Sixty per cent of the creative is simply forgettable, under-indexing for positive emotions and over-indexing for negative emotions such as confusion and boredom. In one ear and out of the other for the viewer.”
He added:
“Yet, even more concerning for brands are the 24% of videos that evoked intense, extreme, negative emotions such as disgust, anxiety and shame. If these emotions are attached to the brand, they’re likely to do the brand damage, negatively impacting future sales potential.
