How to Use TikTok To Build a Multi-Million Dollar Brand | Secret Tips from the CMO of Vitaly

Introduction

If you're building a brand, focusing on an effective TikTok strategy should be a priority. This is the insight from Joe Cornfield, President and CMO of Vitaly, as he shares tactics that drove their brand to significant success.

Learn with Shopify: The Journey of Vitaly

Founded in 2011 and based in Toronto, Vitaly specializes in future-focused designs using stainless steel, a highly recycled material. The brand's pieces often incorporate remnants of machines, skyscrapers, or car parts. With over a million followers and eight-figure revenue, Vitaly serves as a case study in effective brand building.

In the early days (2014-2015), Instagram played a critical role. Partnerships with influencers and bloggers drove substantial traffic and sales. This approach shifted around 2016, leaning towards a more organic and large-scale influencer strategy, where product gifting became the primary engagement method. This method, still used today, relies heavily on the strength of the product and organic relationships.

Evolution to Paid Media: The Transition of 2016-2021

Post-2016 marked a golden age for paid social media. This approach, primarily focusing on social platforms like Facebook and Google, became the backbone of their growth strategy. However, recent shifts, including Apple's iOS 14.5 update in April 2021, have ushered in a new era. Paid media performance saw a gradual decline, and Vitaly entered a transitional phase, focusing back on traditional marketing principles.

Current Era: Embracing TikTok

Joe emphasizes the importance of TikTok in today's marketing landscape. TikTok is the Instagram of 2015, offering immense opportunities for organic growth. The recommendation is to find an organic TikTok strategy that works and then use successful content for paid campaigns to benefit from relatively low-cost traffic.

Case Study: The Glyph Campaign

Vitaly recently rebranded and launched a new logo called the Glyph. They created eight pieces of found footage style video content showcasing the Glyph in various scenarios. These videos went viral on TikTok and Instagram, accumulating over 11 million views. This viral success was then transitioned into paid campaigns, resulting in 50% lower CPCs compared to their usual content.

SMS Marketing: The Unsung Hero

Vitaly found notable success with SMS marketing, achieving 80% of email's revenue with a list a quarter of the size. Joe credits the high open rates of SMS, but also advises caution, as privacy regulations continue to evolve.

Customer Feedback: The Backbone of Strategy

Vitaly invests in both quantitative and qualitative customer research. This feedback informs their marketing strategies and helps them tailor their content and influencer collaborations to match customer interests.

Metrics: Understanding What's Important

Joe mentions that on TikTok, CPC is a more immediate and telling metric compared to CPA or ROAS, primarily because TikTok's measurement tools are still developing. Strong creative content is the key to success, showing significantly better performance than standard ads.

Content Creation: Balancing Scale and Quality

Vitaly relies heavily on community-generated content, aided by their influencer gifting program. This strategy balances with in-house editorial efforts to create a varied and engaging content mix.

Conclusion

Vitaly’s journey offers valuable lessons for brands aiming to tap into TikTok's potential. By focusing on creative strategies, leveraging influencer relationships, and maintaining a strong customer feedback loop, brands can navigate the evolving digital marketing landscape.

Keywords

TikTok strategy
Influencer partnerships
Organic marketing
Paid media transition
SMS marketing
Community-generated content
Digital marketing evolution
Customer feedback
Creative content

FAQ

Q1: Why focus on TikTok for brand building? A1: TikTok offers a unique opportunity for organic reach and engagement, similar to Instagram's early days. Effective content can go viral and drive significant traffic at relatively low costs.

Q2: What was Vitaly's shift in influencer marketing strategy? A2: Around 2016, Vitaly moved from contractual influencer relationships to a more organic, large-scale gifting approach, leveraging the strength of their products to build genuine connections.

Q3: How did the iOS 14.5 update impact Vitaly's strategy? A3: The update led to a gradual decline in paid media performance, prompting a shift towards traditional marketing principles and a focus on upper-funnel engagement strategies like TikTok.

Q4: What role does SMS marketing play in Vitaly's strategy? A4: SMS marketing has been highly effective for Vitaly, achieving significant revenue with smaller lists due to high open rates and more direct customer engagement.

Q5: How does Vitaly utilize customer feedback? A5: Vitaly conducts extensive customer research through surveys and direct interviews to inform their marketing strategies and content creation, ensuring alignment with customer preferences.

Q6: What metrics are important on TikTok? A6: Effective TikTok campaigns often focus on CPC and upper-funnel metrics due to the platform's current measurement limitations. Strong, engaging creative content is crucial for success.