🚀 TikTok Is Transforming From Social To Search

📰 Industry News

• Peloton and TikTok have formed an exclusive partnership, which will see the cycling brand offering live classes, deals and special collaborations on TikTok as it rebrands to a fitness company. (Digital Commerce 360)

• Frasers Group, which owns House of Fraser and Sports Direct has snapped up struggling luxury e-commerce store MATCHES for £52m (The Independent)

• Nvidia’s stock skyrocketed to a record high on Monday after revealing new desktop graphics processors, along with other software components which utilise artificial intelligence. (Reuters)

• Shein’s revenue is being questioned, as key retail partner claims that it is ‘a lot more‘ than $30 billion annually as is being claimed. (CNBC)

• Jewellery brand Pandora reports revenues hitting £1.2 billion, surpassing expectations. (Retail Gazette)

• Tesco is running its first double Clubcard points promotion in over a decade. Shoppers will get double points on their shop up until 25 February. (The Retail Bulletin)

• Amazon to lay off hundreds of staff in Prime Video and Amazon MGM studios departments this week. The lay-offs come after the industry hired heavily during the pandemic (Reuters)

🔎 TikTok Is Entering Its Search Engine Era

TikTok has just had a HUGE update… and it’s one I’ve wanted to see for a long, long time. You can now find search analytics and keyword ranking data on TikTok.

I’ve always believed TikTok to, at the very least, have the potential to be a search engine. I’m regularly told I’m wrong.

Maybe I am.

But this recent update is a game-changer for brands aiming to make an impact and attract customers on TikTok. They need to start treating it as a viable search platform.

So… why does this matter? As a marketer who’s fought tooth and nail over various competitive keyword rankings over the years, let me tell you, it matters a lot.

Research shared by Adobe concluded that 2 in 5 Americans use TikTok as a search engine. This was particularly prominent for younger generations, as 64% of Gen Zers and 49% of millennials said they use TikTok as a search engine.

TikTok has always been a bit of a dark art with the platform and its algorithms shrouded in mystery, but this update gives greater transparency to TikTok search. You can now see traffic driven to your page through search, including impressions, clicks and most crucially, your average position on the search page.

This means that there will be less of the ‘post and hope‘ mentality, and more strategy-driven content coming to the platform.

This development marks a shift in TikTok’s identity. It’s not just about being recognised as a social media platform anymore, it’s starting to evolve towards being acknowledged as a search engine. While it’s not going to rival Google’s magnitude, this move signifies a step in that direction.

How To Find Target Keywords On TikTok?

So let’s say I’m an e-commerce brand marketing hair-loss products on TikTok. One of the first places I would start is by using the TikTok Keyword Insights Tool.

With this tool, I can refine keywords relevant to my brand. For the term ‘hair loss‘ I can see in the last 7 days that the popularity of the topic is up 80% - a promising sign.

Now I need to start looking at keywords around hair loss products. TikTok shows me related keywords and related hashtag videos which have ranked well for this search term. Here I can see ‘hair growth‘ and ‘#hairloss‘ are popular, along with other potentially untapped terms too.

Now I know there is growing interest in the problem which my products solve. I have a list of keywords which are relevant to my products and audience interests.

Now, I need to analyse competitor videos in that niche and see what’s working well, and how they’re incorporating keywords into the video. This could be through captions, alt-text, text overlays, voice-over audio, etc.

And to make it easier… the TikTok keyword tools give me these details too.

Now I need to get creative, take inspiration from these successful videos and build out my content catalogue on my brand TikTok page while following TikTok’s best practices.

Once I’ve got some posts under my belt, keep an eye on the new TikTok Search and Keyword Insight tab. See what’s working, refine your content and rank high. Rinse, rank, review, repeat.

The Outpost’s Opinion: The bottom line is, that if your audience is searching for products or services related to your business on TikTok, then you should be on TikTok too. I’m interested to see how brands and marketers use this new data. TikTok is a social media platform first and foremost, but its identity is changing.

🐭 Mickey Mouse Is In The Public Domain

Oh boy! It was 1928 when Mickey Mouse first graced the screen in the movie "Steamboat Willie."

Fast forward to 1st January 2024, and the characters from Steamboat Willie, including the earliest versions of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, have entered the public domain. This shift comes 95 years after the original copyright agreement's expiration.

Despite Mickey Mouse 1.0's new public domain status, Disney and companies like Warner Brothers continue to actively enforce their IP protection laws.

But emerging AI technologies, including ChatGPT and DALL-E, are pushing the boundaries of copyright law, introducing new complexities almost daily. This could get interesting.

...and I’m expecting to see A LOT more of the mouse throughout 2024.

Just over a week in, let's explore how the internet has embraced the newly liberated Mickey Mouse.

Within the first 12 hours, the first Mickey Mouse game appeared—a top-down shooter that, frankly, looks pretty fun.

And guess what… it’s even playable on Steam.

Following that, the cast of "Steamboat Willie" has dived into the horror movie scene, with two upcoming titles.

The first, "Mickey's Mouse Trap," a public domain horror-comedy directed by Jamie Baily, is set in an amusement arcade with a bloodthirsty, creepy Mickey Mouse. Details are sparse, but anticipation is high.

The second, currently untitled but equally gruesome, is set to start production in the spring. Directed by Steven LaMorte, this horror-comedy features a twisted Mickey Mouse terrorizing unsuspecting ferry passengers, nodding to the "Steamboat Willie" theme.

Creators are being bold in reimagining Mickey Mouse for modern audiences, exploring avenues previously unseen.

While Disney didn't release Mickey Mouse into the public domain by choice, the resulting media exposure and pop-culture inclusion will be significant, even if they lack control over the character's new narratives.

The Outpost’s Opinion: Just one week in, we've already seen horror movies, games, and a plethora of memes inspired by the original mouse. 2024 promises to be a fascinating year for the "Steamboat Willie" cast.

❓Answer to Trivia Question 

(Full Disclosure - I had to use ChatGPT to explain this better than I could… because articulating answers for accounting conundrums turns out not to be my strong point…):

1. You borrowed £50 from your mum and £50 from your dad, which totals £100.

2. You bought a coat for £97. After this purchase, you have £3 left (because £100 - £97 = £3).

3. You decided to give £1 back to your mum and £1 back to your dad. Now you have £1 left for yourself.

4. Now, you owe £49 to your mum and £49 to your dad. The total amount you owe is £98 (£49 + £49).

Here's where it gets tricky: the riddle asks you to add the £1 you have to the £98 you owe, which makes £99. But this is where the confusion happens. You shouldn't add the £1 you have to the debt because this £1 is already part of the £98 you owe.

In reality, the £98 you owe is made up of two things: the £97 coat and the £1 you kept. You don't need to find another £1 to reach £99. The riddle creates confusion by mixing up what you owe (debt) with what you have (the £1 left with you). There's no missing £1; it's just a play on how the numbers are presented.