How to effectively connect with Gen Z on TikTok?

Gen Z, individuals born between 1996 and 2012, is the first generation that grew up entirely as digital natives. They live and breathe through the internet by being active on social media 24/7, particularly on TikTok. How do you spark the interest of this critical target audience with your brand message? Maarten van Es, a Social Media Manager at bol., takes you on his journey of reaching Gen Z through more effective short-form videos on TikTok. Roderik Sorbi, a Group Account Lead at DVJ Insights, reveals the power and pitfalls of TikTok content and triggers for engagement based on extensive pre-testing and benchmark research.

WHY TIKTOK?

TikTok is a peculiar creature; it’s Gen Z’s world. Just under half of this youngest pre-adult generation (44%) spends 3-5 hours (or longer) per day on TikTok. That’s more than on Snapchat (31%), YouTube (28%), and Instagram (21%).

But how do you grab the attention of a community, that more than other target groups, avoids or swipes away polished advertisements? In collaboration with marketing research agency DVJ Insights, bol.com demonstrates how to better understand Gen Z and improve the effectiveness of TikTok content and short-form video ads through research, listening to your target audience, and testing.

BRANDED CONTENT

„We don’t create ‚traditional ads‘ for TikTok; we create short-form video content to establish a meaningful connection with the target audience,“ says Maarten van Es, Social Media Manager at bol. This means understanding your target audience and the platform well and creatively adapting to different phases of the customer journey, trends, and current events. „Many brands are rigid in their approach, with communication needing to comply with various rules.

bol. on TikTok

While our brand values are reflected, we choose to have informal, free, and personal communication within a set of rotating video formats.“ Maarten gives an example of the „unboxing format Dikkie Dik-Tok,“ where a plush Dikkie Dik (known in the Netherlands from children´s books and TV) goes on an adventure after opening a package.

When the content resonates with them, Gen Z appreciates sponsored content and engages with it. The largest online retailer in the Netherlands partially produces content in-house as well as in collaboration with an agency, allowing them to quickly create, test, adapt, and innovate.

„Our videos that tap into trends or current events perform 50% better than standard formats. Listening to your target audience and timely leveraging trends or creating trends is the challenge,“ says Maarten van Es – bol.

AVOIDING ADS IS THE NORM

Advertisers are fighting for attention. Nowhere else in the world is the challenge for advertisers as significant as in the Netherlands, the home base of bol. because 87% simply don´t like advertising and 51% try to skip it as quickly as possible. And let’s not forget about Gen Z’s attention span: among this target group, the inclination to avoid advertising is even higher (see image below). This has implications for the key performance indicators (KPIs) that marketers strive for.

A large-scale pre-testing study conducted by DVJ Insights shows that the 18-24 age group scores 79 on aided brand recall (compared to a score of 100 for those aged 50+), considerably lower than the scores for the 25-34 age group (index 83) and the 35-49 age group (index 94). For spontaneous brand recall, the 25-34 age group scores 69 and the 35-49 age group scores 90, while the younger target audience shows a meagre 58.

If Gen Z doesn’t remember or recall your brand well, all efforts will be in vain! There’s quite a bit of work to be done for marketers to grab and retain the attention of this young generation.

But how do you ensure attention and engagement when the majority of skippable videos are ignored, and the average viewing time for video ads on platforms like Facebook and Instagram is no more than 1.8 seconds? How do you make Gen Z want to see/hear your message and make your brand stick on the platforms they use?
By continuously testing and optimizing.

TESTING, LEARNING, AND OPTIMIZING SHORT-FORM TIKTOK VIDEOS

Effectively connecting with Gen Z through TikTok content is the challenge that bol., like many other companies, faces. DVJ Insights conducted tests for bol. based on a set of short-form videos to understand viewing and clicking behaviour, and measure the impact on engagement and brand recall (note: A/B tests provide insights into which creation works better but not the effect on the brand itself). Based on these insights, bol.’s social media team developed version 2.0 content and pre-tested it for the final publication of much more effective videos.

„We test engagement in a natural environment that reflects reality. For the research, we created a TikTok-specific environment and recorded online behaviour when various randomly displayed branded and non-branded content was shown. We offer users the ability to swipe, just as they would in reality,“ says Roderik Sorbi – DVJ Insights.

THE BATTLE WITHIN THE PLATFORMS

DVJ Insights’ pre-testing database, including Gen Z and Millennials, reveals different platform scores for KPIs such as „fully watched,“ „spontaneous brand recall,“ „aided brand recall,“ and „message recall.“ Regarding fully watched ads, TikTok scores as the second-best after TV with an index of 52 (out of an index of 100), slightly above YouTube. The same applies to aided brand recall. However, YouTube outperforms TikTok in spontaneous brand recall and message recall, but that’s understandable as viewers are forced to watch the first 5 seconds. Thus, TikTok achieves a commendable score!

Looking at the Engagement Curve below, it becomes even more clear how challenging it is to retain attention and determine the moment to introduce your brand. The average viewing time for digital video content is much lower compared to TV. If the TV index is 100, YouTube scores 49, Meta scores 15, and TikTok scores 41.

engagement curve per channel

„We regularly conduct pre-tests for bol. where we test different creations side by side. The outcomes of various tests provide guidelines on what is successful, what is not, and why. These guidelines give bol. a framework for creative freedom and success,“ says Roderik Sorbi – DVJ Insights.

All in all, it is indeed a significant challenge to grab attention, retain it, and make your brand and brand message stick.

ADDITIONAL LESSONS FROM OTHER RESEARCH ABOUT TIKTOK

Other research by DVJ Insights, including collaborations with students from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, yields the following lessons for reaching Gen Z on TikTok:

• There are many more ways to communicate your brand than just displaying and mentioning the brand name. Examples include the ‘Just do It ’slogan of Nike, polar bears, and Santa Claus in Coca-Cola advertising, the ‘I’m Lovin it’ jingle and the slogan of McDonald’s, and the iconic three-pointed star logo of Mercedes-Benz.

These „Distinctive Brand Assets“ enable brands to creatively associate their advertisements with their brand.

• Factors that contribute to increased engagement with content on TikTok include people, voices, a bit of quirkiness (yes, really), and tapping into TikTok trends, as evidenced by the pre-tests for bol.
• Factors that lead to higher unaided brand recall include the use of brand logos, voices, humour, and the product itself.
• While the use of a brand cue within the first 2 seconds of a TV ad is perceived negatively, it has a much more positive effect on TikTok. Compared to other channels, TikTok shows the strongest improvement in spontaneous brand recall (compared to ads that wait longer to introduce their brand cues, as shown in the figure below).

brand cue viewing time

• Gen Z responds positively to humour, excitement, or hilarity on TikTok, scoring above average in all these aspects. Relevance and credibility, however, score below average across channels. This demonstrates that TikTok content is perceived as more creative and out of the box than TV commercials.

LESSONS LEARNED BY BOL.COM BASED ON RESEARCH AND EXPERIENCE

So creativity on TikTok is key, and measurement is crucial, as confirmed by the lessons learned from bol.com’s social media management team. By listening to the Gen Z community, experimenting with content campaigns, pre-testing, and continuous learning.

The following tips serve as an additional guide:

• Ensure a brand asset is visible in the first few seconds of your video and come up with engaging formats, as seen in this top 5 list of funniest products on the bol. webshop.
• High engagement with trends does not automatically lead to brand recognition; determine your main goal for each mini-campaign, whether it’s an engagement or brand recall.
• Over-the-top and funny content is enjoyable, but fast edits can result in a chaotic presentation that may not appeal to everyone. However, content can’t always cater to „everyone.“ Targeting niches with unique content is key. Let the algorithms of social media platforms do their work.
• Expensive creations featuring celebrities, for example, don’t automatically guarantee higher engagement. Even with a limited budget and creativity, you can achieve success.
• Good content performance for bol.com relies on the involvement of talented creatives.

TO SUMMARIZE

• Avoiding ads is the norm. Engage with appealing branded content that incorporates humour, excitement, or hilarity, but maintains a balance.
• Be flexible (read: quick) and creative in your content creation, aligning with different stages of the customer journey, current events, TikTok trends, and targeting niches. You can achieve success with a relatively small budget and talented creatives.
• Utilize multiple recognizable brand assets to raise brand awareness and convey your brand message.
• Factors contributing to increased engagement on TikTok include voices, people, quirkiness, trends, products, and humour.
• Factors for better (spontaneous) brand recall include the logo, voices, the product, and humour.
• There is limited time to grab attention for your brand on TikTok; introducing a brand cue (preferably different from your logo) within the first 2 seconds is perfectly acceptable to Gen Z.
• Pre-test (video) the content in a natural TikTok environment, learn, and optimize. By understanding how your content performs, and what works and what doesn’t, you can continuously improve and make it more effective. Consistent testing provides guidelines and a framework for creative freedom and effectiveness.
• Most importantly, have fun producing short videos and reading all the reactions!

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

In addition to research for international clients, DVJ Insights conducts a lot of independent research within its Centre of Expertise and in collaboration with universities. All this knowledge is shared through the publication of articles, cases, and white papers. You might enjoy delving further into the following articles:

• Six lessons to improve advertisement performance
• How to improve brand recall? Show… or tell?
• How brand mentions impact consumer attention, brand recall, and ad evaluation.