TikTok started growing as a platform during covid and lockdown and now it populates the everyday life of millions. The videos delivered to the audience create a chain between them and the brands. As Fahad Almaghrabi, Head of Global Business Solutions, Saudi Arabia, at TikTok said, community engagement is a crucial factor to the success of any business.
He explained the reasons why using a highly successful platform as TikTok which is based on this concept, maximizes a brand’s outreach to their customers and strengthens their engagement, embracing them as a community.
More specifically, he highlighted that the customer’s journey is no longer bound by time or space. With all the changes that are happening in the region and worldwide, the increase on e-commerce and e-commerce websites, it’s not about a region anymore. And he added “We do actually purchase from overseas retailers and the delivery is becoming easier day by day. It’s not about getting to your audiences anymore.
It’s about building a conversation with communities who actually will be the advocate for your brand. It’s an infinite loop and we want the loop to continue.” We want to keep engaging with our audiences and communities all over, all the time. 45% of the users actually immediately buy something after they see an ad on the TikTok platform. That’s almost 1.5 times above the response they have on other platforms.
It’s not about getting to your audiences anymore. It’s about building a conversation with communities who will be the advocate for your brand. It’s an infinite loop and we want the loop to continue. 
Fahad Almaghrabi
Mr. Almaghrabi continued by saying that the point is giving back the control of the customer’s own journey. Allow them to define when they want to consider something before deciding to buy it. “In order to continue the loop of engagement with our audiences and our communities, we need to make sure that we give them the maximum support and the maximum added value they are looking for.”
Advocacy or loyalty programs are also about engaging with them on a different level to make sure that they are getting the value they are seeking for. This is a new way of word of mouth. The traditional way of word of mouth that used to be a very successful channel before is now becoming more relevant and more customized for the audiences.
When asked about the platform’s safety and how everything is regulated, Fahad Almaghrabi, said “Platform safety and brand safety is paramount for successful communication. You have to make sure that both the expectations of the client as well as the community standards are met.” And he added that the safety measures that make sure the platform is safe for kids, as well as regional concerns for each part of the world is very important.
In TikTok they make sure that the content presented, and the content consumed on the platform is culturally relevant for each market it operates in. It goes without saying that all cultures have to be respected and each region, each country in the world needs specific strategies and content ideas.
