How To Embrace Mascot Success on TikTok?
As one of the newest social media platforms, there is a lot to learn about how to get more views and grow your following on TikTok. In 2021, the platform became the most downloaded app ever. And as with every social media platform, businesses want to know how they can use this trend to their advantage with their own online presence.
It’s here that brand mascots are rising to the top.
Sports Mascot Stars
The Philadelphia Flyers introduced mascot Gritty and soon after made social media accounts for him. Other sports teams followed and the idea of a mascot on social media grew. Benny the Bull from the Chicago Bulls joined the ranks of the most popular social media accounts for sports in the world. Benny stands today at 4.9 million followers on TikTok.
Sports teams with popular mascots on social media can use their viral status to communicate and market to the masses. We live in an exciting moment where there is still time to get in before this trend is over saturated. And it’s not just the sports mascots that are finding success.
All the Mascots
While we tend to think of sports when we hear the word “mascot”, many businesses have mascots as well. Consider the Sour Patch Kids candy or the bird as the face of Duolingo. These companies and more are finding success using their characters as the face of their TikTok content.
Duolingo began posting on TikTok in February 2021 and went through their own trial and error as they sought to climb to the top of the platform. Their videos did not originally feature their owl mascot, Duo. But they began to notice videos featuring the mascot picked up more views than any other strategy. So they followed the hype, and now most of their videos feature Duo and reach over a million views without any paid advertising.
No Mascot? No Problem
Maybe your company doesn’t have a literal mascot or character to represent your business. You can still run with this strategy. There is a TikTok camera filter other companies are using to continue the mascot concept without a “real” mascot. The filter allows you to add your mouth and eyes to any picture, allowing any image to become your mascot.
The Empire State Building uses their own building as their mascot. They use this camera filter to add eyes and a mouth to their building and bring it to life. The possibilities are endless with this feature, you can make anything in your company your mascot. And you don’t have to stick with one, either. The Empire State Building also uses King Kong and other characters to connect with followers.
Mascots on Other Platforms
Not all social media platforms are created equal. They all have their focus: Instagram is more visual, TikTok is fast paced and video centric, Facebook connects friends and family. Because of these differences, their audiences differ as well. A content subject, humor style, and mode of delivery may do well on one platform and flop on another.
Social media coordinator for Duolingo, Zaria Parvez, shares that their reception on other platforms looks different. The same videos that launched their success on TikTok weren’t received with the same excitement when posted to Instagram Reels. Social media platforms vary with what the audience wants. What is trending and viral on TikTok may not be viral on Instagram Reels or other platforms. It’s up to every business to discover what works and what doesn’t for their unique brand on each online platform.
