2021 Outlook with Emily Grigg, Head of TikTok & Influencer Marketing

2020 wasn’t the year we were expecting and with a dark start to 2021, we have sat and had a chat with our department heads here at Liberty Music PR about what the future for their department looks like and top tips for musicians for the coming year.

Emily heads up our TikTok and Influencer marketing team.

What does a typical day look like in your department?

No day is the same in the Tik Tok department! We are always looking for new and exciting developments on Tik Tok and social media to help boost value for our clients. Our days involve a lot of clients communications to make sure all our amazing artists are up to date with what we are doing, searching for the perfect influencers for each campaign and chatting with them and, as in every job, a fair share of admin!

What do you see as the future of TikTok for musicians?

As Tik Tok matures, opportunities for artists will grow. Unlike the other social media apps, music has always been a key pillar of Tik Tok and one of its core entertainment values. For this reason, Tik Tok will continue finding new and exciting ways for artists to use the platform. There are already rumours of premiere style opportunities on the way! In saying this, it is very valuable to artists to be on top of any new social media developments (across current and emerging apps) as many of the best opportunities come in the infancy of app new features or new apps entirely.

How would you describe the service we offer?

Our Tik Tok service revolves around engaging popular content creators to share a video using your music through ‘Tik Tok Sounds’. By doing this we are able to target ‘adjacent audiences’ – audiences who have similar music taste or interest who you would not be able to reach through your own social channels, paid advertising, press, or playlisting. These audiences trust and listen to the ‘influencer’ or ‘tik toker’ who they are watching so it’s a more natural form of marketing than paid advertising

We use 8-10 influencers specifically chosen for that artist based on not only music type/interest but also that influencer’s engagement rate (likes, comments, shares) with their own audience and the quality of their content. We do this not with an aim to ‘go viral’ – but with an aim for generate valuable listens

What’s a piece of advice everyone needs to know about TikTok?

Be active! The more you use and interact on the platform, the more TikTok algorithms you will fall into. Make sure you are like, commenting and sharing posts that fall within the remit of your music or aesthetic and make sure to be consistently posting for yourself (creating video within the app itself)! If you are completely new to the platform the best place to start is by at least having a presence of the app so if someone listens to your music and tries to find you they will come across your profile with posts highlighting some of your music.

How key do you think TikTok and influencer marketing can be for an up and coming artist?

Influencer Marketing is a really great form of audience expansion and development without seeming to be ‘selling yourself’. As the marketing is coming from a third party voice it is a more humble approach and therefore can be a great option for emerging musicians. It’s also a prime opportunity to break out of the ‘already fans’ bubble, whether that’s moving beyond your family and friends group or if you feel like you’ve hit a wall with your current marketing – it’s a fantastic way to jump across into another audience pond.

If you would like any further information on our TikTok service, click here

Written by Natasha Hurford