What’s in this article:
- AT&T and Verizon have mastered shareable, bite-sized content.
- Both companies focus on services that speak for themselves.
- Their strategies encourage users to stay engaged through subtle branded content, internet icons, and popular events like March Madness.
TikTok has become one of the most popular social media platforms on the planet, providing millions of daily active users with infinitely scrollable feeds. And yet, AT&T and Verizon are the only telecom industry giants who have established a solid content base to reach such a broad and engaged audience. Other telecom companies have either failed to build traction or stayed out of the ring entirely, despite such a clear formula for success if they followed AT&T’s and Verizon’s footsteps. Let’s explore how these two telecommunications companies managed to engage customers on TikTok.
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What AT&T and Verizon Get Right
TikTok is a challenging platform for companies to nail. Keeping users on the line becomes a significant challenge when the next exciting thing is just a swipe away. Being successful on TikTok demands a certain flavor of short-form content, and few brands have carved out ways to deliver that content in a way that feels engaging and natural – especially in the telecom industry.
For AT&T and Verizon, the winning strategy has been marrying their technology and services with important events and partnering with influencers. They allow their services to speak for themselves with events that naturally garner attention, rather than force feeding information to an audience who doesn’t want it.
In AT&T’s case, this means becoming part of the conversation for massive social events. AT&T has put a lot of effort into building their corner of March Madness. Millions of people watch the tournament each year, and for many, there’s another level of active engagement wrapped in the experience. Fans are encouraged to create brackets and follow along for updates on how their teams are doing, keeping an active conversation going among the audience. AT&T has tapped into that engagement to advertise their 5G services, and they’re doing it in a forward-thinking way.
AT&T uses TikTok to help grow the conversation around social events that will advertise its services, then it cashes in on the increase in viewership that comes from the conversation it helped create. In March Madness’ case, AT&T created virtual concerts featuring some of the biggest stars in the music industry to get a conversation started, which encouraged more people to tune into the show and see more of AT&T’s 5G advertising. It’s a subtle method of boosting their own ad impressions, and it’s all baked into social events that will garner a lot of views regardless of how successful their TikTok efforts are.
Verizon has adopted a similar strategy, but there are some key differences. Rather than using major social events, Verizon taps into influencer culture. They partnered with BobtheDragQueen to show off their own 5G services in branded live streams, proving that the technology works even though the audience is really just there to watch what the influencer is up to. Verizon has also made an effort to show how they can help when disasters emerge, emphasizing the effort they’re putting into social good movements. The #VerizonFrontline campaign, specifically, has been instrumental in their success, with one key video showing off a 5G mobile command station that aids communication in areas affected by disasters. But it’s not just the message, it’s also the presentation. Verizon uses influencers to present the information in a digestible way, and that goes a long way in keeping users from scrolling to the next video.
Winning Strategies Where it Counts
TikTok advertising isn’t easy, but Verizon and AT&T have found recipes for success that other telecom companies haven’t attempted yet. By following trends instead of trying to set them, both companies have made their TikTok accounts part of the “in” crowd. The tech industry’s emphasis on 5G speeds and building the metaverse is only going to grow from here, and both AT&T and Verizon are carving out early leads among a demographic that holds significant purchasing power through their efforts on TikTok.