Tiktok's app rating is falling; but will brands shy away too?

Short-video sharing platform TikTok's rating on Google app store has been dropping, thanks to an internet war between the content creators of it and YouTube. The rating has nosedived from four to 1.1.

A rating below 3.5 would lead to an app losing on visibility and credibility. It will also affect future downloads.

Yet, when it comes to brands, experts do not think there will be an impact due to the ongoing controversy around TikTok.

First, let’s find out what is the controversy all about.

The internet war started when one of the TikTok users accused YouTubers of plagiarism due to which TikTok influencers were losing out on brand endorsements.

In response to this, one of the famous Youtuber CarryMinati roasted TikTokers for the kind of content they create.

And since then, CarryMinati’s fans have started trends against TikTok like #BanTikTokInIndia and #TikTokexposed. YouTube had taken off CarryMinati’s video.

While the app’s rating is falling due to the controversy, will brands avoid TikTok?

Not really.

“I don't believe the brands will shy away immediately from TikTok. There are many great creators of TikTok who make valuable and entertaining content. Few brands might put a double-check with content guidelines and experiments but those who are already with a thoughtful strategy will continue to invest in the platform,” said Amit Mondal, Founder, Pulpkey, a creative and technology-backed influencer marketing company in India.

Ashutosh Harbola, CEO and Co-Founder, Buzzoka also shared similar sentiments.

“Tiktok has become very important for brands because they see product sales across categories and across markets especially tier II, III markets are very important for brands. Cola brands which are among the biggest endorses in the world are also on TikTok. Hence, I don't there will be any impact when it comes to brands; probably a gap of 10-15 days but they will be back on TikTok,” he said.

While TikTok is important for brands, Prashant Sharma, CMO, NoFiltr thinks that brands should at least go for hygiene checks before connecting with an influencer for marketing.

“Brands give out the basic requirement to agencies for influencers. Here the agencies that connect influencers with brands have to be more responsible when it comes to selecting an influencer. Sometimes to cut down cost, agencies tend to give out influencers for cheap and who are not relevant to the brand,” he said.

Mondal concurs. “Brands will be spending more time on researching an influencer's existing content and audience demographics on TikTok before locking them for a campaign.”

Sharma suggested one other thing that brands can do while planning marketing strategies on TikTok.

“On YouTube, the creators get the freedom to do what they want to do with the collaboration. Going forward what would be a good move by brands is to let influencers on TikTok control the narrative of the campaign,” he said.

He also added that in the current scenario when marketing spends have taken a hit due to coronavirus, Instagram and TikTok are doing the same amount of collaboration with brands. However, the collaboration is relatively lower on YouTube, he added.

“I am expecting brands to start increasing collaborations from now on as there is some relaxation and companies will start production. I do see TikTok getting the majority share of all the brands coming back,” he said.