According to the latest market report of "Business Insider", in the next few years, TikTok will be on par with YouTube as the main platform for toy marketing. TikTok is rapidly becoming a force in the toy industry, and more and more companies continue to invest time and effort into TikTok-specific marketing campaigns.

Want to get orders from TikTok

Since the outbreak of the 2020 epidemic, toy companies such as Zuru Toys and MGA Entertainment have used influencer marketing campaigns and original content combinations to increase TikTok’s engagement and strive to use TikTok to take orders. Zuru Toys' mini-brand line is now at its "strongest point," continuing to grow every week thanks to its TikTok marketing efforts. While the toy company is making videos of more attractive and featured toys, the company said that the promotion on TikTok is not technically an advertisement because the social media platform does not allow "marketing advertising to children."

TikTok downloads second only to Apple downloads in 2020

According to the latest data from sensortower.com, in November 2020, TikTok attracted more than $123 million in the global App Store and Google Play, and TikTok’s downloads are second only to Apple’s downloads. Although the TikTok platform has experienced a turbulent year and was urgently suspended by the US Department of Commerce, TikTok is still developing rapidly and has become the main track for technology stocks in the capital market.

According to mobile analytics firm App Annie, TikTok could reach 1.2 billion average monthly active users by 2021. All eyes, and the potential for future growth, has made the short-form video-sharing app a popular destination for industries looking to base their marketing campaigns on new toys.

Marketing of children's toys is still limited

However, the topic of toys being advertised on social media is somewhat complicated by TikTok's policy that ads "marketing specifically to children" are not permitted, and the TikTok social platform has violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act in the past (COPPA). In order to comply with age restrictions on personal information collection, TikTok currently does not allow users under the age of 13, and anyone younger can join the app through the "TikTok for younger users" setting. In addition, a New York Times report stated that in the United States, more than one-third of TikTok's daily users are 14 or younger.

Tik Tok vs YouTube

Toy companies are currently not creating actual ads for their toys on TikTok. Instead, the companies are creating TikTok-friendly content and events, based on the new toys. As explained by Jamie Gutfreund, CMO of toy company MGA Entertainment, the most important thing is to create engaging videos for the growing TikTok audience. Despite the widespread recognition of TikTok's boom, YouTube is still standing firm in the toy marketing industry up the heel.

According to a survey of parents and grandparents by data analytics firm NPD Group, advertising accounts for 9 percent of toy sales, social media platforms about 11 percent and word of mouth about 16 percent. The majority of the remaining respondents indicated that there are no external reasons for buying toys.

Juli Lennett, vice president and industry consultant for the NPD Group's U.S. toy division, said YouTube remains the most dominant platform influencing toy purchases and interest, especially among children under the age of 8, which is the dominant age group for toy sales. Lennett said MGA Entertainment and its "LOL Surprise" brand have positioned themselves as "innovators" in the use of social media. Like other toy makers, MGA Entertainment is currently prioritizing its YouTube and TikTok sales equally. MGA has a dedicated marketing team dedicated to producing original TikTok content, but the implicit marketing of “LOL Surprise” on TikTok also includes the introduction of influential marketing partners. Gutfreund believes that TikTok toy marketing is still in its infancy, but it is growing rapidly and still needs to be navigated. One of the reasons TikTok and YouTube are memorable is that they give you more flexibility and an effective platform. However, whether the future of toy marketing is entirely up to TikTok remains uncertain, largely because of the rapidly changing media landscape and the potential for a new social media platform.

The future potential of toy marketing on TikTok

Despite YouTube's prominence in toy marketing, industry insiders believe TikTok will compete with YouTube in the next two to three years. TikTok's platform allows toy companies to launch new types of marketing campaigns that have never been used on a large scale. Toy companies say original content that is fun, dynamic, and authentic will appeal to a younger target audience.

Source: Economic and Commercial Section of the Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom in Jordan