“ This brave new world is very freeing ; up-and-coming challenger brands can compete with the biggest brands because the barriers to entry are lower .”
SUMMER | FEATURE
Good , who is former business development representative at ticketing platform Lyte ( formerly Festicket ) says , “ I ’ ve noticed people are increasingly influenced by what they see on TikTok because they are repetitively exposed to the same type of content . TikTok is a special app because it can cater your feed to show you exactly what you want to see . My theory is that they don ’ t just categorise videos , but also accounts , therefore you will keep seeing the same things repeatedly .”
He says a major trend he has noticed from TikTok is the growth of UGC [ user generated content ], with users creating original content in their own unique style : “ Naturally , we see authenticity flourish as people begin to express their personalities through creative freedom behind their content . Audiences that come across this content and find it relatable are more likely to remain engaged and build a strong connection to the original creator .”
Stefan Poelman , founder / director of marketing agency AVO and founder of independent Essexbased dance music festival Zenfest , says Instagram is more useful for paid promotions , while the TikTok algorithm offers a better chance for content going viral .
Finding your voice Poelman , an Access All Areas 30under30 alumni , says there is a need to have a specific strategy and voice on each platform : “ The best thing you can do with your audience is to test all your platforms , play around with the content , try out different times of posting and see what sticks . The algorithms on social media are changing so much at a fast rate because they ’ re all competing with each other .”
He says lo-fi content performs better than a slick after-movie “ nine times out of ten ” largely due to the rise of TikTok : “ If people can see
Sian Bennett Sam Good Stefan Poelman Chris Jammer themselves being in the crowd and feel what it ’ s like to be behind the deck , they can connect with that much more .” However , he says there is still a place for high-quality videos , which act as ‘ evergreen content ’.
The festival founder says the Zenfest team now uploads all its sets on YouTube to accumulate views over a longer period . The festival has gone from 100 people in a back garden to a capacity of 3,000 , while Poelman and business partner Sam Cottrell have
also led campaigns at AVO to sell out events for promoters such as Soul Sessions and Breakin Science . As for the structure of a marketing campaign , Cottrell says having evergreen content at the top of the funnel is crucial : “ Having one piece of content that you ’ re constantly promoting on Instagram , racking up engagement can really add to the ‘ FOMO ’ of an event .” He believes email marketing and lookalike audiences ( how ads can reach new people who share similar characteristics to existing customers ) are also powerful tools . Another technique that Zenfest employs is boosting content creators ’ posts to promote the event , instead of posting on its own account : “ We get way better results from that . It ties into the fact that people want real , authentic experiences . There ’ s nothing more real than someone posting about how great the event is themselves .”
Jammer agrees : “ There ’ s going to be an upcoming trend of working with superfans in your space and getting them to create that content in lo-fi form .”
Walsh says , “ This brave new world
“ This brave new world is very freeing ; up-and-coming challenger brands can compete with the biggest brands because the barriers to entry are lower .”
is very freeing , where up-and-coming challenger brands can compete with the biggest brands , because the barriers to entry are lower .”
Bennett , who claims that 40 % of Gen Z people are using TikTok over Google for search results , says ‘ instant gratification ’ is key with younger audiences : “ You need to be so instant with them . I don ’ t think they ’ ve even got the patience to write an email subject line . The fact you can go straight to them on WhatsApp , you can sell a lot of tickets by doing that .
“ You need to get to the point quickly and be really visual in the way you ’ re trying to get something across .”
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