Brand Strategy - Links

• https://marketingland.com/building-a-brand-strategy-essentials-for-long-term-success-240712
• https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31739/7-components-that-comprise-a-comprehensive-brand-strategy.aspx

Leadership

Two big challenges characterize leadership today. One is the need to juggle a growing series of paradoxical demands (do more with less; cut costs but innovate; think globally, act locally). The other is the unprecedented pace of “disruptive change,” which speeds up the interaction of these demands and simultaneously increases the pressure on organizations to adapt.

These challenges have significantly amplified the need for versatile leaders who have the ability to cope with a variety of changes and the wherewithal to resolve competing priorities. It is not an overstatement to say that versatility is the most important component of leading effectively today. Versatile leaders have more engaged employees and higher performing teams. Their business units are more adaptable and innovative. Their organizations are more capable of gaining a competitive advantage because they know how to disrupt before being disrupted.

For almost 25 years, my colleagues and I have worked to help leaders improve their versatility, and we have found the above to be true in a range of industries across North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Throughout our work, we have coached hundreds of senior executives and systematically studied their development, as well as assessed more than 30,000 upper-level managers in mostly large, global corporations as varied as Google, The Walt Disney Company, Allianz, Schneider Electric, and more.

Our practice and research have helped us create a framework that defines what versatility is and how it can be developed.

What Is Versatility?

In short, versatility is the capacity to read and respond to change with a wide repertoire of complementary skills and behaviors. Leaders are typically better at reading change than they are at responding to it, largely because developing a broad range of behaviors requires a systematic effort that often pushes them out of their comfort zones.

To help leaders understand how to expand their behavioral repertoire, we devised a practical modelthat synthesizes the work on leadership behavior from the last 100 years of research in both psychology and management. Because of the paradoxical demands versatile leaders face, our model emphasizes opposing but complementary behaviors: It makes the distinction between, on the one hand, how you lead (in terms of interpersonal behaviors for influencing and interacting with other people) and, on the other hand, what you lead (in terms of the organizational issues you focus them on).

Think yin and yang, where both types of behaviors are good and necessary, and each is completed by the other.

Complementary Skills Versatile Leaders Have

	How you lead		What you lead
	Forceful	Enabling	Strategic	Operational
Behavior	Asserting personal and position power	Involving others and bringing out their best	Positioning the organization for long-term success	Focusing the organization on implementation
Attributes	Take charge, decisive, demanding	Empowering, participative, supportive	Direction, growth, innovation	Execution, focus, process discipline
Source: Kaiser, R. B. (2019). Leadership Versatility Index report interpretation: A user’s guide to version 5. Greensboro, NC: Kaiser Leadership Solutions.				© HBR.org

“How you lead” makes the distinction between forceful and enabling leadership. Forceful leadership is about asserting personal and positional power. Enabling leadership is about involving others and bringing out their best. Both include specific pairs of behaviors: taking charge versus empowering, being decisive versus being participative, and being demanding versus being supportive.

Similarly, “what you lead” makes the distinction between strategic and operational leadership. Strategic leadership is about positioning the organization to be competitive in the long run. Operational leadership is about implementation and getting things done. Both also include specific pairs of behaviors: setting direction versus driving execution, growing the business versus focusing resources, and introducing innovation versus providing order and stability.

The first step toward helping leaders develop versatility is assessing their current ability to use an effective mix of the above behaviors. In our work, we use a 360 feedback instrument that asks coworkers (and the leaders themselves) to rate their use of forceful, enabling, strategic, and operational behaviors using a unique scale ranging from “too little” to the “right amount” to “too much.” This approach shows leaders which behaviors they need to emphasize more and which behaviors they need to emphasize less.

Our research quantifies what we often see in our coaching practice: Only a small number of leaders (fewer than one in 10) have fully mastered the range of skills in our practical model. Most tend to have a bias. They favor leading in ways that are based on their strengths — the behaviors and skills they have comfortably developed, or perhaps even overdeveloped, because they come most naturally to them. In fact, we find that leaders are five times more likely to use behaviors related to their strengths when other behaviors would be more effective. As a result, their strengths become their weakness. (As the saying goes, the bigger your hammer, the more every problem looks like a nail.)

The goal for most leaders, then, is to develop the ability to consider opposing needs and avoid maximizing one at the expense of the other simply because their current skill set makes them more attuned to it. While diving deep into the details of execution on a project, for example, can the leader also keep one eye on the big picture? Or while involving the team in a decision, can the leader also synthesize their input and make the call? It’s a tall order. As F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”

How Do You Develop Versatility?

If versatility is central to effective leadership but is also rare, how can managers become more versatile leaders? Over the years, extensive work and research — not just by us but also many leadership experts — have demonstrated three broad strategies.

The first is learning from a variety of different and challenging work experiences that can broaden their perspective, promote a wider range of skills, and provide a network of colleagues with different expertise and points of view. Versatile leaders tend to have more diverse career paths and work experiences than others, as well as the learning agility to absorb lessons and incorporate them in their leadership tool kits. We encourage managers to compare their current skills and experiences to those needed in jobs they aspire to and seek out roles that can stretch them. For instance, being a part of the strategic planning process — even as “gopher” or notetaker — can provide exposure to new skills that are practiced less in tactical jobs. Seeking commercial experience in different businesses is also a great way to prepare yourself for enterprise leadership.

The second is ongoing feedback and development. It’s crucial to get input about the impact and effectiveness of your behavior. Versatile leaders not only respond well to change, they also change their behavior in response to constructive criticism. With everything in constant flux it’s helpful to hear from coworkers about what adjustments you can make to strike a better balance. A simple way to get this feedback is to ask respected colleagues the questions recommended by the late Peter Drucker: “What should I stop, start, and continue doing to be more effective?” A more involved, and systematic, approach would be to complete a personality or strengths assessment, and follow up with others by asking, “How do you see me using these specific strengths? Do I ever tend to overdo them?”

The third strategy for developing versatility is personal development: becoming a more well-rounded person. This involves being aware and open to opposing skills and behaviors and not being blinded by your strengths. Versatile leaders show a pattern of stepping beyond the familiar and comfortable, often intentionally, to stretch themselves. Their less versatile counterparts, on the other hand, often have a rigid and narrow view of themselves as a particular type of person, and think opposing perspectives and behaviors should be avoided rather than experimented with and learned from. The challenge is again paradoxical: Can you maintain a strong, coherent sense of self while also allowing for the possibility of becoming an expanded and more capable version of yourself? One useful strategy is to periodically invite colleagues with skills and perspectives different from your own out to coffee or lunch. With an open mind, try to see things from their point of view and understand their ways of thinking. You might even ask what they are reading, how they learn, and sprinkle some of those examples into your regular routine.

Related to this third strategy, there is a great debate presently raging, not just among leadership professionals but also among sports coaches, teachers, and parents who want to prepare athletes, students, and children for an increasingly uncertain future. On the one hand, there are those who recommend maximizing strengths, which leads to people becoming narrow specialists. On the other hand, there are those who recommend trying a variety of things, which leads to people becoming broad generalists. David Epstein’s book, Range, provides an excellent analysis of this debate.

Our program of research and practice squares with Epstein’s conclusion: The wider a leader’s lens on the world, the larger their repertoire of skills, abilities, and behavior, and the broader they are as a person, the more likely they are to lead their people, teams, and organizations to success in a rapidly-changing world.

The two most important charts in marketing

The two most important charts in marketing—and why they’re more important than ever

FEBRUARY 27, 2020 BY CONTRIBUTOR
—A continued emphasis on activation at the expense of brand-building is endangering brand health, says MARK TOMBLIN—

There are two charts that every marketing and communications professional needs to know and take to heart. For me, they really are the north stars of our business.

The first was first published in 2013’s The Long and the Short of It, Les Binet and Peter Field’s game-changing book based on the renowned IPA Databank. This chart is remarkable because it gets as close as I have ever seen to summing up the essence of the entire marketing project in one slide.


It shows that the two main marketing mechanisms—brand building (red line) and sales activation (yellow line)—work in very different ways, and that this difference has profound implications for brands and the people who manage them.

Brand building is about developing emotionally compelling messaging that, over time, creates an increasingly resonant and consistent set of unconscious meanings for the brand among potential buyers.

This means it is more likely to come to mind in buying situations. For all of you planning nerds out there, this effect relies on our innate “System 1” fast-thinking mode, made famous by Nobel laureate and behavioural psychologist Daniel Kahneman. As he put it, “System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort” using the many pathways in the brain that enable our unconscious mental processes.

Activation, on the other hand, is about rational, consciously processed messaging (typically offer-based), focused on current customers. This kind of communication engages Kahneman’s “System 2” slow-thinking “effortful” mode, and demands attention. It also creates little or no emotional resonance in the mind of potential buyers.

The crucial point is that, just as System 1 and 2 are in our brains, this is not an either/or proposition: successful brands need both types of activity to thrive. The issue is achieving the right balance between the two. Getting that balance right is a crucial (possibly the crucial) part of brand management when it comes to communications.

Which brings us to the second most important chart in marketing and communications.


This chart shows that, in the vast majority of cases, brands striving for long-term success should be spending well more than half of their budgets on brand-building activity—and in some cases a far greater proportion than that.

Unfortunately, the evidence suggests this simply isn’t happening. Indeed, Binet & Field’s latest work shows that overall campaign effectiveness is declining both in terms of scale (effectiveness) and rate of return (efficiency).

There are a couple of reasons for this. One is that we are simply not spending enough on paid-for communications—a subject for a future piece. The other is that we are concentrating more and more on the short-term “sugar high” of activation whilst ignoring the need to invest in the longer-term future of the brands we steward. Simply put, we are getting the balance wrong—and not just a little.

In my view, there are a number of factors behind this increasing and unhelpful obsession with activation. First, I think that we are increasingly confusing the nature of our media choices. Media channels best suited to activation (I’m looking at you, Facebook) are being sold hard as capable of building brands. The evidence for this claim is, to say the least, tenuous. After all, if Facebook is such a great brand-building tool, why does it—alongside other members of the digital “Big Four”—now spend so much on TV?

Second, too many agencies have learned to look through the wrong end of the telescope. Years of being yelled at by clients to develop “digital/social first” ideas mean that they often start creative projects with a built-in bias towards activation, whether they know it or not.

Third, the frankly shameless re-branding of dull old DM as “performance marketing” has led to the assumption that brands can now be built this way, despite the lack of any real evidence that this is possible.

What is clear is that this is simply not sustainable. If we continue on this path, within five years—and 10 at most—the brands we profess to care so much about will be but hollow simulacra of the brands we know today.

As 2020 starts to unfold, we should all ask ourselves—whether client or agency side—are we planning to spend enough this year on the kind of activities that will make a real difference to the long-term health of the brand? If the honest answer is “No,” what are we going to do about it?

Mark Tomblin is the founder of Thinking Unstuck.

TikTok

https://qz.com/emails/quartz-obsession/1807603/?fbclid=IwAR36XFc9uHKAFBu2wd-DldTOZmRQHT4j3mptZZWUuNBLtf8kAFmdd9nHcoE

Your Brand Has No Business Being on TikTok But also, maybe you should be?

The year is 2020. You're a brand. Your primary business objective for Q2? Relevance. Forget about first impressions—you want millions. Someone's kid sister's friend's classmate won't stop going on about "TikTok." You're intrigued. You investigate. You have no idea what's happening, but you're compelled to craft a TikTok strategy for your brand.

The app only launched three years ago, and yet it's already blown past a billion downloads. It's available in more than 150 markets and in over 75 different languages. It's filled with hundreds of millions of people (of all ages), and those numbers are still exploding. It's what many are glued to right now. It's what's relevant with your target audience, so having a presence on the platform is tempting—I get it.

If everyone's on Twitter and Instagram already, then everyone needs a presence on TikTok too, right?

Wrong.

The thing with appearing on a platform like TikTok is, you're probably going to do it wrong. If you're having a hard time understanding why it's become so popular, it's pretty simple—it's because it's fun. Their slogan is literally "Make your day." There are more hours of content on there than one could imagine. TikTok is made to consume and easy to create.

But it's more than just a platform for dance videos and odd humor; it's a hub for community wrapped in layers of shared meaning we sometimes call Internet Culture. It's the people's platform, run by its users, made for its users. It's possible for you to create that brand moment you're looking for, but it's also possible that you'll cause a cringe reaction from everyone watching.

It's way easier to run afoul of TikTok than it is to find a way in. So, if you're feeling compelled to post, here are a few things to know.

Stop calling it Gen Z's platform.

Yes, there are tons of young people watching and creating, but TikTok is not exclusive to those aged 7-22. It's actually quite popular with people over 50. Like Dan Pheps, a 55-year-old TikToker who thrives making silly impression videos.

World wide weird.

Part of what makes it a riot to watch is how open people are to getting a little weird. Oddball humor is plentiful. Eccentric content thrives because, well, it's fun to be a little weird.

Inspire people to create.

Dive deep into the relatability, it's one of the roots of meme culture. Let people create something, give them a formula, like a song and a feeling they can relate to. Videos that trend are those rooted in some sort of element of relatability—e.g., the "Fierce"challenge. People are just looking for a way to share who they are, what they're into and what they think; give them a chance to (e.g., favorite movie challenge). Make the challenge or the inspiration accessible; all it should take is time and a phone.

Be in on the joke.

Absurdity rules on TikTok. Think of it as a lighter hoax. Things so ridiculous that no one should believe them, but they do. Like the broom challenge or the girls who convinced the internet they're eating their tampons. Toronto's Officer Arsenault gets it.

Get creative and take your time.

The best videos to watch are the ones that leverage the editing tools on the platform. It is fun and easy to experiment with storytelling. Get creative with how you tell a story, whether it's an outfit change or how you tell a joke.

Be careful.

TikTok is essentially a more visual way of looking at very niche senses of humor and forms of expression. That's a tricky world for a brand to enter. We're in an age of misinformation spreading like wildfire, where every element of our culture is subject to becoming a joke or a meme. TikTok is a hotbed for that type of interaction and miscommunication. As a brand, you have a certain established authority. Be mindful of this when you aim to go viral.

Don't force it.

It's great to get excited about what's relevant and up and coming, but sometimes it makes sense for your brand, sometimes it doesn't. The Fortnite Emote Royal challengemakes total sense.

The reason that campaign works is because they are using their passionate fanbase to give into an already-existing behavior on the platform. Not every brand in the world needs to be on every channel. There's so much information to consume, and the desire to be where people are is understandable, but it's more impactful and useful when you're doing something with a shared interest and relevance. Make sure the medium fits the message. The Old Spice man or the Kool-Aid guy makes sense, a sports car brand, a publisher, a personality-driven brand can all work. Any brand can be on TikTok so long as the content is good and they understand this isn't about them, it's about the audience.

Ultimately, I can't stop you from being on the platform, and truthfully, I don't want to. There are many worlds within TikTok, and much to be discovered. Spend time watching the videos. I promise it's fun and there is something on there for you. If you're going to be on TikTok, create content that is meant to be enjoyed or that inspires people to create something.

Create something your audience wants to watch, whether it's funny, cool, creative, ridiculous or just plain weird. Don't sign up because you want to be relevant or because you think a specific audience group is on a platform. All people want is to consume and create content, so create something they want to see. And remember, this is supposed to be fun.

A More Modern Look at Consumer Motivations

Humans aren't as rational as you think

At the start of this futuristic sounding decade, the 2020s, we're already being inundated with countless articles contemplating the trends that will transform how we market to consumers. These commentaries typically focus on the ever-changing media landscape, including new forms of technology destined to reach consumers even more immediately than we do now.

And while modern technology will continue to alter the means by which we reach consumers, my concern is that we often don't focus on a more modern understanding of consumer motivations. Unfortunately, the vast majority of C-suite business leaders continue to cling to the notion that consumers are mostly rational beings—believing that buying decisions are based more on reason than emotion. More logic and less gut. More need and less want. 

But this is truly antiquated thinking. Significant research covering the landscape of how our brains work reveals that we humans are primarily motivated by impulses and stimuli that we're not even largely aware of. Facts and rationale are not necessarily what drive our purchase decisions—or frankly, decisions in general.

You might think, "Well, that's not a big deal. CEOs and CFOs aren't all that involved in creating brand messaging." However, the danger with a misguided understanding of consumer motivations is that it leads to the belief that investing in communications and advertising is not all that critical to growing a business. Many CEOs even view brand building as a fluffy extravagance, attended to only when sales are strong. (A CEO of a now-defunct sporting goods retailer once noted in a meeting that, "We're facing major headwinds now. We can't afford brand building.") And even when these leaders finally do feel compelled to advertise, they think the most effective way to convince consumers to buy is to simply fill them with as many facts, details and rationale as possible.

You might be shaking your head thinking, yeah, those people don't get it.

It's easy to point fingers. But it's also possible to get caught up—if not fooled by—our own personal sense of rationality. Accepting that we're not always completely in control of our impulses and motivations is a hard pill to swallow. But clinging to this misunderstanding—or lack of acceptance of this reality—can lead to the kind of marketing behavior I've just described.

In an effort to challenge this misguided sense of rationality—and reboot marketers' understanding of consumer motivations—my agency, Young & Laramore, created and hosted a new event at the end of last year. "Unreasonable: A Modern Look at Consumer Motivations" served as a clarion call to marketers that consumers (aka, people) aren't necessarily ruled by facts and rationality. An abundance of research suggests we largely behave "unreasonably," and that we're often completely unaware of what happens in our subconscious—or, as some have asserted, our preconscious. This one-day event featured nine experts in neuroscience, behavioral economics and marketing who shared their research on everything from decision fatigue to humor.

Marketers from a wide variety of companies attended the event, including consumer package goods purveyors like P&G, Kellogg's and ConAgra, as well as durables like Delta Faucet, Trane and Carrier. We even had the communications team from Cummins, the world's largest engine company.

While there were countless takeaways from the event, here are three simple ones that can alter your approach to marketing: 

1. Pay much more attention to what consumers actually do, not what they say. Unfortunately, people can't—and in most cases, won't—articulate why they do what they do.

2. Facts don't necessarily convince people. Instead, how a message is presented can be more impactful than a reasoned argument.

3. While consumers might tell us (see point No. 1) they want more and more choices, an abundance of choice can actually create decision fatigue, and often, inaction.

The post-event feedback was telling, as attendees noted that they wished their bosses could attend this kind of event. The vast majority wanted their CMOs to come, and a third thought their CEOs would benefit as well. Based on this response, we've begun planning our second annual "Unreasonable" event for this November and hope to expand our audience to those at the C-level to begin to make a dent in this misperception of consumer rationality.

Sure, old habits are hard to break. But as we look ahead into this new decade, let's reasonably commit to not only staying abreast of the most modern technologies to reach our consumers, but also to continue to evolve our understanding of why consumers do what they do, which might not be so reasonable.

TikTok Guide

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You downloaded TikTok recently, didn't you? It's addicting, right?

Well, have you graduated from casually scrolling the For You page and liking random TikToks to, maybe, wanting to create your own TikTok videos to share, privately or publically? Or, perhaps, you don't even know where to begin, and you can't figure out what all those buttons are for, and you're amazing at the sheer amount of video-editing tools available. If so, you'll be glad you found this guide.

Consider this a master list of TikTok features, hidden tools, and general tips and tricks. We've been using the app for a while now and have dug around just about every nook and cranny of the thing. But, we're always open to learning, so if we missed something, tell us below.

• Best iPhone apps: The ultimate guide
• Best iPad apps: The ultimate guide 

Note: Most of these tips and tricks were written from the perspective of an iPhone user, but most should be exactly the same on Android.

TIKTOK

TikTok tips and tricks: Navigation and basics

Before we dive into tips and tricks, let's go over how to navigate the app. When you open TikTok, you'll see a menu bar on the bottom. It has shortcuts to each of the following five screens (or pages) in the app:

Home

Home shows you two feeds, Following and For you, which you can toggle between.

1. Following serves up videos from accounts you're following
2. For You page shows you trending videos and videos that TikTok believes you'd like to watch most (presumably based on your usage data).

Discover

Discover mostly shows you TikTok videos tagged with a trending hashtag.

But, from this page, you can also enter search terms to find users, videos, sounds, and hashtags. And a Scan button by the search field opens a viewfinder for you to capture someone's TikCode. Yours is found here, too; it's like a QR code that helps you to quickly find users.

Upload

Upload opens up to the record screen, where you can film a video and do things like adjust its speed, turn on a beauty effect, add a filter, and search for other effects to try. You can even upload multiple videos and photos to edit and share.

Inbox

Inbox shows you all the activity on your publicly-shared videos. You can filter these notifications by things like comments and mentions - just go to the drop-down at the top. Tap the Envelope icon in the corner of Inbox to find all your private messages with friends.

Me

Your public profile that you and other users can see. You can make parts of it - videos you've liked - private. Otherwise, your likes and public videos are visible here. Me also shows who you followed, who follows you, number of likes on all your videos, your favorited videos, and your linked social media like YouTube or Instagram. Me is visible to everyone, so you can add a profile photo and a bio, too.

POCKET-LINT

TikTok tips and tricks: Search and find

Now, that you know the basics of TikTok, let's dive into its key features and buried options, plus other tips and tricks you should know.

Search and find a TikTok video to watch

The first way to find a TikTok to watch is from the Home screen.

1. Go to Home from the menu bar.
2. Tap Following at the top to see videos from accounts you follow.
3. Or, tap For you to see trending videos and videos that TikTok recommends.

The second way is from Discover.

1. Go to Discover from the menu bar.
2. Select a video from one of the trending hashtag carousels, or, from the top, search for videos.

The third way is to go watch videos you've favorited or already liked.

1. Go to Me from the menu bar.
2. Tap the Bookmark icon to see videos you've favorited, or saving for watching later.
3. You can also re-visit videos you've liked by going to the section headed by a Heart icon.

Once you find a video, you can like it, comment on it, save or download it for offline viewing (if allowed by the creator). Some users will even let you duet and react to their TikToks. There are even options to share, create a live photo or GIF, and add to your private favorites for viewing at a later date. You can also find more TikToks using that sound or hashtags from the video.

Search and find TikTok videos by sound

Want to see (and hear) more videos that use a particular audio clip?

1. Find and watch a video with the sound.
2. Tap the spinning record on the right of the video. Or you can tap the scrolling sound link at the bottom of the video.
3. From the sound's page that pops up, you can add the sound to your favorites, share it, find the original use of the sound (if it's still available/public), and find every video that uses that sound. You can even start recording a video with that sound from here.

Alternatively, you can find sounds via search from the Discover screen.

Search and find TikTok videos by effects

Want to see more videos that use a particular effect, like green screen?

1. Find and watch a video with the effect.
2. Tap the effect's name. It appears with a wand above the video creator's handle.
3. From the effect's page that pops up, you can add the effect to your favorites, share it, and find every video that uses that effect. You can even start recording a video with that effect from here.

Alternatively, you can find effects via search from the Discover screen.

Search and find TikTok videos by hashtags

Want to see more videos tagged with a particular hashtag, like #FYP?

1. Find and watch a video with the hashtag.
2. Tap the hashtag. It appears in the video's caption, below the creator's handle.
3. From the hashtag's page that pops up, you can add the hashtag to your favorites, share it, and find every video tagged with that hashtag. You can even start recording a new video to tag.

Alternatively, you can find hashtags via search from the Discover screen. Trending hashtags are also on display in Discover.

Search and find a TikTok user

The first way to find someone is from a TikTok video you're currently watching.

1. Every video shows you the creator on the left. It's the first bubble, their profile photo.
2. Tap their bubble photo to view their profile.
3. Alternatively, when you're watching one of their videos, tap their TikTok handle in the corner.

The second way is from Discover.

1. Go to Discover from the menu bar.
2. From the top, search for a user.

From a TikTok user's profile, you can see who their following, who follows them, the number of likes on their videos, their public videos, and the videos they've liked (if public). You can also access their connected social media such as YouTube or Instagram.

Find and save your TikCode

Here's the quickest way to find your TikCode, a QR code people can scan to find you:

1. Go to Me from the menu bar.
2. Next to your name at the top, tap the icon with four squares.
3. Your TikCode will appear with the option to save it to your device.

Here's another way:

1. Go to Discover from the menu bar.
2. Next to the search field, tap the Scan icon.
3. Select My TikCode at the bottom.

Scan a TikCode

Here's one way to scan a TikCode:

1. Go to Me from the menu bar.
2. Next to your name at the top, tap the icon with four squares.
3. Your TikCode will appear with the option to scan a TikCode.
4. Align QR code in the frame to scan.

Here's another way:

1. Go to Discover from the menu bar.
2. Next to the search field, tap the scan icon.
3. Align QR code in the frame to scan.

TIKTOK

TikTok tips and tricks: Follow and interact

Follow a TikTok user

The first way to follow someone is from a TikTok video you're currently watching.

1. Every video shows you the creator on the left. It's the first bubble, their profile photo.
2. Long press the + sign below their bubble photo to follow them.

The second way is when you're looking at someone's profile page.

1. Go to a TikTok user's profile.
2. Tap the Follow button on their profile.

When you follow a TikTok account, you'll not only be able to find their profiles under the Following tab on the Me screen, but you'll be able to quickly browse through all their latest content from the Following feed in Home.

Like or dislike a TikTok video

1. Find and watch a video.
2. Tap the Heart icon on the right of the video.
3. It'll turn red, showing you've liked the video.

To dislike a video, just repeat step 2 after liking a video.

Hide or see less of certain TikTok videos

If you're annoyed by a certain trend on TikTok and want to see fewer videos like that, or maybe just see fewer videos in that same vein, you can label one as 'not interested', triggering TikTok to show you fewer of those videos going forward.

1. Find and watch a video.
2. Long press the video to bring up a menu.
3. Tap Not Interested.

Leave and view comments on a TikTok video

Want to engage with other users? Leave comments on videos.

1. Find and watch a video.
2. Tap the Comment button on the right of the video. Or tap the Add comment at the bottom.
3. The video's comments screen will pop up, where you'll see existing comments and a field to enter your comment.
4. Tap the Hashtag icon to tag a user or the Emoji icon to add an emoji to your comment.
5. Hit send when done writing your comment.
6. From the video's comment screen, simply scroll to view your new comment with the other comments.
7. You can even like a user's comment by tapping the Heart icon next to their comment.

Note: If you're watching a video from, say, a user's liked videos tab, you may see the option to add comments from the bottom of the video. Tap the field, and a keyboard will pop up so you can add your comment. Then follow steps 4 and 5 above.

Duet a TikTok video

When you Duet, you record yourself split-screen style with another TikTok video (either your video or someone else's if they allow Duets).

1. Find and watch a video.
2. Tap the Share button on the right of the video. It's only visible if the creator allows sharing.
3. Tap Duet.
4. Record a clip by tapping the red Record button.
5. Edit it by adding effects, etc.
6. Repeat steps 4 through 5 a few more times.
7. Tap the Next button.
8. Adjust your preferences, like whether it is private or public.
9. Tap Post to publish your Duet.

React to a TikTok video

With React, you can record yourself literally reacting to a TikTok, if the creator allows it. Their video shows up picture-in-picture style.

1. Find and watch a video.
2. Tap the Share button on the right of the video. It's only visible if the creator allows sharing.
3. Tap React.
4. Record a clip by tapping the red Record button.
5. Edit it by adding effects, etc.
6. Repeat steps 4 through 5 a few more times.
7. Tap the Next button.
8. Adjust your preferences, like whether it is private or public.
9. Tap Post to publish your Reaction.

View your direct messages

With TikTok, you can privately message other users in a direct message area.

1. Go to Inbox from the menu bar.
2. Tap the Envelope icon in the corner.

Send a direct message

To actually begin messaging another user, you can:

1. Go to Inbox from the menu bar.
2. Tap the Envelope icon in the corner.
3. Tap the + sign and search for a user to message.
4. Tap their profile.
5. You'll see the option to write and begin a chat thread with them.

Alternatively, when watching a TikTok video, hit the Share button on the right and then select Message.

Invite friends to TikTok

Want more of your actual friends to talk to on TikTok? Invite them!

1. Go to Me from the menu bar.
2. Tap the add person symbol in the corner.
3. Tap Invite Friends.
4. Select which platform you'd like to send an invite message and pick your friends.

Find contacts on TikTok

You can also see if people in your device's contacts are already on TikTok.

1. Go to Me from the menu bar.
2. Tap the add person symbol in the corner.
3. Tap Find Contacts.
4. Scroll through the contacts available and hit Follow to follow them.

Find Facebook Friends on TikTok

Lastly, you can find your Facebook Friends on TikTok.

1. Go to Me from the menu bar.
2. Tap the add person symbol in the corner.
3. Tap Find Facebook Friends.
4. Scroll through the friends available and hit Follow to follow them.

POCKET-LINT

TikTok tips and tricks: Share and save

Share a TikTok video

Some creators allow you to share their videos.

1. Find and watch a video.
2. Tap the Share button on the right. It's only visible if the creator allows sharing.
3. Choose where to share: Facebook Messenger, Direct Message, Snapchat, Instagram, Instagram Stories, Facebook, Twitter, Email, etc.

Save a TikTok video

Some creators allow you to save their videos to your device for offline viewing.

1. Find and watch a video.
2. Tap the Share button on the right of the video. It's only visible if the creator allows saving.
3. Hit the Save button.

Alternatively, long-press on a video and select save a video. Either way, you can then find it from your device's camera roll or gallery.

Add a TikTok video to your favourites

This essentially bookmarks videos for you to revisit later.

1. Find and watch a video.
2. Tap the Share button on the right of the video. It's only visible if the creator allows saving.
3. Hit the Save button.

Now, from the Me screen, tap the Bookmark icon to find all the videos you've marked as favourites.

Create a Live Photo from a TikTok video

Want to save a TikTok video as a Live Photo that you can set as your wallpaper?

1. Find and watch a video.
2. Tap the Share button on the right. It's only visible if the creator allows sharing.
3. Tap Live Photo.

Create a GIF from a TikTok video

You can also convert a TikTok into a GIF you can share. It'll be watermarked.

1. Find and watch a video.
2. Tap the Share button on the right. It's only visible if the creator allows sharing.
3. Tap Share as a Gift.
4. Choose where to share, or just save it to your device.

TIKTOK

TikTok tips and tricks: Record and edit videos

Create a TikTok video

Finally, you're ready to create a TikTok!

1. Go to Upload from the menu bar.
2. Adjust your preferences on the Camera screen, like the direction of the camera.
3. You can also enable a beauty mode, add filters or effects, and change the speed.
4. Select the length of the clips you want to record from the bottom of the Camera screen: 60 seconds or 15 seconds. You can even choose a photo template to record with -- these add a variety of effects and filters to alter the look of your TikTok.
5. When ready, tap and hold the Record button to continuously shoot your video. If you release it, it'll still film. Quickly tap it again to stop. You can also quickly tap it to start and stop recording with no continuous shooting. Either way, record a string of clips to edit.
6. As an alternative to steps 2 through 5, tap Uploads on the Camera Screen to upload photos and videos to edit.
7. Hit the Checkmark button when done. You'll be brought to a preview screen where you can add sounds, more effects, text, and stickers.
8. Tap Next when you're done editing your TikTok.
9. From the Post screen, add your description, hashtags, and tag friends. You can also choose who can view your post and disable comments.
10. Other options on the Post screen include the ability to disable duet/react and saves.
11. Hit Drafts to save your TikTok to a private area on your account for you to come back to, or simply hit Post to share it.

Change speed of your TikTok video

When creating a TikTok, use the slider at the bottom of the Camera screen to record at .3x, .5x, 1x, 2x, or 3x speed. Also, on the Preview screen, you can go to Effects > Time > Slow Motion if you'd like to slow it down.

1. Go to Upload from the menu bar.
2. Tap a speed at the bottom of the Camera screen.
3. Tap and hold the record button to start filming.
4. Hit the Checkmark button when done recording. You'll be brought to a preview screen where you can go to Effects to add a slow-mo effect.
5. Tap Next when you're done editing your TikTok to proceed to the Post screen.

Add beauty filter to your TikTok video

When creating a TikTok, tap the Beauty button on the right of the Camera screen to essentially beautify your selfies in real-time.

1. Go to Upload from the menu bar.
2. Tap Beauty on the right of the Camera screen.
3. Tap and hold the record button to start filming.
4. Hit the Checkmark button when done recording. You'll be brought to a preview screen where you can customise your video even further.
5. Tap Next when you're done editing your TikTok to proceed to the Post screen.

Add filter to your TikTok video

When creating a TikTok, tap the Filter button on the right of the Camera screen to add a filter that changes the look of your video. Also, on the Preview screen, you can go to Effects and then either Visual, Effects, or Transitions to add even more filters to your recording.

1. Go to Upload from the menu bar.
2. Tap Filter on the right of the Camera screen.
3. Tap and hold the Record button to start filming.
4. Hit the Checkmark button when done recording. You'll be brought to a Preview screen where you can add more effects and filters.
5. Tap Next when you're done editing your TikTok to proceed to the Post screen.

Use a timer to record your TikTok video

When creating a TikTok, tap the Timer button on the right of the Camera screen to give yourself a few-second delay before TikTok actually starts recording. The app will also continuously record for you.

1. Go to Upload from the menu bar.
2. Tap Timer on the right of the Camera screen.
3. Mark the stop point, select your delay, and hit Start Countdown.
4. Record your video.
5. Hit the Checkmark button when done. You'll be brought to a Preview screen where you can add more effects and filters.
6. Tap Next when you're done editing your TikTok to proceed to the Post screen.

Add an effect to your TikTok video

When creating a TikTok, tap the Effect button on the right of the Camera screen. You'll be able to add more effects later on, too.

1. Go to Upload from the menu bar.
2. Tap Effect in the corner.
3. Find and select an effect to apply.
4. Tap the record button and record your video.
5. Hit the Checkmark button when done. You'll be brought to a Preview screen where you can add more effects and filters.
6. Tap Next when you're done editing your TikTok to proceed to the Post screen.

Upload video/photo to TikTok

Don't want to record how you look right now? Then create a TikTok using older footage of yourself that's saved on your device.

1. Go to Upload from the menu bar.
2. Tap the Uploads button on the Camera Screen to browse your device's gallery.
3. Select your media.
4. You'll then have the option trim it, adjust its length, rotate it, etc.
5. Hit Next when done. You'll be brought to a preview screen where you can add sounds, more effects, text, and stickers.
6. Tap Next when you're done editing your TikTok to proceed to the Post screen.

Upload multiple videos/photos to TikTok

If you'd like to upload multiple videos and photos, here's how:

1. Go to Upload from the menu bar.
2. Tap the Uploads button on the Camera Screen to browse your device's gallery.
3. Hit the Multiple option at the bottom.
4. Select all your media and tap Next.
5. You'll then have the option to sync sounds across the media and adjust it.
6. Hit Next when done. You'll be brought to a preview screen where you can add sounds, more effects, text, and stickers.
7. Tap Next when you're done editing your TikTok to proceed to the Post screen.

Add a sound to your TikTok video

When you film a TikTok, tap the Sounds link at the top of Camera screen. You'll be able to search and add sounds from the pop-up page.

1. Go to Upload from the menu bar.
2. Tap Sounds at the top.
3. Find and select a sound to apply.

The Preview screen will also let you find sounds to add. So, if you upload photos and videos, add sounds to them from the Preview screen.

Tag hashtags in your TikTok video

You can add hashtags to your TikTok video's description on the Post screen. Tap the Hashtag button to quickly insert trending tags.

Tag users in your TikTok video

You can tag users in your TikTok video's description on the Post screen. Tap the @friends button to quickly find friends to tag.

Change the privacy of your TikTok video

You can change the privacy of your TikTok video on the Post screen. Tap Who can view this video and select one of the following options:

• Public: Visible to everyone
• Friends: Visible to friends only
• Private: Visible to you only

Turn comments off on your TikTok

You can disable comments on a TikTok video from the Post screen. Just tap Comments Off. Easy!

Turn Duet/React off on your TikTok

You can disable Duet/React on a TikTok video from the Post screen. This stops others from dueting and reacting to it. Just tap Duet/React Off.

Turn off Download for all TikTok videos

You can disable Downloads for all your TikTok videos. This stops others from saving them for offline viewing.

1. Go to Me from the menu bar.
2. Tap the More [...] button in the corner.
3. Go to Privacy and Safety.
4. Scroll to Allow download and disable it.

Save a TikTok video to your drafts

From the Post screen, hit Drafts at the bottom to save your TikTok to a private area on your account for you to revisit later.

Post a TikTok video

From the Post screen, hit Post at the bottom to share your TikTok video.

Find your TikTok drafts

Want to revisit all your saved, unfinished TikToks?

1. Go to Me from the menu bar.
2. On your profile, select the Drafts folder.

POCKET-LINT

TikTok tips and tricks: Followers and activity

View all activity notifications on TikTok

You can see who's liked your TikTok videos, commented on TikTok your videos, and who has mentioned you all from one area in TikTok.

1. Go to Inbox from the menu bar.
2. Here, you'll see all your activity notifications.
3. Drill-down further by going to All activity at the top and selecting likes, comments, mentions, etc.

View who you follow

If you'd like to see the accounts you follow, just go to Me from the menu bar and tap Following on your profile.

View your followers

If you'd like to see the accounts who follow you, just go to Me from the menu bar and tap Followers on your profile.

POCKET-LINT

TikTok tips and tricks: Profile and settings

Change your profile photo or video

Like most things on TikTok, there a couple ways to do this:

1. Go to Me from the menu bar.
2. Tap your profile photo and select change photo.
3. Add a new profile photo or take one. Simple.

Another way is to tap Edit Profile on your profile, and from there you can change your profile photo and even add a profile video.

View the total number of likes on your videos

If you'd like to see the number of likes on all your videos, just go to Me from the menu bar and look at the Likes number on your profile.

View your favourites

If you'd like to see videos you've saved to watch later, just go to Me from the menu bar and hit the Bookmark icon.

View videos you liked

If you'd like to see all the videos you've liked in the past, just go to Me from the menu bar and go to the section labeled with a Heart icon.

Edit your profile

To change your profile photo, name, username, bio, etc, just go to Me from the menu bar and hit the Edit Profile button.

Add Instagram or YouTube to your profile

Want to link up your other social media accounts to your profile?

1. Go to Me from the menu bar.
2. Tap Edit profile on your profile.
3. Scroll down to Instagram or YouTube and select them to begin the process of linking the account.

Change your name or username

If you'd like to change your name or username on TikTok, it's easy - here's how.

1. Go to Me from the menu bar.
2. Tap Edit profile on your profile.
3. Scroll down to Name or Username and select one to begin the process of changing it.

Manage account or change your settings

TikTok has a plethora of options for you to manage your account email and password, adjust your digital wellbeing preferences, clear your cache, make your account private, block others, and so on. Just go to the Settings screen.

1. Go to Me from the menu bar.
2. Tap the More [...] button.
3. Voila! Your Settings screen is here.
4. Tap manage my account to do things like change your password.
5. Feel free to roam around. There are a lot of hidden options, like the ability to opt-out of receiving personalised ads. You can even become a TikTok beta tester from the Settings pane.

Switch to Pro account

TikTok lets you view analytics on your posts! You just need to upgrade to a free Pro account first.

1. Go to Me from the menu bar.
2. Tap the More [...] button.
3. Tap Manage My Account.
4. Tap Switch to Pro account.

Now, when you go into the Settings pane, you'll see a new Analytics option. Tap it to view your metrics and charts.

Add coins to your balance

TikTok Coins are an in-app currency that you buy with real money. You can buy Emojis and Diamonds with Coins to give to someone as appreciation for their effort. Once you have bought your TikTok Coins, they are stored in your Wallet. They are non-refundable.

1. Go to Me from the menu bar.
2. Tap the More [...] button.
3. Select Balance.
4. Hit recharge.
5. Select an option for the number of coins you want to buy.
6. Confirm your purchase on the next page.

Want to know more?

Check out our other guide on TikTok here.