Does Your Business TikTok? Genuineness, Proximity to Customers and International Expansion with Short Video Marketing

As contemporary lifestyle evolved, social media platforms adapted to be attractive for consumers who spend increasing time in their smartphones and who are interested in content that is short and easy to consume. Short video apps thus emerged, becoming relevant in the social media landscape. TikTok, a social media application used for creating and sharing short videos, has become especially popular. The videos in TikTok usually include music, short plays, lip-synching, dancing, or light-hearted humor. So far, TikTok has been downloaded more than a billion times around the world. Given this context, it was decided to conduct research to address the following research question: Which are the outcomes of short video marketing strategies on TikTok in small business activities? The methodological approach was qualitative, based on interviews to business owners. The findings show that TikTok enables a different way of promoting a business offer, which relies on entertainment and consumer proximity to the businesses. The app TikTok offers an alternative to more traditional communication channels and enables the creation and sharing of low-cost videos that can nonetheless create awareness, traffic and sales, including in international markets. Additionally, on TikTok, business owners can build on their knowledge about their markets to engage with consumers, relying on genuineness, as this research shows.