It feels like everyone lately has succumbed to the pressure of downloading TikTok. The app is a huge time waster and a breeding ground for viral content— and yet, it scratches the itch we’re all experiencing during social distancing.
Now more than ever, people are taking to the platform for entertainment and scrolling through their “for you pages” for a crumb of serotonin. It’s certainly not uncommon for me to see a random stranger perform whatever TikTok dance is trending at the time. The song starts to get popular and eventually gets stuck in my head. I add the track to my playlist, I learn the dance, and I embarrass myself online quite often. The most notable dance trend that I’ve witnessed is the addictive, 70s-inspired track “Say So” by Doja Cat.
Who is this …. doja cat?
I first heard about the American rapper around October of 2018. I went to a Halloween party with my friends, and this song called “MOOO!” came on and everyone gathered around a girl who just so happened to be dressed as a cow. Everyone went nuts, to say the least. It was the most surreal moment of my life, and when I got back home I listened to the song on repeat for days. The song had blown up simply because the lyrics were absurd. Doja Cat shared that music does not have to be serious… it can be fun sometimes!
So she already had some internet street cred and was slowly rising with the drop of her first album, but she was still this underground artist struggling to make her break as a serious musician. Then in late 2019, TikTok user @yodelinghaley came up with her own dance routine for Doja Cat’s song, “Say So.” The song wasn’t even a single— just a track wedged into her sophomore album that came out August 2019. All it took was @yodelinghaley’s trendy choreo to raise the song into single status. Because of this, the song has been featured in 19.2 million TikToks, and that number is increasing daily.
the tiktok sound system
On the TikTok app, users can use songs, audio, or create their own recorded sound to upload along with their video. If one would like, they can essentially record a 60-second-or-less music video. When a dance or trend blows up, then number of videos using that audio also goes up, and soon enough everyone is familiar with it.
After I discovered that song on TikTok, I went straight to Doja Cat’s Spotify page to add the song to my playlist that month. I vividly remember seeing the “Say So” had around eight million plays and watched as it grew exponentially. As of today, that number has skyrocketed to over 270 million streams on Spotify alone.
The power of user-generated content
Any video uploaded to TikTok could be considered user-generated content, as each user is contributing content, unpaid, and potentially promoting a brand. Chapter five of Lipschultz’ Social Media Communications lists user-generated content as one of the strategies that brands can use to promote a product or campaign.
One of the most significant examples of a campaign that gained popularity from consumers is the “Share a Coke” campaign. The Coca-Cola Company was dropping a line of their bottled drinks that had names on the wrapper so that drinkers felt that they could have a unique, individualized beverage experience. Consumers were purchasing the drink and sharing photos online with a bottle that had their name on it. The Coca-Cola Company jumped onto this organically-born promotion opportunity and thus created the campaign to tie it to their brand.
How does creating a mini-music video on some app count as user-generated content for a musical artist? Well, in order for musicians to become successful, they must promote their music as well as their personal brand. So, when their song blows up on TikTok, those videos can be considered content to market and promote their brand.
How Doja Cat Capitalized on Her Viral TikTok Dance
Doja Cat’s branding team saw huge potential in this viral Say So Dance trend. There was practically no work done on their end to promote that song, and in return, Doja Cat had so many achievements. She knew that she could not simply sleep on this goldmine of a branding campaign that was forming before our very eyes.
Following the peak of the TikTok trend, Doja Cat would feature some of the videos of people dancing to her song onto her Instagram story, including that of @yodelinghaley. She worked to build up even more hype and it very clearly worked. As of March 31st, 2020, “Say So” was the top streamed song by a female artist in 2020 at 369 million streams across all platforms.
In Late February, Doja Cat then announced her American headlining tour to promote her album, Hot Pink and was set to tour from late March through April 2020. Unfortunately, all dates were eventually postponed due to COVID-19, but that entire tour sold out in under two hours! I was on Ticketmaster at 10AM sharp the day tickets went on sale, but didn’t manage to purchase any. Following the announcement of her tour, she dropped her highly-anticipated music video for “Say So.” It felt like a long time coming, but it was worth the wait! She carried the 70s-inpired aesthetic, and even invited her good friend @yodelinghaley to be featured in the video. Besides, she couldn’t have done it without that famous TikToker!
Musicians … hop onto tiktok if you haven’t yet
While Doja Cat is one of the most successful examples of TikTok taking over a track and launching the artist into stardom, she certainly isn’t the only one and it can probably be done again. Another big example was Lil’ Nas X and his genre-bending rap song “Old Town Road.” Remember when we couldn’t get that song out of our heads for months?
Musical artists should get their song onto TikTok in some way so that it can be discovered somehow. That discovery doesn’t even have to be through a dance. Most songs have simply become background for someone’s video, or used as a storyteller in a certain trend through the lyrics. But if it’s not on the app, then how are users going to find it?
Repetitive use of the song will help get it exposed to other users. The TikTok algorithm capitalizes on likes, comments, and shares to boost the video to other viewers. Create content that catches the eye of the lazy viewer that just keeps aimlessly scrolling through their for you page. If your sound starts to stick, then it will likely cause users to find that song outside of the TikTok app. This is key so that musicians can get streams and gain influence on the streaming platforms that will actually make them money.
I wish there was an easy formula for TikTok fame. Different things grab the attention of different people, so it may help to figure out your audience metrics and help it align with the content you put out. So, sit down, figure out your personal brand, and happy TikTok-ing!
(And just in case you’re curious, yes I did do the Say So Dance.)
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