Nonsensical’s Oli Hills discusses how brands can thrive on TikTok

Oli, it’s great to connect. Can you tell us about yourself and your agency Nonsensical?
I’m Oli Hills and very proud to be CEO of Nonsensical, a TikTok marketing agency based in the UK. We started out building communities on Facebook – growing accounts to over 1,000,000 followers – until lockdown stopped us in our tracks and basically wiped out our revenues. It was at that time that TikTok was becoming more prominent. We decided to take the leap into TikTok and created a couple of accounts that grew to over 700,000 followers. That then led to brands contacting us for advice and next thing you know, we are a 34 strong team of TikTok experts working with some of the biggest brands globally – creating and delivering on their TikTok strategies

What are some of Nonsensical’s key focuses and services?
At Nonsensical, we do TikTok so you don’t have to. If it touches TikTok, then we have a team and expertise to help brands succeed. We work with our clients on producing TikTok strategies, creating content, and working with creators and influencers to produce impactful content. We also have a paid media team to activate marketing campaigns, as well as team of TikTok Shop and affiliate specialists to help brands sell on the platform.

For those who may still a bit in the dark with TikTok as a platform, what makes it such an exciting prospect for brands?
TikTok has created an incredible proposition that effectively merges the discoverability and search of Google, the content of Instagram and the e-commerce of Amazon. TikTok has 32 million monthly active users in the UK, with the average time spent on the app per person per day sitting at 94 minutes.

While most still think TikTok is an app for kids dancing, the average age of user is 33 years old – much higher than most expect. The other incredible stat from TikTok is that 23% of users will open the search functionality within 30 seconds of opening the app, so it isn’t just a place for scrolling through videos… It’s an intent driven platform where people go there looking for answers and inspiration.

TikTok has fundamentally changed the way content is created and consumed through their algorithm-led feed, which serves individuals videos not necessarily based on who they follow, but more so on what the algorithm thinks they will like.

Why should brands should be using TikTok for their campaigns?
TikTok has absolutely stolen the attention of people all over the world and is the place for discovery. Brands need to understand how people use the platform and then leverage the many tools that are available to effectively achieve their goals.

TikTok can be used for building communities through content creation and interacting with their current and future customers. It can also be used as an advertising platform, much like Facebook and Instagram, to target people based on their interests and purchase habits.

Finally, it’s becoming a challenger to Amazon for people to purchase product without ever leaving the app. What is most important is that brands understand what their goals are – and understand the different ways to achieve their goals.

In a recent talk, you said that TikTok is the new Google. Can you expand on that?
People are becoming savvier and are questioning the validity of written reviews on Google and TrustPilot. TikTok is a video first platform where anybody with a smartphone can create content and show their personal experience through video. This allows users to really see for themselves what a product may look like and potentially ask questions in the comments to find out more.

With 23% of people opening the search bar within 30 seconds of opening TikTok it shows that people are defaulting to TikTok for answers to their questions, rather than the traditional Google search. The shift in generative AI is another big factor for companies whereby Google Gemini is now offering answers to questions at the top of Google search results, even ahead of the PPC ad placements. This has made PPC and SEO strategies much less impactful.

What’s your advice for people looking to craft effective content on the platform?
The most important thing to do on TikTok is to embrace the platform and scroll through videos first before creating your own content. Most people are trained in traditional marketing and videography, where you build characters and narratives over time and potentially leave the big meaningful message to the end. On TikTok, people vote with their fingers… If you don’t grab their attention within two seconds, they will swipe on and all your hard work creating a great video will be wasted!

Also, TikTok videos are often rough and ready, shot with an iPhone. Users can spot a brand advert a mile away as they stick out so obviously when scrolling through the TikTok feed. You have to embrace TikTok for what it is and trust creators to produce content that looks and feels like a TikTok – even if it isn’t what you’d traditionally create for other marketing channels.

Focusing on a product category like toys and games, what advice would you give to toy companies looking to use TikTok to market their brands?
The most important thing that toy and game companies can do is understand why they’re on TikTok. If they’re looking for sales, then it’s important to focus on either a TikTok Shop strategy where they are looking to work with as many affiliates and influencers as possible – or a paid media strategy where they are creating TikTok native content with a clear call to action. Or both!

Alternatively, if they are looking to build longer term brand awareness, then it’s worth pursuing an ‘always on’ organic strategy with a focus on creating relatable content that resonates with their target audience.

@barbie The holidays love to see us coming ‍♀️✨ #Barbie #Holiday #Decor #Festive #Christmas #Besties ♬ Nutcracker Russian Dance (Trepak)(845254) – ogsogs

Is there a toy brand out there that you’d highlight as getting things right on TikTok?
While Mattel’s budgets are clearly large, Barbie’s organic TikTok account is superb. Also, when it comes to advertising, Spin Master’s team for Kinetic Sand are doing a great job with TikTok native creative, working with parent creators to product content that looks great on the feed and converts to sales.

@kineticsand Reply to @brooklynnhope_ One BIG single scoop ☺️ #kineticsand #fyp #icecream #icecreamshop #icecreamparlour #diytiktok #homemade #2022 #asmr #relaxingvideos ♬ Ice Cream Truck – Barbie McDonald

On that, should brands work with influencers on TikTok? And what advice do you have about choosing influencers to work with?
Yes, absolutely. Influencers are a great tool for activating brand campaigns on TikTok, whether that be from an awareness or conversion perspective. The most important thing – as always – is to not focus on who the influencer is, but more importantly, who is actually engaging with their content. It’s crucial to look at the comments on influencers’ posts to see if those engaging look like your target customer. When engaging with an influencer, be sure to ask for their audience demographic analytics before moving to a contract negotiation.

The other thing to consider with TikTok is that it doesn’t necessarily matter how many followers they have, rather to look at their average views and engagement per video. When working with influencers, it’s very important to negotiate paid usage rights in your contracts as you then have the ability to activate spark ads which can turn brand awareness activity into conversion activity.

Finally, it’s crucial that you give influencers creative freedom and trust them to produce content that not only sells your product – but doesn’t stick out like an advert on their feeds. You will get better results the more native the content is to their normal style.

Terrific insights Oli! You mentioned earlier that TikTok is thriving as a shopping platform. Can you tell us more about that?
There are now over 1.5 million businesses in the UK utilising TikTok Shop to reach and engage with consumers. Approximately 27.3% of TikTok users in the UK made purchases through the app in 2023, with projections indicating this figure could reach 39.9% by 2026.

The other major innovation in social commerce is live stream shopping – it’s essentially QVC on steroids! One major example of this is P Louise’s 12-hour stream which generated over £1.5m in sales.

TikTok Shop is a hugely exciting innovation and it’s still in its infancy. For brands that really want to succeed on TikTok Shop, you have to think about your affiliate, influencer, paid, live and organic strategies – as well as your product descriptions and pricing strategies to really succeed.

Remember, on TikTok Shop the majority of purchases take place when products appear on users ‘For You’ page, so you have to give them a reason to make the purchase there and then. This is why brands are creating exclusive bundles and pricing strategies to drive purchases there and then.

At a talk, you also mentioned that to succeed on TikTok you had to go ‘all in’ on it. What did you mean by that?
Ultimately TikTok is a combination of search, e-commerce and content – this is why it’s so unique and requires – and deserves – the right level of skill and investment to succeed. The results that brands can achieve from TikTok equal, if not better, those than Google, Instagram and Amazon – but only if you really want to. The brands that are all in and really understand and respect the nuances of the platform are reaping the rewards. TikTok is still in its infancy, so any brand that commits to a TikTok strategy can absolutely win.

Finally, could you give us three TikTok accounts you think our readers should follow?
For entertainment, I’d go for Duolingo or RSPB. For design tips, I’d say Sheer Luxe – with its employee generated content. And for a good shopping experience, try Wellgard!

Huge thanks Oli!