Just when you think the world is thoroughly saturated with a social network catering to every conceivable group, along comes Musical.ly roaring onto the scene with a simple format that appeals uniquely to Genzennials.
Think the hottest hits in music coupled with a simple method of delivering selfie lip-syncing videos that you can comment on to your community. That’s about it! It’s described as, “the world’s largest creative platform.”
Naturally, this format has attracted a brand new cadre of influencers. For example, Baby Ariel, 16, with 5.4 million fans, Jacob Sartorius, 14, with 3.5 million fans – you get the idea. The one that continues to blow me away is Jiffpom (Jiff the Pomeranian), a perfectly manicured little dog that has a massive fan-base, and can walk on hind legs and do handstands. He even co-creates content with the hottest Musical.ly stars.
The cute kids and dogs of Musical.ly have captured the hearts and minds of the 8-16 year old set. And there’s a good chance many parents have inadvertently found themselves in the background of videos as kids roam around the house shooting selfies lip-syncing and changing outfits.
There’s no question it’s fun and the kids love it, AND it’s also become a platform for commerce and marketing. When my daughter Natasha told me she wanted to buy Yeezys because she saw Jake Paul wearing them on Musical.ly and they’re soooooo cool and only $1,400… my ears perked up. I realized that there is robust marketing going on across the platform. With that in mind, here are three first steps you should be considering now…
1. How to incorporate Musicl.ly into your Gen-Z brand outreach.
2. Creative and customizable ways to incorporate your brand onto the platform. (THINK: Special edition clothing line customized for Musical.ly with the branding reversed. Normally, everything is a mirror image so names and logos all appear backward.)
3. Adding a Musical.ly influencer or two into your always-on influencer strategy.
It’s truly a dynamic environment with new youngsters finding their audience daily. When this happens, we must pay attention and find an appropriate way to enable our clients to get involved. Needless to say, Musical.ly will once again be among the hottest topics at the upcoming VidCon conference in Anaheim.
As with any influencer strategy, we ensure that our clients comply with the FTC’s guidelines on disclosure on all campaigns. Musical.ly is no different. Any questions, please contact me!
