TikTok to Offer Recipe/Shopping Buttons
By Sally Smithwick, RDBA E-Weekly Managing Editor
Instagram may still have a larger audience, but TikTok’s new user growth is significantly higher. With 1.8B downloads globally, the newer app received quite a boost from what seems to be pandemic circumstances. In March 2020, TikTok became the most downloaded non-game app worldwide with more than 115 million installs. To give you some perspective, Instagram has averaged only 111 million installs per quarter. While TikTok dances and hashtag challenges are a large part of the TikTok’s content, food takes center stage on the app as well. Now the platform is testing a “see full recipe” button that appears above the content creator’s username.
Last year, we witnessed the power of food trends via TikTok as quarantined users across the globe learned how to make banana bread, cloud eggs, and pancake cereal to name a few. But for some home cooks, the videos may not be enough information to nail that recipe. Partnering with the recipe app Whisk, TikTok is in the alpha stage of testing the new tool that will allow users to save recipe cards. This is great news for Retail RDs looking to expand their reach on social media.
Whisk is an app that connects users to thousands of third-party apps and sites that already use their Open Food Profile. And for users, it creates a shopping list for each recipe adding a new level of user-friendliness for trying out new dishes. And for those that create a profile on Whisk, they can organize these recipes, sorting them into “collections” if they desire. The app also offers a convenient “share” option, so recipes can easily and quickly be added to other social media sites.
What is currently most appealing about TikTok is that it’s considered easier to go viral here than on Instagram. Your 60-second videos have the opportunity to land in a user’s “For You” section, where most TikTok fans spend most of their time scrolling. You don’t have to already be a “friend” or “liked” for the user to be exposed to your content.
While the Whisk/TikTok collaboration is only currently available to some TikTok content creators that are included in the test phase, retail RDs may want to consider keeping their eyes on this new opportunity to showcase their cooking demos by preparing their profiles on Whisk, exploring the app, and creating videos. Remember, TikTok only allows for 60 seconds of video, so simplicity in presentation is key. And the great news is that if one video with a Whisk recipe button picks up some steam, that button will take users to a larger level of exposure to your content.
For more information about why TikTok is too big to ignore and how the app can be a great way of making connections to Generation Z, click here.
