Recently, a customer of mine who had purchased a social media sign for her business asked if I could add an icon for TikTok. My immediate reaction was surprise. Yet upon further consideration, I was actually surprised I hadn’t gotten a request for an update sooner. TikTok, a social media platform that was once exclusively young people lip syncing, has seen a huge surge in businesses utilizing the platform (. . . despite consistently being on the verge of being banned in the United States for individual and national security concerns).
According to Hootsuite, “[Our] 2022 Social Trends Survey found that 24% of marketers considered TikTok effective for reaching their business goals, compared to just 3% in the previous year— a 700% increase.” Meanwhile, Facebook and Instagram have been losing traction. “Both platforms saw a significant decrease in perceived effectiveness between 2020 and 2021: Facebook fell by 25%, and Instagram by a hefty 40%,” Hootsuite reported.
TikTok’s time has come (at least for now).
Unfortunately, my research found that TikTok is extremely strict in their brand guidelines.
Below are the rules for referencing TikTok, and our Collection of Social Media Icons now includes this information (though is a little light on an actual TikTok icon; more on that below).
Brand Guidelines – https://tiktokbrandbook.com/d/HhXfjVK1Poj9/legal
- Use TikTok’s name in text ONLY to refer to their platform or services
- TikTok’s logo can only be used with prior written permission.
- You can say things like “uploaded on TikTok” or “follow us on TikTok”
- Don’t include a space between “Tik” and “Tok”.
- Both Ts in TikTok are upper case, and all other letters should be lower case.
While this wasn’t the information I was expecting, better to know than to misstep! Let us know of any questions or comments below.
Brand Building for Small Business 