Why Tik Tok is the New Fave Platform for Fashion Influencers

By Lizzie Schneider

If you have not heard of the popular video app Tik Tok by now, you may just be living under a rock. The app developed by ByteDance originally launched in September of 2016 before becoming popular in early 2019. People of all ages have jumped at the chance of viral fame by posting comedic videos, dance routines, life hacks, and most recently, career advice. Tik Tok has revolutionized creator content and marketing in the fashion world and made it easier to connect with influencers and networks alike.

Making it in Manhattan‘s founder Caroline Vazzana began posting Tik Toks showing her swoon-worthy life in New York City as a fashion industry guru. Her account shows her own B-roll videos detailing the behind the scenes of fashion week, how to break into the industry, photoshoot hacks, outfit styling, favorite brands and more. She’s already garnered a following of 53.9k on the platform! It’s the perfect go-to for high school and college-age users who dream of making it in the fashion world in any given facet.

Prior to Tik Tok, the main social media avenue for growing your feed or business was Instagram which does have its merits. Unfortunately, growing an Instagram following can take a VERY long time and it typically sets unrealistic standards for an “ideal” feed, body or lifestyle that can easily be misconstrued. The secret behind Tik Tok stardom is genuine creativity, talent and behind-the-scenes videos. In Caroline’s case, her Instagram posts are professionally taken photos in trendy locations with the latest styles; however, her Tik Toks show the behind-the-scenes of those photoshoots and tips on how to achieve similar success on social media and in reality.

While the explore page algorithm on Instagram pushes a display of highly liked and commented on pictures from well-known accounts, Tik Tok’s equivalent of “explore” is the “for you” page which essentially allows anyone to be a star by pushing out videos tailored to the user’s interests — often from accounts that have fewer views. Thus, it’s perfect for vaulting someone to stardom should their video suddenly do well. The algorithm itself pushes a posted video out to a small group of people and then should it be well-received, machine learning gets involved and the video is introduced to an audience 20% bigger, and so on through multiple rounds until it becomes viral.

Tik Tok has become an outlet for both business and self-promotion in the fashion industry and can reach a much younger audience. The average Tik Tok user is between 16-24 while the average Instagram user is between 25- 34 years old. Many of those users have already established a career path while the Tik Tok demographic is for those starting out on their career journey, making the content brands and bloggers put out on that app that much more important. Small-business owners hoping to make a name for themselves can find success in a night should their promotion video blow up and influencers hoping to make a career out of living their life can be broadcast to users who may never have come across their other social medias due to a lack of interest realization.

At the most basic level, huge accounts like @style post outfit tips and makeup hacks to set the trends and pique interest regarding fashion for users of any age. For the younger set, smaller 10,000 follower and below accounts manned by fashion students in big cities like Cassidy Franco (@cassidyfranco17) are attainable windows to what could be. Online order unboxings, details of what one studies at fashion school, the application process, city life, closet showcases, fashion shows and more are enticing content to inspire those who have a serious enough base interest in the industry.

For those looking on to the many different career possibilities in fashion, creators like Patricia Wang (@pattygotnocake), a fashion buyer in New York City, Lindsay Albanese (@bylindsayalbanese) a retired celebrity fashion stylist, and Abigail Silverman (@abby.silverman) the digital creative director at Cosmopolitan create videos that show different aspects of their jobs and days in the life as well as tips for how to get similar opportunities they did that resulted in their success. These accounts with well over 10,000 followers may be less accessible but can help shed light on to what career path one may aspire to based on their specific interests.

These short, one-minute maximum videos set to catchy music with stimulating visuals seem to make dream career pathways accessible in ways they weren’t before. They give hope which is something that quarantined users certainly could use and provide a plethora of inspiration and candid relatability that is not often found within the world of social media. According to Tik Tok, anyone can be a star, and your dream career is out there for the taking.

Photo Credit: Fashionista

This post originally appeared on MakingManhattan.com. Follow them on Instagram @MakingManhattanOfficial