How business can use Musical.ly for building brand equity

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If you have not heard of Musical.ly it is the latest social media app fad noted for amassing 80 million registered users in less than three years. The Muscial.ly app has been a top constant among the top iPhone and Android app download charts compared to other major tech platforms. From its inception in 2004, Musical.ly has gone through several rebirths with several major updates. Currently; the application allows you to create video clips up to 60 seconds long, normally with a music sound track (but not always). Additionally, a new feature also notifies you of videos in your city or locality, a very useful angle for marketing online. Most social media experts, such as; Gary Vaynerchuk, Shama Kabani, Guy Kawaski agree there is huge potential for business and marketing via the Musical.ly app.

Note: The purpose of jumping on these new platforms, such as; Snapchat, Vine, Medium etc quickly is because; one the market is there it isn’t in Newspapers and on TV anymore, It is fresh ground and the first to break it wins.

But first lets go through some Musical.ly stats quickly

Google Trends data

All good here, growth in serps is huge! top four search countries; Philippines, US, Indonesia and Australia. Yes, we are based in Australia and most of our customer base is in Australia and New Zealand. Consequently, we aren’t just re-posting, re-hashing stuff which is heavily US centric and not relevant to our customer base. This is real data from real people, executing it in the Australian market.

  • Demographics
    Female Audience 69.4% (Yep who needs ladies celeb mags). Largest age segments are 32-34yrs, with 12+% 35-54yrs.
    Male Audience is 30.6%, 3-10% 13-54yrs
  • 20 million US daily users alone (Sorry couldn’t find anything for AU/NZ, we can assume it is significant)
  • Monthly churn user rate is one of the best around.

    Let us share our take on how Musical.ly can be utilized for growth hacking your business content marketing and grow your engagement, possibly giving you the viral effect.

    Going Live on Musical.ly

    The Live broadcasting option on Musical.ly is a fantastic opportunity for real customer business engagement. It can also be a great to launch a product, at this early stage when real estate is prime for the grabbing. You can go live on Musical.ly via the Live.ly application (online available for iOS). Our suggestion is to plan a video that is displays the features/benefits of your product while being in the context of what your market likes.

    Some example:
    Awesome video from Ok Go (Here it goes again) There is little reason why something similar could not have been launched on Musical.ly. It wouldn’t even be a stretch to recreate something similar with your product or service.

    Real world, but more obvious examples of how Musical.ly can work. Celebrities and Singers like Ariana Grande, Vanessa Hudgens and Jason DeRulo are using the platform to engage with their audience and drive sales.

    Because Musical.ly does not allow you to upload videos which are longer than 60 seconds you can break up longer content and make it into mini a series. A similar trick can be used with Snapchat and Tai Lopez seemingly broadcasts his whole day via Snapchat marketing, very interesting from an insiders perceptive. When does the guy work is what I’m thinking?

    Find influences

    Some Musical.ly have become celebrities in their own right, such as; @BabyAriel (her story is especially endearing), @theylovearii, Kristen Hancher, Loren Beech, Zach Clayton and Jacob Sartorius. These Musical.ly stars have millions of followers. Yes millions!! Being able to promote your fashion brand with one of these stars could be a real game changer.

    For example: Ariel Martin aka @Babyariel …In March, she uploaded a video of her and her mom shopping for prom dresses at high-end fashion retailer Nordstrom, which has been viewed over 1.9 million [sic now 2.1 million] times(Techinsiderio, 2016). Try getting that type of engagement from TV! Would love to know the ROI.

    You would be very unlikely to get as much engagement from this demographic on any other medium, excluding Snapchat. As small business owners we don’t have to be chasing the stars you can look for the next or a mini star to suit your brand and budget.

    Participate in challenges and contests

    Musical.ly is well known for hosting many intriguing contests and challenges. Participating in such events can be an ideal strategy to win ‘hearts’ and followers. Engaging and building brand equity with your market is what is all about. Just think of how viral the Harlem Shake went and the goodwill that created when the local police and service became involved. You could create something similar, the interesting part is when a platform is new the bar to entry is much lower. That is to say, it is more a question of being there to succeed rather than creating something ground breaking.

    Make a mark with interesting content

    The Musical.ly application offers a featured feed that lists the top trending content. If you are able to get your content through to the feature list feed, you earn the opportunity to expose it to a much wider audience base. A true viral effect. This is important when it comes to gaining traction as a brand. If it isn’t happening already, I can see Coke Cola or similar create content on this medium to promote their new offering.

    [Edit 23/7/2016 It happened already]

    Secrets to getting featured:

    • Ensure that the content you create is a conglomerate of uniqueness, entertainment, innovation and a touch of branding.
    • A proven strategy to get your content up the rankings is to follow trending hashtags, find a similarity to what is topical, with respect to your; market, product, service and create videos connecting them. You can also find videos of your competitor brands and try bettering them. Even Challenging competitors could be a great strategy and if they respond in kind it can be a win win for both of you.

    Summary

    Musical.ly may not be here to stay, but the prudent business people among us can piggyback there way to success via this social media craze. Follow the masters in your niche, observe and measure their success with different types of content. Think a step ahead and on trend while planning your content marketing material so it stays on top. Using Musical.ly is more about being where the consumers in the market are and this is something that has become completely lost with the fast rise of tech. Your market really watches TV anymore, there number one go to entertainment thing is their phone in most cases. Most important with anything you read actually do it and always test and measure. Creativity often trumps budget in these emerging social landscapes and lack of budget often breeds creativity!

    If you have had success, used or like/dislike the idea of growth hacking Musical.ly for you business SEO share your comments below or on the social platform this was posted to. We really would like to hear what your thinking and we will also way respond and even may create a blog just for your question. Cheers.

    Bibliography:

    Wonderwallcom. (2016, 20 April 2016). Top stars to follow on musically. [Weblog]. Retrieved 23 July 2016, from http://www.wonderwall.com/celebrity/social-media/musically-who-to-follow-top-stars-34092.gallery

    Techinsiderio. (2016, no-date). Teens are obsessed with this lip-syncing app and its 15-year-old overnight star. [Weblog]. Retrieved 23 July 2016, from http://www.techinsider.io/who-is-baby-ariel-2016-6

    Socialmediatodaycom. (2016, 21 June 2016). Musically is Dominating the Social World of Teens. [Weblog]. Retrieved 23 July 2016, from http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-networks/musically-dominating-social-world-teens

    Yahoocom. (2016, no-date). 60 million teens are crazy about this lip-sync app. [Weblog]. Retrieved 23 July 2016, from http://finance.yahoo.com/news/musical-ly-60-million-snapchat-instagram-facebook-twitter-periscope-200300415.html

    Gottabemobilecom. (2016, no-date). Musically App: 10 Things Users Need to Know. [Weblog]. Retrieved 22 July 2016, from https://www.gottabemobile.com/2016/07/08/musical-ly-app-10-things-users-need-to-know/

    Techinsiderio. (2016, no-date). How to use Musically, the app with 80 million users that teens are obsessed with. [Weblog]. Retrieved 22 July 2016, from http://www.techinsider.io/how-to-use-musically-2016-6

    Gottabemobilecom. (2016, no-date). Josh Smith. [Weblog]. Retrieved 23 July 2016, from https://www.gottabemobile.com/2016/07/08/musical-ly-app-10-things-users-need-to-know/

    [Update 23/7/2016]

    Garyvaynerchukcom. (2016, 20 July 2016). Why Millions of Tweens Are Using Musically… And Why It Matters. [Weblog]. Retrieved 23 July 2016, from https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/millions-of-tweens-using-musically-app/