Foundational Research: Insights from TikTok Influencers for Brand Growth

@ NXTLVL Athletic (Startup)

The CEO aimed to grow the TikTok influencer team but faced issues with their posting consistency and promotion. I identified creative blocks through in-depth interviews and developed a tailored content tool to streamline their workflow. This boosted posting frequency, enhanced brand awareness, and drove significant sales growth.

Background & Goals

In efforts to grow awareness & sales, the CEO sought to increase the volume of brand influencers on TikTok. Challenges of posting frequency & effective promotions remained a critical issue before expansion.

With an aim to support the influencers in the ambassador program, I sought to understand the demands of their life responsibilities, their perceived benefits of the program & expectations growing with brand.

Why via interviews?

Recognizing the life responsibilities our ambassadors juggle helps us better understand their needs.

By offering guidance to enhance the ambassador program, we can drive greater sales success.

Daily Responsibilities

Benefits

Future Career

USAGE=

NEEDS

Challenges

Low UX/Marketing Research Maturity

NXTLVL as a young organization solely made decisions based on trial & error. As it expanded, mistakes became more costly & emotionally taxing.

Solution

Research Proposal

I proposed a product owner approach to leadership. This introduced a process for strategic decision making.
- e.g. "If our consumers are not using the product, then what's wrong with the product?"
  - In our case, "If our ambassador program provides creative tools, free athletic gear & commission based incentives... why aren't our ambassadors posting about the brand?"

Audience Engagement

Posting Frequency

Methodology

5 NXTLVL Athletic brand ambassadors from TikTok were selected for moderated IDI's.

5 Participants for 60 minute in-depth interviews
- 2 high sales influencers
- 2 average sales influencers
- 1 low sale influencer

Crucial Insights TLDR:

NXTLVL Ambassadors were facing creative blocks that:

Consumed too much time after a packed day
Created emotional burnout from small returns
Decreased posting frequency due to competitors

Insights In-Depth:

1. All ambassadors bulk drafts for their TikTok posts weekly. Bulking posts at the end of the day is due to bandwidth. Although this helps with their weekly schedule, its a major pain-point that takes a few hours.

2. All love their posting flexibility however there is a vicious cycle.

A) Ambassadors reference their “For you” page for their own interests & post ideas.

B) They check the group chat, CEO’s feedback & scripts to bulk drafts.

C) Consider TikTok Algorithm > Post > Asses Success

* Most were experiencing failure.

3. Finances are a must.

Majority shared a brand needs to be matching or doing better in financial success.

At the moment other brands are more successful in posting returns & pulling their attention.

Supporting Interview Quotes:

1. “Creating content, that can be a lot too because sometimes it takes a while trying to figure out ideas as I'm going.

It might take multiple retakes... it has kept me up late at night before bed.”

-Interviewee 5

2. “I thought I just sucked at making content, I wasn’t sure why it wasn’t working”

-Interviewee 4

3. "There is a sense of frustration when I'm supposed to be doing something, doing it, and there's no avail. I love this brand and I want to spread the word but only 100 people view it. It gets one like and no sale. It's frustrating...

Especially when it works for other brands I promote."

-Interviewee 3

* The creative roadblock was a priority insight of the research however several other findings were discussed at length with the team.

For additional findings, contact sergiozuxr@outlook.com.

Final Impact

Product Impact (NXTLVL Ambassador Program)

I innovated a creative tool that generates scripts for social media postings that significantly reduced hours ideating content
Ambassador emotional relief was shown through significantly increased postings, engagement, and sales

Strategic Impact

The ambassador team has doubled in size and growing due to program refinements based on research findings
I developed a ambassador health survey that will provide metrics of their satisfaction of the program experience

Stakeholder Collaboration Impact

Official marketing campaigns are now being launched on top of regular NXTLVL brand & ambassador postings

Content Ideation Time Reduced

Large Amount of Resonating Scripts Generated

Audience Engagement for Brand Awareness

Sales

My Learnings

Understand the UX/Research maturity varies in each organization. Ultimately this helps you learn new ways to communicate your assistance.

Be centered towards long-term value. Product launches may take a minute to collect metrics but keep an eye on the success trends.