Unveiling TikTok’s Impact: Exploring Its Influence on Digital Marketing Success
Bio
My Name is Erica McInnis. I am in my fourth year at Toronto Metropolitan University, majoring in Professional Communication with a minor in Fashion. As a Communications major, I have gained proficiency in verbal and written communication while learning the essential skill sets to articulate ideas convincingly and clearly across diverse professional environments for effective interaction. Studying Professional Communications has fostered my critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, enabling me to achieve communication objectives in both academic and real-world scenarios. With a passion for digital creation, fashion, and leveraging professional communication, completing my undergraduate degree fills me with immense gratitude. I am more than excited to begin a new chapter and pursue my passion in my future profession.
Research Summary
My capstone research employed a multimodality study to examine TikTok’s impact on the success of digital marketing. While TikTok is known as a platform for short-form videos and creative content, I delved deeper to understand why it’s become a primary marketing tool for companies, exploring its logistics and effectiveness for campaigns, projects, and brand awareness initiatives. I chose to center my research on this subject due to the pervasive presence of digital marketing in my daily experiences, fostering a deep-rooted passion for understanding its intricacies beyond surface impressions. My researched examined a multimodal content analysis, where I was able to identify content and differentiate between sponsored material, brand collaborations, and authentic endorsements. Three main categories were included in my analysis: articles were analyzed using statistical techniques to extract trustworthy insights; user comments were studied to clarify the relationship between engagement and opposing viewpoints; and TikTok short videos were examined through the frames, settings, and music to determine the impact on customer loyalty and purchasing decisions. The culmination of my research project revealed the pivotal elements contributing to effective digital marketing strategies and their capacity to sway purchasing behavior among TikTok users. These findings encompassed Authenticity and User-Generated Content, Shoppable features, and Brand Building and Storytelling. Overall, TikTok’s unique features and cultural influence can significantly impact customer loyalty and purchase decisions by enabling brands to engage authentically, tap into trends, facilitate seamless shopping experiences, and build meaningful connections with their audience.
