What marketers can learn from Lizzo
Have you, like us, found yourself with a little ditty about corn stuck in your head? I’m of course talking about 7-year-old Tariq, aka “Corn Kid.” He first went viral for his Recess Therapy interview where he waxed poetic about his love of corn and captured the internet's heart. The wholesome video quickly went viral and inspired schmoyoho to “songify” it into a remix. The earworm has over 893K videos on TikTok and Tariq has been named Corn-bassador of South Dakota.
That’s just what TikTok was able to do for a 7-year-old with a wholesome love of corn, imagine what it can do with a team of expert marketers and a full-fledged (and full-grown) star. Within the music industry, there’s growing pressure for artists to promote their music to virality on TikTok. Spurred by the success of viral artists-turned-grammy-winners like Lil Nas X and Olivia Rodrigo, the industry sees TikTok as a hit-making goldmine leaving users to sift through the silt. Ideally, virality allows the best to rise to the top. But with artists like Lil Huddy and Young Gravy relying on TikTok and publicity stunts more than viral dance trends, it calls into question just how viable TikTok is to launch or assist serious music careers.
While some artists have bemoaned the pressure to create on the clock app, (Halsey, et al) others have taken to it like Gen Zs. Queen among them is Lizzo. With over 25 Million followers on the app, she’s used her platform to build hype for her recently launched album, “Special” and elevate hits like About Damn Time to the top of the charts.
The recording artist not only has tons of followers on the platform, she constantly posts. From getting in on TikTok trends to sharing fits featuring her shapewear brand Yitty, and of course her hot takes, Lizzo seems to have her TikTok strategy down pat. I wanted to unpack exactly how Lizzo approaches TikTok to stand apart from other artists on the platform.
WHAT I DID
I’ve long followed Lizzo (and even attempted to learn a dance to one of her songs… keyword attempted) and have taken notes on ways she’s strategically using TikTok to market both herself, her Yitty shapewear brand, and her creative projects. I wanted to take my analysis a step further and unpack exactly what Lizzo’s TikTok “formula” is.
For my analysis, I watched 50 of her TikToks posted over the two-week period she released a video for her single, “To Be Loved,” went on vacation, dropped new Yitty products, performed at the VMAs, and took her fans along for all of it.
WHAT I FOUND
Only half of her posts used her own music (with the majority being her latest single “2 Be Loved”)
2 in 5 posts prominently feature her Yitty line in some way shape or form.
She’s very transparent, the majority (80%) of her posts that feature Yitty are clearly a pitch for her brand. She’s not hiding that and tries to make them fun.
Interestingly, Lizzo seems to avoid using both her own music AND pitching Yitty in the same video, striking the perfect balance to avoid fatigue from her followers
2 in 5 posts were TikTok trends (popular sounds, trending formats, fun transitions, etc.)
About a third of the posts take an unserious, goofy tone not unlike what Gen Z calls “shit posts”
WHY IT WORKS
Lizzo is leaning into culture’s embrace of “feel good” content (see: Ted Lasso, Abbot Elementary, etc.). In fact, Corn Kid and Lizzo have in common that they are wholesome and authentic. Because of this, they’re–mostly–immune from haters. I mean, if you’re taking issue with someone just trying to spread positivity, you will get ratioed.
Unlike artists who seem forced to be on TikTok, Lizzo appears to genuinely have just as much fun being a TikTok viewer as a TikTok star. This validates Gen Z culture by treating it as valid and worthy of mainstream attention. Perhaps nothing represents this better than her ongoing commentary of observations about the culture of TikTok.
She’s making the algorithm work for her. By giving the algorithm (and her fans) a mix of content, some pushing her music, some selling her shapewear and some just for fun, she’s balancing strategic and fun content 2 to 1.
TAKEAWAYS FOR MARKETERS
Play by the platform's rules. On TikTok that means fun first, sell second. More than any other platform, think of each individual TikTok post as a building block of a larger more complete picture with just enough to keep them wanting more rather than a total advertisement for your brand/page.
Act like a peer. One of the ways Lizzo validated Gen Z culture and creators is through consistent shoutouts to creators with fewer followers.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. While many artists are tempted to approach the app differently because they’re already established, Lizzo proudly embraces the app like a regular creator. This unpretentious approach is endearing to TikTok users.