Among the many decisions digital marketers face, one of the most crucial is how to leverage a social media platform to achieve measurable results and create deeper brand connections. Considerable dollars and time have been spent to essentially break the will of these social channels to the benefit of the marketer. All of this takes place while social channels are on their own ongoing quests to stay ahead of the consumer.
TikTok presents a unique case in this arena, as its leadership has strong beliefs about how the platform meets this challenge. With recent talks of a potential government-mandated sale of TikTok, a particularly intense debate has emerged: how might this affect its millions of users, and more importantly for us, how should marketers approach the platform during this uncertain time?
At one point during talks, TikTok's leadership declared that even if they were forced to sell the platform to an American company, they would retain the proprietary algorithm that has undoubtedly helped make the platform so successful. This brings to the forefront a question every digital marketer should be wrestling with: which is more important, the platform or the algorithm?
The Platform: The Stage for Your Content
The platform is the user's home base. It’s more than where content and user interface come together to convince users to spend a portion of their day scrolling. It's the stage – the proverbial market square where everything unfolds. It’s the coffee shop with an intriguing, inviting sign out front aiming to draw people in and give them nice, comfortable couches to sit on. Each platform, be it TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, or some other, comes with its own set of tools, audience demographics and cultural nuances. A platform's user interface and unique features create the framework for building and consuming content. For instance, TikTok's intuitive design, streamlined video sharing and interactive capabilities have made it a juggernaut among younger audiences.
The Algorithm: The Invisible Hand
On the flip side of the coin, we have the algorithm: the invisible hand dictating who sees which content and when. A good algorithm can make it impossible to put your phone down, and platforms are constantly making tweaks and changes based on their data to keep the audience’s thumbs scrolling. A bad one, however, can drive away an audience and give advertisers pause (cough, cough, Twitter/X) by putting undesirable content in users' feeds and next to advertisers' posts. The debate around algorithms is not new; in 2021, the Washington Post did a deep dive into the algorithms and why they're so important. But as the article points out, trying to nail down specifics on the algorithm is difficult by design, as the results are meant to differ for every user.
TikTok's algorithm has been praised for its ability to serve up addictively relevant, hyper-curated content. Throughout an average TikTok user's first 120 days on the app, their use time increases, while engagement over the same period on apps like Instagram tends to decrease. TikTok’s machine learning enables the delivery of a personalized feed that maximizes engagement and keeps its users glued to the app. This algorithmic tailoring has transformed how brands think about reach and engagement, pushing many to favor these newer, "smarter" platforms over older ones where organic reach has dwindled.
Debating Value: Platform vs. Algorithm
TikTok purchased Music.ly in 2017 as a part of its global expansion when it had less than 100 million users, mainly in China. At the time, Music.ly had attracted over 200 million users with its slick interface, which made it easy for creators and consumers alike to fall in love with the app. However, it was only when Music.ly's interface and app were combined with TikTok's targeting algorithm that its user base started to explode. Would TikTok's sophisticated algorithm have been as successful if it had not merged with Music.ly's engaging platform? Would it still manage to keep users engaged?
This hypothetical underscores a crucial point: the platform and the algorithm are interdependent, yet their success is not merely about functionality or technological prowess; it hinges on the audience's reaction. For instance, even with the best algorithm, engagement will drop if a platform doesn't resonate with or adapt to its users' evolving interests and behaviors. A platform's attractiveness isn't just about sleek design or user-friendly features; it’s also about how well its algorithm delivers content that feels personalized and relevant.
The True North: The Audience
Ultimately, the most crucial master to serve is the audience. A platform could have the best algorithm, but without an engaging platform that builds a community, it would only be able to serve content to bots and ghost accounts. The audience's preferences, habits and community interactions dictate the success of both platforms and algorithms. In 2012, the organic reach on Facebook was 16%; by 2022, Facebook had throttled it so severely that it was less than 2%. Not surprisingly, this drop in serving content from accounts that the audience followed coincided with a significant drop in platform use by U.S. teens, from 71% in 2014 to 32% by 2023. However, if you are not creating content that has meaning and value to your desired audience, then you are not best serving them, and your numbers will reflect that. Thus, while the platform and algorithm are foundational, they are conduits to engage an audience whose allegiance is earned through consistently delivering value and relevance.
Conclusion: Audience Is King
If marketing is part science and part art, where should marketers come down on the debate between the importance of the platform and the algorithm? The truth is neither and both. The audience should be the paramount focus. Is the platform something the audience is drawn to and makes part of their digital lives? Does the algorithm serve them in a way that keeps them engaged but also leaves opportunities for messaging? The lesson for marketers is to know their audience deeply, respect their preferences and always place them at the center of any digital strategy.
Want to know more about what these insights mean for your organization’s social media strategy?