A TECHNOLOGY firm based near York is helping big brands navigate the fast-changing world of TikTok.

Shooglebox works with companies including Asda and BT, and will be sharing insights into how to work with TikTok, the online platform that’s been growing at an explosive rate in the UK and around the world, at a special event at the Leeds Digital Festival this week.

The festival, which runs until September 30, is bringing together some of the leading players in the city’s dynamic digital sector for a series of events to discuss hot topics and share expertise and ideas.

TikTok is one of the big talking points at the festival as marketing and PR teams increasingly turn their attention to addressing the size and phenomenal growth of its audience.

Shooglebox has developed a range of tools and techniques that brands and their agencies are using to keep on top of all the fast-changing new trends on TikTok as they emerge each day – a task that’s made difficult by the way the platform recommends and delivers radically different content to different audiences.

TikTok has more than one billion users worldwide, most spending more time on TikTok than any other online platform. And the reason so many organisations are taking notice is not just because of the entertainment appeal of viral videos like the Corn Kid or fun dance trends being copied by millions. TikTok research found 78% of Gen Z users say they discover new brands and products on the platform. And its popularity is not confined to younger demographics – a third of people on TikTok are aged over 40.

But as businesses look to invest more in addressing the fast-growing TikTok audience, they face one major challenge: how to quickly spot what’s getting different audiences excited on a platform where everyone’s experience is – by design – very different. It’s why Shooglebox is hosting a panel discussion, Embracing TikTok as a marketing channel requires a different mindset, on Tuesday, September 27 at the Dakota Hotel in Leeds.

Tony Cuthbertson, from Shooglebox, says brands are starting to realise that TikTok isn’t like the social networks they’ve become adept at using to reach and interact with people.

He said: “TikTok as an entertainment platform has a very different algorithm to social media platforms. Everyone is seeing completely different content to everyone else based on TikTok’s recommendation. That creates a particular challenge if you're in a marketing or PR team expected to have a wider perspective and be on the front foot understanding and responding to the latest trends. On top of this, the speed at which trends play out on TikTok is fast and brands can’t rely on metrics-based tools, which are often too slow to surface the things people are starting to respond to.”

The Leeds Digital Festival panel discussion will explore some of the ways marketing and PR teams – and anyone else trying to get their heads round emerging TikTok trends – can be faster off the mark in spotting what’s bubbling up.

As part of it, the Shooglebox team will share some of the techniques and tools organisations are using to assemble diverse teams of “spotters” to quickly identify, share and understand things that would otherwise be missed.

They include collaborative tools for spotting, gathering and analysing TikTok and social media content, and a new service called Buzz that shows at-a-glance some of the latest things that are starting to drive interaction, conversation and sharing among different audiences.