The team initially set out to test & learn on the platform without initial goals for followers or engagement. We identified TikTok as an important channel for our brands early on because our audiences are similar and having watched the growth of the platform, we identified the app as a place for Kaja to gain more global brand awareness. We knew the playful nature of Kaja’s products and the affordable price points attract an audience largely between 12 and 34.
Kaja products are designed to be fun and sensorial. We launched our TikTok in March 2020 as it showcases not only our products, but our brand values and its personality in a new and fun way.
With our offices in Seoul and Shanghai we saw what Covid-19 was doing to Asia and predicted certain measures may soon be in place in the U.S. and we wanted to ensure we were prepared to meet our customers needs as they spent more time at home and more time on their phones.
When our retail partners had to close doors due to the pandemic, we also prioritized TikTok content to give viewers that sensorial experience vicariously through our short-form videos that would allow them to get to know our products better.
We have a small in-house team that leads the initiative and the content creation, and they started by experimenting with lots of different video styles from comedic skits, dance videos, and tutorials in the beginning.
But what we found resonated the most with Gen Z audiences was really highlighting the unique key features of K-beauty such as our product packaging, sensorial textures, vibrant colors, and ingredient benefits.
For example: Kaja is known for its heart shaped blush stamps/eyeshadow trio stacks, so we highlighted the packaging, payoff, and application.
A lot of our content also ties in relevant trends (like hashtags, songs, or dialogue) on TikTok but we always add our own creative flair to them and make sure we’re staying true to our brand identities.
Once we went all-in on this approach we saw the payoff and our numbers on the platform took off. We feel it’s been important to use an in-house team for content creation as they know the product better than anyone and are truly engaged with our brand fans. They create relationships with those who interact with us most and we often preview products and tease them on TikTok first as a means of thanking them for their loyalty.
2020 YTD channel growth (March 2020 to Dec 2020) Tiktok @kajabeauty followers - 3,827 to 1,471,914 (+38,435%) (The brand's initial goal was to get 500K followers by end of September 2020 - they reached this goal by May 25th of 2020 and instead reached 1.1M followers by end of September). As of the date of this award entry, the Kaja TikTok Channel has grown to 1.5M Followers and garnered 19.5M Likes. The brand has done zero paid advertising to grow their following. All growth was driven from organic content.
Kaja’s TikTok account sees 24% engagement, as measured by comments, likes, shares and reactions, versus views. And about 10% of the brands’ TikTok followers gravitate to following Kaja on Instagram.
The brand remains focused on TikTok to continue growing their community as fast as they and look to engage with them as often as they can. As the community has grown, Kaja is seeing a correlation between TikTok and the increase in their dot-com traffic and the time spent on their e-commerce sites and plan to see their TikTok growth refelected in sales soon, too.
