NEW TikTok Story Selection Feature for Boosting Engagement (HoM)

Ready to learn about an exciting new feature that will help advertisers majorly boost audience engagement on TikTok? Staying updated on TikTok’s new feature releases helps you remain on top of the game. It enables you to engage prospects much better because TikTok wants to reward those who make the most of their latest features. Moreover,  it allows TikTok creators to create more dynamic content and improve your creative output. What is in place for you from TikTok this time round? TikTok is releasing a new Story Selection Feature. The feature is currently in beta and will fully launch in August.

A TikTok/ByteDance employee announced the news to our team at House of Marketers, “I’m very excited to announce a brand new ‘Story Selection’ alpha.”  The new feature will see viewers take more control of what they see and how they want to see it on TikTok.

What is the TikTok Story Selection Feature?

The TikTok story selection feature allows creators and influencers to upload interactive stories that lead to two different scenarios (similar to an interactive storyline within a game). The viewer of the story will be presented with stories that have two options to choose between. By tapping/clicking “clickable characters or moments”, the user will experience one of two potential endings in the rest of the story. TikTok reports that one great thing about this feature is that it allows your viewers to have control and take part in a story. Allowing the viewer to choose the storyline route gives the viewer more power and freedom of choice on how they want to receive content.

How the TikTok Story Selection Feature Works

The TikTok selection feature works more like an online ad that allows brands and TikTok creators to communicate with customers, prospects, or fans in more personalised and customised ways.

“This add-on provides users with two different storylines to choose from, through clickable characters or moments. Each option reveals a different story version, allowing your audience to be in the driver’s seat and shape how the story will unfold.”

Who has access to the new TikTok Story Selection Feature?

In a statement provided to the House of Marketers, TikTok mentioned that the feature is currently being tested and piloted. So, it is only available to a few selected users on a special allow list. The feature will be available to all TikTok users on request as from August 1st, the statement partly reads.

What is the supported ad type for the new TikTok Story Selection Feature?

The new feature supports the reach and frequency of ad formats. Which means that:

• With this format, brands and creators are able to book this in their campaign in advance.
• The ad format lets creators and marketers predict how their campaigns will unfold before launch.
• It allows brands and TikTok creators to determine who to target, where to target (the demographic)
• The ad format allows creators to understand who they have reached and how many times their post has been viewed

When will the TikTok Story Selection Feature be available for users?

As noted above, the feature is currently being tested and is only available to a few people. However, after August 1st, it will be available on a five working day request.

What is the set’s mode for the new TikTok Story Selection Feature?

The setup mode will be an offline manual setup. This means that you can create campaigns offline before launching them online.

TikTok Stories and the New TikTok Selection Story Feature

The launch of the new feature follows the success of the TikTok story feature in driving engagements on the platform. Initially, the story feature went into testing in Summer 2021, then TikTok fully launched it in March of this year.

Like typical social media stories, TikTok’s stories are short videos appearing on a user’s feed and disappearing after 24 hours of posting. Viewers access TikTok stories by tapping a user’s profile picture. When a creator posts a story, their profile picture gets encircled by a blue light indicating story availability. The launch of the TikTok story selection feature follows massive successes for the TikTok story feature in driving viewer engagements. The TikTok selection feature brings new life to the social media stories we know.

@jeffcouretmarketing

How to post stories to TikTok #tiktokstories #tutorial #stories

♬ original sound – Jeff Couret Marketing

 

You might be wondering whether this new launch will make TikTok more applicable for your campaigns. If you love TikTok for its non-ephemeral nature, you could be wondering what the new feature adds to your channel or brand. The new story selection feature deviates from the traditional social media story as we know them. It is a new game changer bringing on board unique aspects to social media stories like we have never known them before. To help you determine whether the new feature will make a difference in your online campaigns, we highlight its benefits and explain why TikTok is launching the feature.

Here is a detailed breakdown of why the new feature is great for brands:

Why the TikTok Story Selection Feature is Great for Brands (Engagement Benefits)

• Learn the preferences and mindset of your audience

By giving audiences the ability to choose how a story ends, alike a survey, you get a deeper insight into the mindset, preferences and interests of your direct TikTok audience, or the audience of the influencers you are working with.

• The new feature allows you to tell your story from more than one perspective

All brands want to tell their story in the most appealing ways that draw the audience’s attention, engage prospects, and convert them into leads. The new alpha feature will make it possible for brands to retell their stories in more ways, which will appeal to a diverse audience.

• TikTok Story Selection Feature is an ideal strategy for highlighting milestones or upcoming events

Unlike in TikTok’s primary feeds, the story section feature allows brands to highlight critical issues that are the top priority.

• The TikTok Feature enhances the connection between the brand and consumer

Research shows that prospects are more likely to connect with brands if they feel personally connected. Consequently, by allowing your audience to choose how a given story unfolds and ends, the new feature enables brands to connect with prospects at a more personalised level. Furthermore, it allows marketers and content creators to explore various backgrounds, styles, and approaches without necessarily forgoing the critical message.

• The new TikTok Story Selection Feature will allow brands to interact with their audiences, more effectively

Unlike typical social media posts where brands rely on likes, comments, and feedback to measure post engagements, the new TikTok Story Selection Feature brings on board more interactivity. According to a statement by TikTok, the new feature ‘goes beyond just promoting information or selling a product’ on TikTok. In brief, the new feature will be entertaining. Moreover, it will give viewers more options to interact with the post at various interactive hotspots depending on the user’s selected option.

• The TikTok Story Selection Feature is a gateway for instant feedback for new products and services

The new feature gives content creators and marketers an option to retell their stories in different versions.  While doing so, it also allows viewers to choose from the available option that works for them. So, from the start, even before launching a new product or service, the TikTok Story Selection Feature can help brands do some research, see what works for their audience, and even go ahead and ask for honest feedback from their audiences.

• The Selection Feature will make people turn, stand and listen

Arguably, listening to stories is more interesting than studying charts and progress graphs. Storytelling is always an effective way to create an impactful campaign. Of course, it is even more enjoyable when you have a variety of stories to listen to. The new feature allows you to strike a chord with your audience. As well, it gives your brand a chance to conveniently maneuver around consumer needs with different storylines. It is solely upon the viewer to choose to form the various storylines. They can select the other storyline if the current one does look appealing, in the end, this translates to a win for the business.

The new ad format will be ideal for predicting campaign reach and frequency, it will also be suitable for predicting the attainment of engagement objectives

Conclusion

TikTok creators and marketers will now be able to retell their stories in ways that have not been explored before. With the new TikTok feature, the user will have an option to choose how TikTok stories unfold and end. By all means, TikTok aims to make its story feature more engaging and creative and to elicit maximum impact on the audience. This article explains how the part will work and why it is an excellent innovation for brands. At the House of marketers, we look forward to the final release of this feature. We hope it diversify tiktok marketing and  push it to new heights.

In other news, you can learn how to boost app downloads / installs in 2022  with TikTok, here. You can also learn about how to convert Generation Z more effectively, here.