Still known as musical.ly in 2014, the social media app conquered smartphones around the world under the new name TikTok in 2018, initially mainly among younger users. With almost one billion followers worldwide, TikTok currently occupies sixth place in the global rankings and will go down in history as the fastest-growing social media platform for the time being. Short videos paired with an algorithm that adapts to users' needs entice them to spend an often unplanned amount of time on the platform. As soon as you open the app, you are immediately part of the action. One video after another is played, providing users with entertaining and highly addictive entertainment.

The Elevator Boys conquer TikTok

Point of View: You press the elevator button, the door opens and you look into the faces of four young, attractive men. Their eyes are fixed on you, the music that was playing beforehand stops for a moment - a slow-motion moment that makes the hearts of young teenagers beat faster. This is one of the first videos with which the so-called Elevator Boys went viral on TikTok. The Elevator Boys are five German boys, Julien Brown, Bene Schulz, Jacob Rott, Luis Freitag and Tim Schaecker, who have perfected the game with the camera and thus with the audience over time. Why the boys are enjoying such success on TikTok has a lot to do with the platform itself and its features.  

 
Link to the TikTok

Duets and stitches - what makes TikTok special

The app not only allows you to record videos, but also to add music and effects to them, edit them, cut them and add filters. As on other social media channels, it is possible to like, comment on and share videos on TikTok. In addition to these interaction options, users can "duet" and "stitch" the videos of other users. A duet is created when a user records their reaction to another user's video and this is then displayed side by side in the split screen. A stitch, on the other hand, is a video excerpt that is integrated into an existing video, creating a new video. It was the latter that had a particularly strong influence on the success of the Elevator Boys. In addition to the group that sincerely cheers the boys online and celebrates their boyband-like performances, there is an equally large group that used the elevator scenes as a hook to humorously stitch the whole thing. With the help of stitching by well-known TikTokers, the boys' video also spread within communities that normally have little or no contact with them.

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Link to the TikTok

Success factors of the Elevator Boys

The success of the Elevator Boys is a good example of the saying 'any publicity is good publicity'. The video spread like wildfire on the platform, especially through the extensions of other users, and thus flushed the Elevator Boys onto all For You Pages worldwide. The For You Page is the start page on TikTok where you can see videos from creators you don't yet follow, but which is created on the basis of a person's interests. The Elevator Boys had already laid the foundations for their triumphant success individually. They were already successful as individual influencers and were each able to build up their own fan base, which increased their group success. This in turn had a positive influence on the individual careers of the Elevator Boys. On TikTok, the boys make use of the platform's own algorithm and use popular sounds that are viral on TikTok at the respective, often entertaining moment and with the help of which they remain current. The virality of a sound is the result of a chain-like reaction. For example, a user uses a sound for their content. If the combination of sound and content catches on, more and more users will use the sound and create their own content for it, which means that you will come across this sound again and again on TikTok for several days or even weeks. The Elevator Boys also jump on current viral trends, keeping their finger on the pulse of the times and on the For You Pages of TikTok users, even if they don't follow them at all. The boys also boost their presence on the platform by posting consistently. Consistency is key when it comes to making a channel sustainably large, because with the abundance of content, a creator quickly runs the risk of being forgotten if they don't show a regular presence. Due to the rapid increase in their popularity, the boys are now also able to enter into well-known collaborations and shoot TikToks with Heidi Klum or other influencers. This allows them to expand their reach even further. The five boys now live together in a villa in Los Angeles and post TikToks together on the @elevatormansion account, which already has more than 2.0 million followers.

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Link to the TikTok

What can B2B companies learn for their marketing from the success of the Elevator Boys on TikTok?

Quite a bit! Constant posting allows companies to consolidate their brand awareness in the minds of customers in the long term. That's why it's important for B2B companies to create a content plan before going on TikTok and to incorporate a high frequency and many content tests. The use of current, popular sounds and the use of the app's own functions increases the chance of a viral hit with which many people can be reached. B2Bs can access a large pool of sounds and music on TikTok that match their content and thus make it even more interesting for the audience. Collaborations with people who are known in the respective target groups of a company can also help to address them in a more targeted and specific way. As a B2B company, it therefore makes sense to get to grips with influencer marketing before the launch and research potential partners, creators and influencers. The official TikTok Creator Marketplace platform makes it easier to find suitable creators. Ultimately, it is the skillful use of TikTok's new native functionalities, the right timing and the courage to polarize that has brought the Elevator Boys such great success and from which brands can learn.