How TikTok and Spotify could win through location-based marketing

TikTok, the video creation app, is looking to monetize its popularity, and for good reason: since its founding in 2016, TikTok has achieved one billion downloads. It was reported recently that TikTok is testing sponsored ads that direct users to advertiser’s websites. This development is not surprising because TikTok has already been doing this kind of advertising in China, where the app is known as Douyin. As TikTok seeks to grow, I think it’s worth considering whether location-based services could be part of the company’s future – a path that streaming app Spotify is exploring already. TikTok has an interesting history worth noting here. The app, owned by ByteDance, was founded first as Douyin in 2016 before launching in the United States as TikTok in 2017 and merging with popular video creation app Musical.ly. The app offers users – mostly Gen Z and millennials – a platform to create short videos of themselves lip-syncing to different songs. But it’s not just the songs that matter. TikTok is also popular because users can add all kinds of customized filters and challenge each other using hashtags. TikTok is a perfect app for a culture that values self-expression, video, and music.