After Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, Quebec media are investing in the TikTok social network to reach the younger generations, an audience that escapes them. But in the ballet of dance and cooking videos recommended by one of the most advanced algorithms, the slope is steep to make your place.
“The question was: how to set foot in this ecosystem and be relevant? We said to ourselves: if we want to position ourselves, let’s assign someone to that. […] We didn’t want to do it halfway, ”explains the general manager of Noovo Info, Jean-Philippe Pineault.
Bell Media’s information service recently hired a journalist whose mandate is to create information content specifically for TikTok, on subjects as varied as the crisis in Ukraine, the deconfinement schedule in Quebec or the Spotify saga.
“We are experimenting. We develop formats, we see what works or not, the work time involved, underlines Mr. Pineault. It’s already working much better than what we had at the start. “Active on TikTok since April 2021 – to monitor trends there and test formats that have had mixed success – Noovo Info currently has some 1,350 subscribers.
Other media have also launched on TikTok in the past year. It must be said that the social network now has more than a billion active users. It has even become the most downloaded mobile application in the world since 2020. Enough to convince journalists and press bosses to make it their new playground.
Whether it be The duty, 24 hoursRadio-Canada, Noovo Info or even Subway, all the media consulted confirm that they want to attract a younger audience, which they can no longer reach with traditional information channels. It is also a question of combating misinformation. “It’s important for the media to occupy this space with rigorous information — factual, verified, credible — but created in a format that will interest young people,” says Jean-Philippe Pineault.
Everyone has their own strategy
It is still necessary to capture the attention of Generation Z, in one minute, to fall into the good graces of the algorithm. “The challenge is discoverability. How will people find the account, follow it? […] TikTok does not allow any monetization of content, which makes it more difficult to gain visibility, “said Christophe Cluzel, first director of engagement marketing for Radio-Canada.
Everyone is therefore feeling their way to develop their strategy by testing different formats, subjects and tones, in the hope of finding the magic recipe.
“We cannot follow the same codes as those of other social networks on TikTok. […] Me, I deliver information in a fast, direct and accessible way […] with a familiar tone. As if I were telling a new story to a friend, ”argues the head of political and social content at the 24 hours, Camille Dauphinais-Pelletier. She produces the majority of the media’s TikTok videos, which has around 3,750 subscribers.
The issue is discoverability. How will people find the account, follow it? […] TikTok does not allow any monetization of content, which makes it more difficult to gain visibility.
By dint of experimenting, a format has stood out from the lot with their subscribers. “When I talk about a piece of news that has been published, with the article in the background, it generates a lot of reactions. Another winning format: when she answers questions from users on video. Lately, fellow videographers have joined in with new formats.
The newspaper Subway (7260 subscribers), we are also betting on several faces, even if we do not rule out one day assigning a single journalist to it. “We are still exploring, so that could change,” says deputy information director Lili Boisvert. We like this idea of highlighting several people from the newsroom, journalists and columnists, ”continues the one who also lends itself to the game.
Compared to its competitors, Subway is betting not to lock itself into one style and offers a variety of formats: explanatory videos, appeals to listeners, short field reports, humorous stagings.
On the account of Homework (450 subscribers), we mainly find excerpts from video reports available in full on the website. “We made inroads with reports that we found more promising for the platform. […] It is in our video strategy, this year, to explore and invest in TikTok”, explains the director of information, Florent Daudens.
At Noovo Info, we have tried to recycle content intended for television, Facebook or Instagram, but without success. Hence the decision to dedicate a full-time employee to it. We are now relying on explanatory videos with a few jokes.
Rad, Radio-Canada’s journalism laboratory, has just entered the arena. “We are working on a format of short videos where we explain news. But we don’t want to limit ourselves to TikTok, we can also publish them on Instagram and YouTube Shorts ”, reveals the editor-in-chief, Johanne Lapierre.
One thing is certain, after several months of use, all the media consulted say they are still in the exploratory phase. “With TikTok, the handle to take is less obvious at first. The formats are brief, the social network is in constant turmoil, there are challenges and emerging trends. It’s not so obvious as a medium to fit in there,” notes Florent Daudens, from Homework.
A look at the side of the American or European media – which have invested a lot in the social network since 2019 – should encourage the media here to persevere. In the United States, daily newspapers The Washington Post and USA Today and the ABC News television network have already surpassed one million subscribers. Same thing for digital media Raw in France, while The world has half a million subscribers.
Should all news media be on TikTok though? “Is it inevitable? I do not know. But for a media that tries to give access to information to as many people as possible, it has become essential to at least try it, ”said Johanne Lapierre, from Rad.