The rise of TikTok Launched By Zhang Yiming
Zhang Yiming is one of the most respected technology entrepreneurs in China, and he founded the Chinese video-sharing social network TikTok in September 2016. Developers of the popular app made the goal of TikTok to bring the world’s attention to young generations’ creativity, and eventually accumulated an impressive 800 million monthly active users by 2018. How did Yiming manage to achieve such an incredible success as Creator and CEO of a small-scale app?
Early Years and Education of Yiming
Yiming was born in 1979 in Yangzhou and grew up in a modest household. He was very intrigued by computers and the internet, and studied computer science in college. Those early years of his life set the tone for his relentless determination and ambition to become a successful entrepreneur. After graduating from East China Normal University with a degree in computer science, Yiming started to look for an excellent opportunity to pursue his dream.
Strategy & Vision
Yiming had a clear vision for the app: to create an easy-to-use mobile video platform that would engage users with short-form video content. By focusing on content creation and sharing, Yiming believed that the app could greatly appeal to each user’s networks he or she belongs to. Yiming also designed an automated recommendation algorithm to suggest videos that would bring up their attention.
Noise-canceling technology was also incorporated into the platform as to eliminate background noise and offset shaky videos. Yiming had the thought that by making edutainment and dance videos more accessible, he could increase users’ engagement more quickly.
Rapid Expansion
Since its launch, TikTok has experienced an astonishing growth rate and surpassed Instagram as the number one downloaded app in the United States. In October 2018, Yiming and his team made priceless acquisitions of musical.ly and Flipagram to extend their reach and connect to the key targets of people aged 16 to 24 who increasingly drove the music industry. With those acquisitions and the implementation of strategic features, Yiming managed to make a great leap forward.
In Beijing, the city where the headquarters is located, Yiming was able to lead the wide range of partnerships with music partners and studios that eventually contributed to the development of the platform. After four years, the size of TikTok’s influence is larger than ever before. Yiming’s leadership has brought the company to the top of the list of world’s most valuable private companies, valued at over $75 billion.
Marketing Strategies & Government Relations
Yiming and his team put great emphasis on building an experience for their users by incorporating personalization and careful selection of content. As other emerging and evolving companies, TikTok has also been active in doing public service and building relationships with key opinion leaders or groups in order to increase awareness among users. TikTok also signed nearly two dozen partnership reports with China-centric firms and online broadcasters to grow as a worldwide platform.
In December 2017, Yiming also announced the establishment of a government relations team to manage the company’s communication with governmental and regulatory agencies. By doing so, he ensured the compliance of his platform with stringent regulations and strict locality laws enforced in China and other countries.
The Social Impacts of Yiming’s Success
Yiming’s success story reflects optimism and ambition in the guise of technology. Popularity comes with its own burden but Yiming managed to stay afloat throughout all assaults and criticism. His success drives many young entrepreneurs to strive for excellence and achieve their goals as well. In addition, thousands of aspiring content creators have seen the app as an opportunity for them to make their voices heard, receive recognition, and ignite their dreams. All the platforms that were part of the rise of the app are both a tribute and celebration of the power of the youth-driven world.
The Merger of ByteDance & TikTok
TikTok was acquired in 2017 by the Chinese tech giant ByteDance, an artificial-intelligence-powered Chinese news aggregation platform as well. The merger created a powerful combination which perfectly fitted Yiming’s vision. In recent years, ByteDance has poured money and resources into content acquisition and distribution, in pursuit of greater autonomy and global recognition. This strategy has enabled it to gain a large audience in both China and in the US. With Zhang Yiming at the helm of the company, it is no surprise that the company has come so far in such a short period of time.
Diversifying the Platform’s Reaches
Yiming consistently displays his commitment to continued diversification of content and to attract new users as well. Most recently, he released a new version of TikTok, called ‘Douyin’, targeting at the Chinese market. He believes that ‘Douyin’ will give a fresh experience to existing Chinese users of TikTok and to newcomers. This strategy reflects Yiming’s success in adapting to the rapidly changing technologies and trends. Yiming is smarter than ever in implementing new tactics to keep users entertained and build a strong community around his platform.
Continued Support of users
TikTok has also been continuously supporting its users in the form of various awards. Users will submit videos and have a chance to win the award and become an official content creator. Every time such an award is given, TikTok creates a special hashtag, allowing all candidates to reach a wider audience and receive support from famous TikTok stars. Yiming always sought to lead his platform with ambitious and innovative ideas. He encourages all users to share their creativity and create content, which is the core of the app’s success.
A Revolutionary App
It is no exaggeration to say that Zhang Yiming created an entirely new market with the increasing popularity of TikTok. As a carefully crafted platform, the app comes with a variety of features that entice users to create, edit, and share videos in an easily user-friendly and efficient way. Moreover, its massive exposure helped to form a powerful and influential online community powered by the users. All of these aspects make it easier for Yiming to reach the target market and eventually achieve a remarkable milestone.
