TikTok is known for its dance challenges, but a recent dance to a song from pop star Lizzo has everyone showing off their moves. The TikTok craze gave Lizzo’s song a boost on the Billboard charts and gave her brand a lift in the BrandGraph 500.
See how Lizzo’s song has elevated her brand and how businesses are using these types of challenges to connect with customers.
The rundown on Lizzo’s song and dance challenge
Lizzo recently released a song, “About Damn Time,” ahead of the album’s debut in mid July. The catchy tune has climbed to the top of the Billboard chart, thanks in part to the TikTok duet train spawned from the song’s dance moves.
The trend all started when a young dancer Jaeden Gomez choreographed some moves to the second verse of Lizzo’s song and tagged the icon in a TikTok. Lizzo praised the dancer and has since showcased the moves several times, including in the bathroom at the Met Gala.
@lizzo Y’all ready for met gala tea?
♬ About Damn Time - Lizzo
The dance has become a viral hit, with hundreds of people rocking the dance moves on TikTok. Lizzo has leveraged the dance, too, sharing compilations with her TikTok followers and even breaking the steps down to show others. The singer also comments on user videos to the song.
@lizzo I love u TikTok! TAG ME IN UR VIDEOS CUS I SEE UUUUUU 👀👀👀👀👀👀🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 dc @jaedengomezz
♬ About Damn Time - Lizzo
Lizzo’s brand climbs the BrandGraph 500
The TikTok sensation has translated into chart-climbing success for the singer’s brand, too.
BrandGraph, our social media analysis platform, ranks the top 500 most-talked about brands each month in the BrandGraph 500. In May, Lizzo’s spot on the graph climbed a dramatic 161 points, landing in the 96th spot.
When you drill down into more specific metrics, Lizzo has the highest content rank of all the entertainers on the BrandGraph. There’s a lot of buzz around the Detroit native, which is statistically evident in BrandGraph’s share of voice.
Over the past year, Lizzo’s share of voice was below average until the TikTok challenge took off in April and May. Her share of voice went from 3% in March to 17% in May.
Our BrandGraph statistics show an astounding 243,000 organic videos are connected to the singer on social.
Brands using dance challenges on TikTok
Usually, brands are quick to jump on TikTok challenges like this to cash in on the added exposure. While we haven’t seen any brands mimic Lizzo’s dance yet, likely because of copyright issues or use of an expletive, many company TikTok accounts are engaging with users’ videos.
Some brands comment on Lizzo’s own videos to the song:
Other brands comment on the original dancers’ videos or the videos of other TikTok users, including the choreographer’s own mom.
Other #dancechallenges have taken off. Here’s a look at three dance-inspired TikTok campaigns:
Fortnite
The mega gaming brand is fairly new to TikTok but made a splash on its debut in 2020. It asked TikTok users to create and share a short dance routine that could be turned into a Fortnite emote. (For non-gamers, an emote is a set of moves an avatar can do in the game). Two winners were selected, but the campaign saw thousands of submissions and 578 million views.
Take a look at one of the winners. The submitted dance moves are on one side and the Fortnite emote is on the other.
@poki i can’t believe i’m saying this but i have my own @Fortnite Emote! 🤯🥳 you can get one too by entering a dance with #EmoteRoyalecontest #EpicPartner
♬ original sound - Pokimane
Bliss
Skin-care company Bliss asked its TikTok audience to post a “Blissful Dance” meant to cast out self-doubt. The dance complemented the purpose of the company’s clarifying toner: a product aimed at increasing self confidence and natural beauty.
The branded hashtag #ThisIsBliss was a hit for the brand, as TikToks like this one from @Larrayeeee stole the social stage:
@larrayeeee And that’s on being confident in your own skin #ThisIsBliss @bliss #ClearGenius #ad
♬ This is Bliss - Bliss (feat. Mel Senese)
Boohoo
A clothing brand that caters to the millennials, Boohoo recently created its own music track for fans. The lyrics say, “It’s from Boohoo, baby,” so there’s branding built right into the song. Customers flocked to the #itsfromboohoo challenge. Lauren Kettering, for example, made and shared this dance with the branded hashtag.
@laurenkettering #itsfromboohoo BABY. Head to @boohoo to learn the dance & show me your moves #ad
♬ itsfromboohoo - boohoo
Has your brand tried a dance challenge? They can be an effective way to reach customers and give brand awareness a boost. BrandGraph can track the success of your dance challenge and even help you compare your benchmarks to competitors.
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