One of Walmart's first TikTok posts was viewed 2.8 million times.
- McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and Old Navy all have verified accounts on TikTok.
- With 127,000 followers, Walmart is particularly active on the app.
- Posts tagging its hashtag challenges, like #DealDropDance and #SavingShuffle, have garnered billions of views on the social media platform.
- Here's how Walmart is using a thriving TikTok account to resonate with a younger set of consumers, particularly Gen Z.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Walmart joining TikTok might just be the crossover event of the century.
And yet, the almost 60-year-old retailer is surprisingly active on the social media platform that has gained explosive popularity among young people, especially Gen Z. Walmart's verified account, which posted for the first time in September, already has 127,000 followers and has garnered millions of views on its posts and hashtag campaigns.
"We are really in the test and learn phase," Walmart's US senior director of social media, Jodi Durkin, wrote in an email to Business Insider. "Someone has a good idea, we try it and see what happens."
Walmart's TikTok has already seen viral success
One of Walmart's first TikTok posts, which showed an employee poking fun at the VSCO girl trend, achieved viral fame. The post has some 2.8 million views and more than 553,000 likes.
Another huge success for Walmart's TikTok has been the company's dance-focused challenges, which are generally associated with a hashtag. Walmart's #DealDropDance and #SavingShuffle hashtags have generated 3.8 billion views and 1.7 billion views, respectively.
To Durkin and the rest of Walmart's social media team, this overwhelming response has been a pleasant surprise.
"Going into it, we knew from observing that music and dance are passion points for people on TikTok," Durkin wrote. She explained that the TikTok team focuses on featuring these elements in their posts in order to engage with customers.
The Walmart TikTok team is small
In addition to Durkin, the people behind Walmart's TikTok account are mostly millennials who represent diverse gender identities and work in the Hoboken, New Jersey, or Bentonville, Arkansas, offices.
"The team is pretty small and known for its scrappiness," Durkin wrote. As the for the people in the videos, Durkin confirmed that they are real Walmart employees, mostly from stores in the Bentonville and Hoboken areas.
"We know the people who work in our stores are beloved members of their local communities," Durkin wrote. "So whenever we can, we want these associates to be the stars of the show."
Durkin said Walmart's social media team had been studying TikTok for some time before launching the account, taking note of trends and opportunities for engagement. After the VSCO girl post went viral, the team was encouraged to keep moving forward.
"Now we are testing and learning different types of videos to see what TikTok users love," Durkin said.
Winning over Gen Z
TikTok is popular among Gen Z, a budding class of consumers that many retailers are looking to win over. With the large Gen Z audience on TikTok, it's no surprise that other brands and retailers are taking advantage of the platform to reach more shoppers.
McDonald's has a verified TikTok account with almost 20,000 followers, but no posts. Burger King, Wendy's, and Old Navy also have verified accounts with posts that have racked up thousands of views.
"Brands really showing up like your friend and being a part of the conversation is critical for building that relationship with that Gen Z shopper," Instagram Shopping's product lead, Layla Amjadi, said at Business Insider's IGNITION: Redefining Retail conference in New York City on Tuesday.
Gen Z loves to see a brand engaging with culture in real time, Amjadi said. And that real-time engagement is what TikTok is all about.
"We do have tools we use to see what things are trending on a daily basis on TikTok and the internet, and we try to work those things into the content we make," Durkin said of Walmart's posting strategy.
Perhaps most importantly, Walmart's TikTok success is helping Durkin and her team to learn more about how younger people engage with the superstore.
"What we have always loved about social is that it's a chance to engage with customers," Durkin wrote. "Our reasons for joining TikTok are the same, it unlocks news ways for us to have fun with our customers celebrating seasons and fun merchandise with them."
Sign up for Business Insider's retail newsletter, The Drive-Thru.
@walmart Wake up. Be a #VSCOgirl. Repeat 🌈🐢🥰 #Walmart
♬ original sound - walmart
@walmart When the deals are 💯, you 💃🏻🕺. #DealDropDance #Walmart #fyp
♬ Water Me - Lizzo
@burgerking Jalapeño Chicken Fries will make you jala! Join the party! Only on musical.ly. #MakeEmJala 🔥
♬ MAKE EM JALA - Michael Christmas