Stanley Cups, CharliThe apple dance of Duolingo, the “unbalanced” green owl mascotand being “very wise, very attentive.”
Some things are just synonym of TikTokincluding brands that have used the platform to propel themselves into the stratosphere via paid and native content.
Starting January 19, TikTok will be banned in the United States after the Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch attempt by its Chinese owner, ByteDance. As America contemplates a future without a For You Page (FYP), TikTok darlings are figuring out how to fill the void in their social strategies.
Among them is Duolingo. Over the past three years, the language learning app has used TikTok to build a fan base dedicated to Generation Z. At the center of this strategy is its owl mascot, Duo, a true icon of the generation Z who ruffles the feathers of 14.5 million followers.
The character rose to fame by interacting with audio trends and memes on the platform. See: introduce yourself to Charli XCX and Troye Sivan’s Sweat Tour and tirelessly trying to capture Attention Dua Lipa.
Days before the ban, Manu Orssaud, Duolingo’s chief marketing officer, told ADWEEK that the brand was still posting organic content on TikTok in the United States, but was not buying ads there. “However, we rarely make an ‘ongoing’ spend on a social platform, preferring instead to focus on creating content that resonates with our audience,” he explained.
Orssaud described TikTok as having been a “critical platform” in helping Duolingo connect with people through entertaining and relevant content, but noted that the brand had intentionally diversified its efforts into Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.
Where spending is changing
Duolingo isn’t the only one shifting its spending.
Melissa Sierra, vice president of media integration at independent media agency USIM, which works with brands including Crunch Fitness and Buffalo Wild Wings, said in the hours before the ban that about “half, and in some cases, more” of customers’ TikTok spend was funneled into YouTube Shorts.
“YouTube Shorts has become a major player in the short form space in a short period of time,” she added.
Globally, advertising budgets allocated to short-form videos, popular with Gen Z and popularized by TikTok, are expected to continue growing at a compound annual rate of 50% in 2025, reaching more than $145 billion per year. Statist.
Despite looming uncertainty over the ban, TikTok’s ad spending in the United States is expected to increase 57% year-over-year in the first two months of 2025, according to data from Guideline published in early January. However, on January 10, when Supreme Court justices expressed skepticism about TikTok’s legal case and willingness to uphold a ban, agencies, marketers and editors started to get nervous.
According to e-commerce analytics firm MikMak, major brands began shifting their spending away from TikTok in the days after January 10, signaled by a decrease in ad clicks on the platform. As of January 17, TikTok traffic to paid media was down 21% daily.
In comparison, Alphabet (which owns YouTube Shorts) generated the most paid traffic, followed by Pinterest.
Thinking outside the box on TikTok
While some marketers switch between platforms to find what will work best, challenger skincare brand Eos doesn’t have an immediate answer as to what should replace TikTok in its marketing plan.
He’s driven sales and engagement on TikTok by collaborating with relevant creators, and even based an entire product line (his “Bless Your F*ing Cooch” shaving line) on a trending video on the platform.
CMO Soyoung Kang told ADWEEK that Eos was “actively marketing” on TikTok in the days leading up to the Supreme Court’s final ruling, but was also making contingency plans on other platforms social.
“We have always had a diversified social strategy, which should allow us to adapt quickly and reallocate resources. Ultimately, we will go where our audience goes,” she said.
That said, Kang isn’t determined to replace the “truly unique” platform like for like. “It’s not just about impressions,” she said. “The community element of TikTok, where multiple levels of conversations are happening all the time, in comments and across videos, is a very important part of the overall experience.”
Kang noted that before TikTok, discovery on social media was mostly one-directional. TikTok changed the feed from linear to labyrinthine, “creating richer community engagement and, therefore, more opportunities for challengers like Eos to break through,” she added.
Duolingo’s Orssaud acknowledged that TikTok’s algorithm has been key to its success, but said his team’s ability to create content that resonates across platforms will carry the brand through.
With this in mind, Duolingo’s marketing department will focus in 2025 on quality content and cross-platform campaigns. She laid the foundations for this approach in 2024 with a physical pop-up in New York and a pop-up Roblox link.
“After overcoming platform-specific challenges, like the TikTok ban in India, we saw first-hand the importance of flexibility and creativity to stay connected with our fans and reach learners there where they are,” the marketer added.
As another TikTok favorite Scrub Daddy assumed: “It’s not goodbye, it’s just see you somewhere else.”
