‘Highest conversions’: Why direct-to-consumer period care brand Viv is looking to TikTok to build community, boost brand awareness

“Part of our mission is to de-stigmatize periods — and the way that we can do that is just talking about them,” said Kelly Donohue, digital marketing and design director at Viv. “TikTok is a really great platform to start talking about things that people don’t normally talk about.”

Donohue continued: “On the education side, it gives us a great opportunity to talk to people face-to-face, educate and show our products, show how they’re used, which isn’t as accessible on other social media platforms such as Facebook or Instagram.” Facebook and Instagram were evolutionary steps forward, and then TikTok became the next step. TikTok goes beyond discovery, with video content and takes the experience a step further by highlighting this collective experience in a new way. So by engaging in Tik Tok, women are able to share their unique insights.

Viv is not the only brand using TikTok as a marketing tool for educating its consumers. There have been several brands, including Fender and Babylist, which have recently turned to this platform to provide educational content and boost their brand awareness in an attempt to reach the platform’s growing audience. TikTok has proven to be beneficial for the brand because it enabled it to build a loyal community and drive sales.

It’s unclear how much Viv has spent on paid media on TikTok. That said, the company has focused its paid advertising on the platform. “I would say about 80% of our paid budget goes towards TikTok ads,” said Diasti, adding that the company focused on TikTok following the sales increase and that its TikTok content has made Viv’s menstrual cup more approachable. “We do a little bit of Google ads and some influence and affiliate, but it’s predominantly TikTok that we’ve seen have the highest conversions.” 

Women between the ages of 18 and 49 were the primary focus of Viv’s educational videos. 

A recent study indicates that TikTok users spend on average 52 minutes on the app per day, according to the study. 60% of TikTok users are Gen Z, who spend up to five hours per day on the platform.

By using TikTok for educational campaigns, topics that are sometimes taboo can be demystified and awareness spread across audiences. “Any opportunity for a brand to invite consumers into a conversation is an important one — especially when that conversation has a meaningful impact on our health and wellness,” said Tess Dmitrovsky, associate creative director of marketing agency Manifest. “Social platforms are a learning tool, and the more brands can take this type of subject matter to their channels, the more likely consumers are to take that subject matter to heart.”

Finding a way to build a community can be beneficial to a brand like Viv, noted Paige Raiczyk, social media strategist of Berlin Cameron. “Viv has a strong presence on TikTok. Women can be very shy or reserved when talking about periods, and having a presence in the first place makes the topic less taboo. Women spend an average of 10 years [of their life] on their period and in the past women suffered through it privately. Building a community around a shared experience is smart.” 

All of Viv’s content is made in-house as they are a three-person team. “Given our space and given our deep understanding of the period care market, it’s been really beneficial to be able to scale in-house for ourselves,” said Diasti.

The company plans to continue to lean on TikTok to grow its community. “Our brand is really like a community, and we want it to be more of a back and forth rather than just us telling people about our products,” said Donohue. “We really like to take our community’s input into consideration and it’s the most valuable thing. So definitely using TikTok allows that community to really be prevalent in the way that we run our brand.”