Regardless of what side of Tik Tok you’re on, you’ve probably seen the tortilla trend. This new take on wraps and quesadillas has almost 3 billion views on Tik Tok, with more attempts and variations than I can count. I tried it myself, and I’ve gotta say — there is something that puts it a level above a typical wrap.
As I ate it, I started wondering why it went viral. My For You page is filled with dozens of food videos, but this trend took over in a way other quarantine dishes didn’t. The more I thought about it, the more it reminded me of business — and more specifically, of marketing. Though there’s no science to going viral, there are a few principles to be found in these delicious videos.
Leverage the familiar
At the end of the day, this dish is no essentially a wrap, quesadilla, breakfast burrito, or any other tortilla-based meal — meals that virtually everyone has had before. When I saw it, it felt familiar. I questioned if cutting and folding it separately would actually make a difference. But the unique prep method was just different enough to encourage me to try it. The comfort we take in the familiar extends to consuming marketing information, too. Messaging, branding, and products that feel familiar remove the intimidation factor, which can draw your audience in to learn more. And having a key differentiator — like a fun cut and fold technique for your usual lunch wrap — sets you apart, making sure familiarity doesn’t turn into boredom.
Personalize and enable
A quick look at the #tortillatrend page and you’ll see rice paper tortillas, naan wraps, pizza quesadillas, breakfast crepes… an endless combination of ingredients, all folded into quarters. This dish became a way to showcase individuality while being part of a larger trend. The opportunity to share unique ideas within a larger community is what many marketers try to create with social media, forums, and events. We see this with the rise of DTC brands that offer highly customized goods — shampoos designed for your hair type, build-your-own planners — and then enable their customers to share their experiences in creative ways on social media. If you make a product that makes users feel seen, they’ll share, and you can highlight that to grow your audience.
Make it failproof
Unlike fancy coffee or bread that takes a week to prepare, this quarantine treat had a low barrier to entry — you don’t need specialized equipment or major cooking skills to try these wraps. I pulled my attempt together in less than ten minutes, with the chicken, cheese, and sauces I already had in my fridge. Even when it got a little messy in the pan, it didn’t change the outcome of the dish. The Tik Tok tortilla is hard to get wrong, and even if you do, it’ll still taste pretty good. The lesson here? When you make things easy to adopt, more people will try them. Launching an interactive social campaign, or want to drive user-generated content? Provide creative templates and simplify sharing. Advertising a free trial or new service? Connect with your product team to make sure sign-up is short and onboarding is easy.
What else can we learn about product, marketing, and virality from the Tik Tok tortilla? Let me know what you think!
