No longer just a place for Gen Z to create viral dances, TikTok has expanded its empire and become a hub for viral content.
With the increasing popularity of the app, brands and businesses have flocked to take full advantage of their marketing opportunities, using it for everything from influencer marketing to TikTok Shopping.
We’ve created a quick and easy guide to TikTok Shopping and how to use it to your brands' advantage!
What is TikTok Shopping?
TikTok Shopping is a social eCommerce solution which allows creators and sellers to promote and list products within the platform. Much like other in-app shopping experiences, such as Instagram shop, TikTok Shopping is an effective way for users to discover new brands.
With a whopping 723 million global active users, it’s become a streamlined way to encourage in-app purchases and a source of endless shopping inspiration via in-feed videos, lives and product showcasing.
Partner with Influencers
Influencer marketing is everywhere! There’s no denying that over recent years, the influencer marketing sphere has developed into a lucrative area of marketing. This year alone, it’s estimated that the influencer marketing industry will expand and become a $16.4 billion industry, growing steadily from $13.8 billion in 2021.
With influencer marketing becoming so popular amongst brands and businesses alike, integrating influencer marketing into your strategy is key to a successful TikTok Shop.
By using influencers to promote products on TikTok, your business will drastically be able to expand its reach. It’s estimated that 70% of teenagers trust influencers more than celebrities, so they can easily impact their audience's purchasing decisions!
A mega influencer with one million+ followers will receive, on average, 557,188 views per post, this level of engagement would dramatically impact a brand's popularity.
For example, cosmetic brand Clinique completely sold out of their lipstick in the shade Black Honey, despite not being a new product due to influencers promoting it on TikTok - the hashtag alone had 19 million views!
Use Live Shopping
Another advantage to TikTok Shopping is the ability to promote products across live sessions. Merchants can integrate products from their TikTok Shop and include them within a live video. This feature is a simple yet effective way of creating an interactive shopping experience.
Product links are used to call out specific items within a video. Users can instantly see a product in action and immediately purchase it. For example, influencers may list the products/ items used in a makeup tutorial or an outfit video.
By listing certain products as they appear within the video, the audiences are more likely to impulse buy as they have the opportunity to engage with and shop the brand mentioned.
Make Use of Dynamic Showcase Ads
A dynamic showcase ad allows brands to promote products with personalised videos automatically! Using DSAs is an effective way to promote TikTok Shopping because they are specifically tailored to audiences’ interests based on their previous activity.
Dynamic showcase ads can be used across TikTok and can increase purchases by recognising a customer's need to purchase based on their viewing product history, relevant interests, adding to cart or abandoning cart.
On TikTok specifically, DSAs tend to work best when visually engaging video clips, trending sounds and eye-catching templates all work together. If you want to improve your TikTok Shopping strategy, DSAs are worth looking into!
Use Branded Hashtags
Using branded hashtags is crucial to incorporate into every TikTok marketing strategy. Within the TikTok sphere, it’s important to use branded hashtags to allow users to see your content.
Without this, reach and engagement will be virtually non-existent. To ensure you’re using popular hashtags, it’s crucial to stay updated with the top daily hashtags.
Undoubtedly, #fyp, #fy and #foryoupage trend daily and permanently secure the top three spots for trending hashtags.
Lead Generation
Finally, lead generation contributes to a successful TikTok Shopping strategy! Lead gen lives within in-feed ads and allows users to fill out their personal information, such as their name and email address, in a secure way. This information can then be used to target specific users with relevant ads and videos.
The leads then generated through the TikTok app can increase the chances of purchases due to users being targeted with products that align with their interests.
