Everything at TikTok is big: number of app downloads, audience size, and viral campaigns. So it’s no surprise that the company’s entry into social commerce is multifaceted. And yes, it’s going to be huge. Already live in a few markets since late last year, TikTok Shopping and TikTok live stream shopping events are being rolled out globally in 2022.
TikTok Shopping is a social commerce solution that gives TikTok creators the space to promote and sell products on the platform. Once they set up a merchant account, TikTok Shopping is essentially comparable to a storefront on marketplaces. Content creators, such as influencers or suppliers, add a shopping tab to their TikTok profiles that pull products from their Shopify product catalogs. These products can be for their own personal brand or products they are helping sponsor. TikTok users can then browse, select, and pay for products without leaving the app.
Get more from your TikTok Shopping campaigns
TikTok Shopping offers suppliers the means to promote thousands of products from their catalogs simultaneously. Whereas, TikTok live stream shopping gives brands the opportunity to leverage the power of influencers or promote events to get their products to a potentially global audience. With over 1 billion TikTok users worldwide, even a teeny slice of the TikTok pie can be a huge windfall. Here are some top tips for getting the most from your TikTok online stores or shops, and for your live stream ambitions.
1. Optimize your product catalog for TikTok
Although TikTok offers an ever-expanding suite of advertising options, almost all of them rest on your business supplying high-quality product data or catalogs. The tab in your account that users click acts as your storefront, so be sure the content within that store is enhanced and ready for promotion. When adding images, make sure that quality and style are not forgotten. Your product photos should be easily identifiable with your brand and consistent with how you present your products across all touchpoints and platforms. Remember, users shop around, so follow social commerce best practices.
There are solutions that can automate and speed up your catalog upload, image design, and quality control processes – like the Productsup Image Designer and Social Commerce solution – but if you choose to go it alone, then apply to use the TikTok Shopping API. Currently – May 2022 – TikTok is only offering access to the API for specific merchants, and you won’t find an adequate image design function on the platform.
When you are checking over your product catalog for TikTok Shopping, keep all product titles within the 34-character limit and always include some basic information about the product. The description can be longer and should include as much information as possible. Don’t forget that links in your product descriptions aren’t clickable.
Be prepared to promote your catalog in your videos, but it is highly advisable not to promote your products in every video. TikTok users are not so keen on ads all the time. Mix up your feed with entertaining videos, as well as the clips which promote your products. Try to make your promotional videos as interesting as possible to reach more users.
People don't come to TikTok to buy stuff. They want to watch fun videos. TikTok drives purchases when something that interests users catches their eye and they can checkout quickly.
2. Tell the world about your TikTok shop
Once your business is up and running on TikTok Shopping, don’t wait around for your potential customers to find your shopping tab organically. Nobody can purchase from your TikTok Shopping account if they don’t know about it. Be proactive and look for them. Start off with some high-quality TikToks to draw people to your TikTok Shopping storefront.
Always promote your TikTok activities, deals, or events to as many people as you can. Apart from always having to create top content yourselves, creators with TikTok storefronts can also tag products in organic content from other creators using dedicated product links from their catalog.
Another interesting option is The Hashtag Challenge Plus method. It’s a great way to help users find your content as it connects your business to a sponsored hashtag. You basically combine a paid-for hashtag with a challenge or event that you want TikTok users to engage with.
3. Promote, promote, promote!
Whether conversions are your main goal on TikTok or not, you should always try to use your shop to promote your catalog. Create a system and schedule for mentioning your products – often but not always. Try to make each mention creative. With creative and funny content, the audience won’t be bothered by the product promotion.
Dynamic Showcase Ads are an excellent way to promote thousands, or even millions, of SKUs with personalized video ads. DSA will generate video ads that target specific audiences based on their interests and commerce activities, such as adding items to a cart or viewing a product. Create huge volumes of high-quality, TikTok-tailored dynamic ads using the Productsup image and video designer tools and our social commerce solution.
4. Partner with influencers
If your marketing team is not steeped in the culture of TikTok, you can always pass on the creative direction to TikTok creators who know the platform and its audiences intimately. If you need to promote a specific product and your budget is high, turn to influencers to avoid having your product disappear in the TikTok algorithm.
Partnering with TikTok influencers to promote your products or services can be an excellent way to reach new audiences in an engaging and authentic way. Make sure you do your homework and find influencers who will suit your brand.
5. Think big, think TikTok live stream shopping
For some time now, TikTok has been experimenting with live streams and the different ways their users will watch online content and shop at the same time. TikTok’s current model is a percentage of the sales as they happen.
Once you have over 1000 followers on the platform, you can live stream an event. Of course, popular influencers have already hooked up with global brands, and big brands have turned to global celebrities for some of the first events that were hosted in December 2021. For example, OnTrend was described by TikTok as a unique shopping event with “offers and exclusive discounts by beauty and tech brands, like Charlotte Tilbury, L’Oreal Paris and NutriBullet.” In keeping with the culture on the platform, the event also featured live entertainment from popular TikTok creators, entertainers, and musicians.
Seamless TikTok shopping campaign management with Productsup
As an official partner to TikTok, we’ve developed our social commerce solutions and video designer tools with TikTok in mind. We can automatically add millions of SKUs wrapped in Dynamic Showcase Ads in a fraction of the time it would take a team of designers and marketers to do the same.
If TikTok is the future of commerce for Millenials, Gen Z, and even Generation Alpha, then you need a product-to-consumer (P2C) platform to take your products to your potential customers – wherever they are, and when they want to buy.
