How TikTok Shopping Can Help Your Business

TikTok has taken over as one of the most popular social media platforms in the world, with over 1 billion monthly users. And now, with the launch of TikTok Shopping, businesses have a new way to reach potential customers on the platform. TikTok Shopping is a suite of solutions that give businesses the opportunity to capture the full power of TikTok’s influence on purchase decisions.

With TikTok Shopping, merchants can sit back and enjoy a full-service commerce solution. Incredibly, TikTok is promising to manage everything from product upload to point of purchase, shipping and fulfillment – all within the TikTok platform.

Additionally, brands who work with third-party partners have the opportunity to connect their product catalogs through TikTok’s partnerships, with Shopify, Square, Ecwid, PrestaShop now available on the platform. The platform says to expect Wix, SHOPLINE, OpenCart, and BASE to be available soon.

Later this year, Tiktok says it will also launch a Shopping API, which will allow businesses to integrate their products further into TikTok’s shopping experience. This move opens up a whole new world of possibilities for businesses of all sizes who are looking to reach new customers and leverage ride the wave of users who declare #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt.

For users, in-app-shopping and Shopify Integration means never having to leave the TikTok app while perusing a virtual storefront. This opportunity is big news to ecommerce brands. Compared to competing platforms, TikTok users are 1.7 times more likely to purchase products discovered through the app(!)

TikTok’s videos take up 6X more screen space than banners.

TikTok’s immersive, vertical, life-like format is the perfect platform for promoting products. We’re living in a vertical video world. And this allows brands to show off their products in a creative and fun way. Additionally, TikTok’s shoppable videos make it easy for users to purchase products directly from the app.

TikTok’s intelligent content discovery process allows users to discover fresh content based on their viewing preferences and habits, helping brands achieve fast growth and maximum visibility.

TikTok says its internal research shows that users associate its content with being unique, honest, real and authentic, compared to peer apps.

Check out these case studies to understand the potential ROA for TikTok Shopping:

Shoppertainment is content-driven commerce that seeks to entertain and educate first while integrating content and community to create highly immersive shopping experiences.

TikTok drives sales by giving brands the ability to reach a large and engaged audience with their product promotions and brand story.

According to research by the Boston Consulting Group commissioned by TikTok , customers are operating in six key demand spaces across two core groups.

1. Convenience (Easy for me)
2. Improvement (Better for me)
3. Validation (Confirm for me)
4. Recommendation (Advise me)
5. Indulgence (Spoil me)
6. Inspiration (Inspire me)

TikTok’s same research report states that brands should seek to engage Shoppertainment and market growth through five emotional touchpoints:

1. Tell stories and educate
2. Focus on video-first
3. Don’t force decision-making
4. Be authentic
5. Recommend the trends

Source: https://www.tiktokshoppertainment.com/en/

The big takeaway: shoppers are driven by emotion and connection. BCG’s analysis reveals that two out of every three transactions in Emotional spaces are driven by new-to-brand conversions. Meaning that shoppers are changing brands or behaviors when they make an emotionally driven transaction. Brands need to understand that tapping into these emotions at key times is the holy grail for social selling.

TikTok has changed the way people discover and purchase products. The app’s shoppable videos allow users to quickly take action, while its large audience makes it easy for brands looking sell their goods in front of interested consumers.

These instant, personalized shopping experiences deepen the bond between creators and users, and brands and users. It’s a dynamic that retailers should not ignore. TikTok creators’ program allows brands to find in-house influencers to test and review products, while driving sales and being opinion-makers within the app.

TikTok is a cost-effective marketing tool, as it allows brands to reach a large audience without having to spend a lot of money on advertising. Additionally, TikTok’s shoppable videos make it easy for brands to sell products directly to users without having to pay any commission fees.

Shopify’s Video Generator tool helps brands create TikTok-style videos in minutes. Simply upload product images or videos, and the tool does the rest.

TikTok allows you to boost videos with ad spend directly from your phone, without having to hire an outside vendor. And if you do decide to hire a TikTok partner, advertisers benefit from:

• Flexible cost-control

• Immersive full-screen, sound-on ads

• Ready-to use templates for ad creatives

• Timely, in-app customer support

81% of users use TikTok to discover new brands or products. TikTok is an effective tool for building brand awareness, as it allows brands to reach a large number of people with their message.

With a remarkably unduplicated audience (40% are not on Instagram and almost 50% are not on Facebook, source: TikTok), this is the largest opportunity for organic reach on social media. And TikTok is the best digital marketing opportunity to reach new customers. This is the top of your marketing funnel, without the hassle of having to build a full funnel.

Additionally, TikTok’s unique format allows brands to tell their story in a creative and engaging way that will capture the attention of users.

TikTok can be used to generate leads for your business in several different ways.

First, TikTok offers users the ability to sign up for your newsletter or email list directly from the app. We highly suggest creating a trackable link in your bio with juicy offers, just for your customers on TikTok.

Second, TikTok also has a new lead generation objective on its ads platform. With Lead Generation on TikTok, when someone taps a button on a lead ad, it will open an instant form where people can learn about your business, leave their contact information, and signal their interest in your product or service.

That personalized experience along with TikTok’s shoppable videos make for a powerful retail marketing combination.

TikTok can be used to increase website traffic by including links to your website in your profile and in your videos. Additionally, you can use TikTok’s shoppable videos to promote special offers or coupons that will encourage users to visit your website.

It’s an easy 5-step process to add your website link on your TikTok bio:

• Step 1: Switch to a TikTok Business Account By Going to Settings<Manage Account

• Step 2: Tap on the Manage Account and proceed onto Switch to Pro Account.

• Step 3: Click on Business

• Step 4: Follow the prompts to set up a TikTok Business Account

• Step 5: Go to the “Me” tab. Tap “Edit Profile.” Add the link to your website in the bio box. Click Save!

TikTok is an effective tool for building customer loyalty, as it allows you to connect with your customers on a personal level and create relationships with them. You can duet your customers, create stitch videos to engage new customers and take advantage of all the interaction on the app.

By getting to know your customers and allowing them to get to know you, they will start to form an attachment to your brand. You can then promote special offers or coupons that will encourage customers to keep coming back.

A great example of customer loyalty is a campaign by global cosmetics brand Garnier launched. Garnier collaborated with Gen-Z brand ambassador and celebrity Amee to create a signature music track, with a hashtag challenge to promote wider organic engagement during a shopping festival, with urgency generated through inspiring pop-up advertisements. The campaign resulted in 283 million video views, driving a 30% uplift in sales on the Shopee e-commerce platform (a leading e-commerce platform in Asia), and leading to a 6.6% increase in brand recommendations.

TikTok can be used as a search engine, so your brand is easily discoverable if you use the right keywords.

The New York Times reports that Generation Z is turning to TikTok instead of Google to search for answers. In order to take advantage of this trend, you’ll want to add searchable keywords into your name, captions, the videos themselves and your bio.

LIVE Shopping is a new feature from TikTok that allows brands to bring in products from their TikTok Shopping store into a livestream. This lets merchants connect with their audiences in realtime. Think QVC for Gen Z! Live Shopping gives merchants more opportunities to learn about, engage with, and generate ROI from user interaction.

When a business goes live on TikTok, viewers who have opted in to receive notifications for that business will be alerted. From there, users can choose to watch the livestream and shop the products that are being featured. When a product is featured, viewers will see an image of the product along with its price, name, and description. If they’re interested in purchasing, they can simply tap on it to be taken to the brand’s website or app to complete the purchase.

There are several benefits of using LIVE Shopping as a marketing tool, including:

• Creating relationships with customers: LIVE Shopping allows businesses to engage with customers in real time and answer questions they may have about the products being featured.

• Increasing recall lift and reach: Since LIVE Shopping notifications go out to all viewers who have opted in to receive them, businesses have the opportunity to remind their audience of followers that they exist.

• Capturing attention and driving conversions: Thanks to the interactive nature of LIVE Shopping, businesses are able to capture viewers’ attention and interest in a way that can only be replicated in a store!

If you’re looking to reach a new audience, TikTok is THE platform to invest in. But, the window for early-adopters to have an advantage is closing.

After experiencing 375% year-over-year growth in the United States, it seems like there’s news about TikTok every day.

At Yellow House, we manage dozens of TikTok accounts. As an early adopter of emerging social media platforms, we’re so excited for the opportunity of the new TikTok Shopping platform. With TikTok management clients in a variety of industries, our accounts range from 1,000 (at just 10 days old) to 500k followers, and counting!

Our team of social media managers knows what it takes to become successful on this platform. We’ve helped countless people achieve their goals. And no, you don’t have to dance. But when you see your results, you may do just that.

If your brand is ready to strap a jetpack to its social commerce and e-commerce strategy, contact us today!