Whether you’re on TikTok or not, you’ve probably seen some chatter about TikTok Shop. This is a super new (depending on when you’re reading this) e-commerce platform launched by TikTok in August 2023.
Not only do we recommend familiarizing yourself with it, but we recommend doing that sooner rather than later, so you can take advantage of this new medium.
Here’s why:
TikTok Shop and its Advantages
Similar to moves other social media platforms have made, TikTok Shop is TikTok’s foray into e-commerce. Essentially, it allows TikTok creators to sell merchandise directly through the app itself.
Unlike Facebook Marketplace or Instagram shopping ads, TikTok shop allows people to make in-app purchases, taking away the extra step of redirection to another storefront site, during which a certain percentage of users will inevitably abandon. TikTok claims that TikTok Shop has higher conversion rates; we can’t verify this, but instinctively given the previous statement, that makes sense.
Along with this advantage, TikTok Shop also facilitates collaboration between sellers and TikTok creators through their affiliate program. This allows you as a business to discover creators who you’d want to work with to advertise your products.
Setting it All Up
Image Source: influencermarketinghub.com
Before you start, you should know that registering for TikTok Shop takes a few days. Ergo, you should give yourself enough time before your intended campaign launches.
This registration process requires you to submit a few documents — if you’re a business seller, that means your US company registration document plus your (or the company owner’s, if that’s not you) passport or driver’s license.
Keep in mind that in order to set up your TikTok Shop, you have to have a TikTok for Business account.
Image Source: shopify.com
Optionally, you can also use your pre-existing Shopify or BigCommerce accounts in addition to your TikTok Business account. For the former, TikTok offers the TikTok Shopify app, which allows you to make video ads plus track the results of those ads through Shopify.
Running ads through TikTok Shop
Once you’ve got your TikTok Shop set up, you can start creating and running ads. There are three campaign formats available which correspond with the three ways users can shop on TikTok — these are:
- Video shopping
- Catalog listings
- Live shopping
First, video shopping ads. These are straightforward, in-feed sponsored videos from which users can purchase directly. Essentially, you’re taking a video ad, highlighting a product in it, and enabling users to shop for said product directly on TikTok.
Catalog listings, meanwhile, don’t require a video. These are pretty much exactly what they sound like; that is, they appear in-feed, and from there take interested users to a product catalog. This option is ideal if you want to show off a wider array of products instead of highlighting just one or two, and if you don’t have the resources to make more video content.
Lastly are live shopping ads, which are similar to video shopping ads but with a twist. Essentially, this is just a livestream video ad featuring one or multiple products, where during the length of the livestream users can click to see and purchase these items. These can be particularly engaging compared to the other two.
Whichever of these types of ad campaigns you want to run, you can create them via the product sales objective in TikTok Ads Manager.
Tips for Selling on TikTok Shop
Image Source: shopify.com
When it comes to selling on your TikTok Shop, you first and foremost need to know your audience. While people of all ages are joining TikTok, it still skews younger than pretty much all other social media.
Its makeup is primarily Gen Z and younger millennials. Per TikTok’s own data, well over half of its user base is Gen Z — of its US-based users, about ⅓ are teenagers, 30% are in their 20s, and about 17% are in their 30s. Only 20% of its US user base is 40 or older.
Do with this information what you will.
As long as the “what you will” statement is used to make well-thought-out and informed decisions about your target audience, you probably don’t want to be advertising AARP memberships here. Or LifeAlert bracelets.
In a related vein, don’t try so hard; it comes off as fake. Like, obviously you should “try” — you want to pique users’ interest and attract potential customers — but some brands will lean so hard into what they think is supposedly cool or trendy that it’s completely see-through. Really, just be normal and authentic. TikTok users are savvy; they can spot an advertiser doing Steve Buscemi’s 30 Rock “How do you do, fellow kids?” from light years away.
Oh, and before we move on from the “be authentic” commandment: Don’t copy-paste your strategy from one social to TikTok. That’s just as transparent and doesn’t acknowledge the different demographics and expectations, and how they change from platform to platform.
The above tips address the relationship between content, demographics, and psychographics, but there’s also some tools and technical steps to take too. And before you get scared off by that description, we’re talking extremely lowercase “t” in “technical,” as this is just relative to the above tips that are all based on content and execution.
Because really all we’re talking about are hashtags and logos; you should have on your own website, for example, a TikTok feed to increase your own account’s presence.
And within your TikTok account, use relevant hashtags; they might feel kind of corny, but they’re super helpful for increasing your reach. Essentially, how are people going to use your TikTok Shop if they haven’t found it in the first place? Hashtags are just helping place your videos in the relevant categories where they’ll through extension be shown to more relevant people.
Overall, TikTok Shop simply adds another pathway for users to discover your products while also facilitating greater ease of purchase. It’s always important before jumping on another social platform to ensure you have the resources to do it well, but if you can do that — and it doesn’t take a lot for you to be able to — then TikTok Shop is 100% something you should be diving into.
