TikTok surpassed Instagram as the most downloaded app of 2020, with a staggering 200% increase in users. During that time, the viral video-sharing app has managed to keep smiles on people's faces despite a global pandemic. With this uptick came a new world of opportunities for eCommerce brands across the globe.
What began as a platform for sharing dance challenges and lip-synching videos has emerged as a powerful marketing tool for eCommerce brands. TikTok has risen to the challenge and quickly became a platform for merchants to reach their audience and drive more sales.
TikTok vs other social media platforms
TikTok is similar to other social media platforms in more ways than one. It provides a steady stream of content through a feed. It's a visual-based platform. Plus, it is centered around video content, putting it almost in the same league as YouTube.
But what sets TikTok apart from other social media platforms is that it combines all the features from different social media platforms into one powerful app.
Algorithm
TikTok's key differentiation lies in its algorithm. Instead of just showing your content to the people in your network, TikTok's algorithm uses a recommendation system that delivers content based on the users' interests and behavior on the platform. That means the videos you'll see over time may vary depending on your viewing preferences.
What does this mean for you?
Because of the algorithm, there's a higher chance that someone unfamiliar with your brand may see your content on the For You Page. So if you own a cosmetics brand, people who enjoy watching makeup tutorials, product reviews, or lipstick swatches are more likely to see your content.
TikTok's algorithm allows even the smallest brands to grow their audience and go viral on the platform without spending money on ads.
Collaboration
User-generated content is the new word-of-mouth. Not only is it an effective way to capture your audience's attention, but it also gives potential customers an honest and unbiased look at what your customers think of your products. It's so powerful that 91% of consumers claim that they trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Here's the thing... User-generated content has dominated TikTok's For You page for months now, and consumers are taking notice. In fact, According to a recent TikTok survey, 67% of users claimed that TikTok inspired them to shop even when they weren't looking to do so.
You see, TikTok users prefer watching videos from everyday stars whose authenticity shines through. That's why a lot of eCommerce brands are collaborating with TikTok creators and influencers. They're leveraging the power of word-of-mouth marketing to turn video views into sales.
Cross-promotion
Sharing content with other social media platforms is an excellent strategy, and TikTok actively encourages you to do so. It can seamlessly link with other platforms, making it easier to cross-promote your content.
You've already spent time creating your TikTok content, so why not share it with your followers on other platforms? This will not only help you save time but also allow you to get the most out of your content.
Audience engagement
If there is one thing eCommerce brands like best about TikTok, it's how receptive the audience is to brand messaging. They consume content like crazy and even rave about products they've bought, you don't even have to ask.
No social media platform has the same level of engagement that TikTok has. It provides a tremendous opportunity, especially for small eCommerce brands, to boost brand awareness and grow their audience.
While getting more views, likes, comments, and shares is a step in the right direction, the whole point of building a brand presence on TikTok is to turn viewers into customers. That said, we created this guide to help you get there.
Ready to kickstart your TikTok journey? Let's get started!
Make the Algorithm Work For You
Your TikTok bio is complete. Well done! Now, it's time to plan your TikTok marketing strategy to make the most of the platform.
Get familiar with TikTok
We know you're excited to create your first TikTok content. But before you do, you'd want to spend some time getting familiar with the app.
Start by scrolling through the "For You" page to get content inspiration. This is where you'll land once you open the app. But remember that each user gets a unique and personalized stream of video content. It is highly personalized, and the type of content each user sees will vary depending on a number of factors, such as:
- Interest
- Subject matter
- User Activity
- Language and location
- Audio used
- Videos you've marked as "not interested"
TikTok also has a wide array of features you may want to explore on your own. Try to record a short video, choose a song, and add a filter. You can also use the edit features to add texts, stickers, voiceovers, and more.
Understand the algorithm
What's interesting about TikTok is that you don't need a massive following to succeed on the platform. In fact, even a brand with zero followers can go viral on TikTok.
Although the playing field is level, you still need to have a good understanding of TitkTok's algorithm and use the right strategies before you can go viral.
The "For You" page serves as TikTok's home page. It features some of the best content on the platform. So if you want users to discover your content on the platform, you need to optimize your content for TikTok's For You Page.
Plan your content
Remember that you're creating content for your audience. So you need to find out what type of content your audience is interested in. To do that, we recommend following other brands and influencers in the same niche.
Watch their videos and carefully examine those that captured your attention. What did they do that caught your attention? Have you noticed a pattern among the pieces of content you liked? Now, try to recreate those elements in your content.
Spend at least 15 minutes a day scrolling through the "For You" page. Watching videos can help you keep up with the latest trends and discover what's trending on TikTok. Also, see if there are any challenges your brand can participate in.
You may also want to search for trending hashtags, challenges, or trending music. Keep a list of ideas as you do this. Now, sit down and see how you can re-create these videos, but make sure you put your spin on them.
Set tangible goals
Clearly defining your goals and objectives can help you assess and refine your marketing strategy and help you achieve better results.
Ask yourself: why did you decide to create a TikTok account? What is that you want to get from it?
- Do you want to grow your social media following?
- Do you want to reach more people?
- Do you want to drive more traffic to your eCommerce store?
- Do you want to generate more sales for a specific product?
Now, turn them into SMART goals:
- Get at least 200 followers in 30 days
- Increase video views by 20% in the next three months
- Increase website traffic by 20% in the next three months through TikTok videos
- Sell 1,000 skin-brightening serums in four months
Now that you've familiarized yourself with TikTok's algorithm and finally set your goals, it's time to get in front of the camera and join in on the fun. Are you ready?
Expand your reach and maximize engagement
Growing your audience on TikTok is not that hard if you know what you're doing. As mentioned earlier, TikTok's algorithm allows even the smallest brands to go viral on the platform. And if you build the right following the right way, you will likely build a community of evangelists on the platform.
Post content frequently & at the right time
Like other social media platforms, good quality content and consistency are critical to improving your engagement rate. Start by setting a posting schedule and commit to it. If you can only commit to posting three times a week, that's fine. This is better than posting for five consecutive days this week and then not posting at all the next.
Not all your content will go viral, and it can be challenging to do so when you're just starting. So try mixing up your content until you find one that captures your audience's attention. Once you do, focus on creating similar types of content. It will only be a matter of time before people start noticing your content. Be patient.
Reaching a wider audience is as easy as posting your content when most of your audience is active on the platform. According to Influencer Marketing Hub, posting at specific times of the day can result in higher engagements.
Source: Influencer Marketing Hub
This data is an excellent place to start when you're crafting your TikTok marketing strategy. Keep in mind, though, that these are just guidelines. The results may vary depending on your audience and the type of content your share.
Stay on top of trends
If you're serious about going viral on TikTok, you should spend about 15 minutes a day browsing the "For You" page. Try to keep up with the latest trends, find out what's currently hot among your audience, and use them to inspire your content.
Use trending audio
Pay attention to the songs and audio used in the videos on your For You page. Now, if you tap on the sound icon in the bottom right corner, you'll see how many times it was used, as well as the top videos that featured this song or audio.
Why does this matter? You see, incorporating trending audio in your content can trigger TikTok's algorithm and recommend it to other users who have previously engaged with the audio. This increases your chance of getting more video views and possibly boost your engagement rate.
Collaborate with influencers and content creators
Partnering with Titkok influencers is one of the best ways to get in front of your target audience and send your engagements through the roof.
When it comes to skincare, there is no one more reliable than a dermatologist. Peach & Lily understood this, so they teamed up with TikTok's favorite dermatologist, Dr. Zion.
This video looks like a customer testimonial, which is crucial in convincing people to try the product. Plus, it also builds trust.
@peachandlilyofficial Glass Skin Refining Serum is basically glass skin in a bottle👌🏼 @dr.zionko #PeachAndLily #GlassSkin #GlassSkinGoals #skinhealth #skintokthings #skin ♬ original sound - Peach & Lily
Cross-promote on other social media channels
Just because you created the videos specifically for TikTok doesn't mean you can't post them on other social media platforms.
You have already spent time conceptualizing, writing the script, and shooting the video, so why not repurpose it and share your TikTok content on other social media platforms? It's a surefire way to reach the largest audience possible.
Measure your success with TikTok analytics
Wondering how to track the results of your brand-building efforts? By keeping track of your metrics. It can help you better understand how your content is performing and what you can do to improve it.
TikTok analytics is available to anyone who has a business account. The best part? It's free!
Here are the four main analytics sections.
Overview analytics
Under the overview tab, you'll see the profile views, video views, follower growth, and engagements over the last week or month, or a custom date range of up to 60 days. If you want to know how your account performed after posting a teaser of your new product, this is where you should go.
Follower analytics
The follower analytics will give you all the information you need about your audience and followers. Here, you'll find how many followers you have, the number of followers you gained or lost over a specific date range, the percentage of your followers by gender, where they're from, and the time when they're most active.
All these can help ensure that you're creating content that resonates with your audience and that you publish them at the right time.
Content analytics
Content analytics will show you all the data related to the TikTok videos you posted over the last seven days. That includes the number of videos you've posted, how many of them are currently trending, and the number of likes, comments, and shares they got.
Live analytics
Live analytics will give you insights into the live videos you've hosted over the last week or month. It includes the number of live sessions you've hosted, total live time, total live views, new followers, unique viewers, and how many diamonds you've earned.
Now that we've covered everything you need to know about TikTok marketing, it's time to take action and start building a presence on the platform.
There's no denying that TikTok can help you reach a massive global audience, but you need to remember that succeeding on the platform goes beyond creating unique, engaging, and exciting content.
Learn from brands that are successfully using the platform for their marketing campaigns.
eCommerce brands that are killing it on TikTok
We listed five brands currently leading the pack on TikTok marketing. Build a fun, creative, and scalable strategy by taking notes from these brands.
- Gymshark
@gymshark
- Challenges are one of the biggest trends on TikTok, and Gymshark leveraged it to become one of the leading fitness brands on TikTok.
Gymshark's success was predominantly because of its incredibly well-executed TikTok marketing strategy. Most of their content is centered on inspirational health journeys and workout challenges, which has helped them reach two million followers in just six months.
The brand started targeting younger fitness enthusiasts and has now grown into the "Nike" of the new generation. As of writing, Gymshark has over 3.8 million followers, and the number steadily increases each month.
- Crocs
@crocs
- Crocs went from a brand everybody hates to one that everybody's obsessed with. They got 100,000 followers in their first week on TikTok.
Their ad campaigns have been killing it on TikTok since 2019 with the #ThousandDollarCrocs challenge, where people were asked to customize and enhance their Crocs. They teamed up with Post Malone and other influencers, which resulted in over 3 billion video views.
Currently, Crocs has 703k followers and 4.7 million likes on the platform.
- ELF Cosmetics
@elfyeah
- Makeup sales took a nosedive during the pandemic, but there was one brand that thrived: ELF. In fact, the makeup brand ended 2020 with triple-digit online growth, thanks to its winning TikTok marketing strategy.
ELF commissioned a song entitled "Eyes, Lips, Face," which was named after the brand's acronym. They used their original song to launch the #eyeslipface challenge, where creators would show their eyes, lips, and faces. It became one of the most viral campaigns on TikTok and garnered over 5 million user-generated content. Even celebrities like Reese Witherspoon, Ellen, and Lizzo joined in on the challenge.
- Topicals
@topicals
- Beauty and fashion are some of the biggest brand categories on TikTok, making it difficult to gain traction in this niche, especially if you're a small brand. But Topical knows how to set its brand apart from the competition.
They captured their audience's attention by focusing on their main pain point: managing zits. The brand shares authentic content that are mostly comprised of UGCs.
But one thing that has helped them drive engagement and grow their following on TikTok is their giveaways. After all, consumers love the idea of getting products for free. So if you're hoping to increase brand awareness, gain followers, and even gain the trust of potential customers, you might want to try this strategy.
- Scrub Daddy
@scrubdaddy
- If your brand is comfortable with being bold and ridiculous, you may want to take some pointers from Scrub Daddy.
Most of their content is weird, chaotic, and hilarious all at the same time. But people seem to love watching that massive version of the happy-faced dish scrubber going on adventures. Their snappy content calling people out for cleaning their dishes with other products, is also a hit.
As of writing, Scrub Daddy has 2.3 million followers, which clearly indicates that their unhinged content is paying off.
