How to use TikTok to gain more sales
In the fast-paced world of e-commerce and digital marketing, TikTok presents an unrivaled opportunity to connect with a diverse audience, spark creativity, and generate meaningful engagement. By harnessing the potential of this vibrant platform, you can unlock new doors to success and take your sales figures to unprecedented heights. Keep reading to learn more about how to utilize what TikTok has to offer!
Is TikTok the right channel for you?
Before diving into learning more about the TikTok platform, the first step is to assess whether TikTok is the right platform for your business.
Every social media channel has its unique audience. When thinking about using social media to reach business goals, you need to take into account what the audience is and decide if it is the audience you want to reach. Also, consider if your product is relevant to the younger generations, especially when thinking about TikTok.
Don’t forget about the content type as well. TikTok only revolves around short-form videos and it is more entertaining than educational. Are you ready to show the fun side of your brand?
Gen Z audience
TikTok is mostly used by the Gen-Z audience (18–26 years old), tightly followed by millennials (27–39 years old). The audience of Gen-Z is the native-digital generation. They are familiar with the internet and what it has to offer. They are quite immune to cheap marketing tricks and are able to spot a scam from a mile away. They also distrust regular advertising, so targeting them as a group on social media is the best way to get sales results.
Fast-paced content
TikTok is all about trends. And trends last for just a few weeks. To be on top of the TikTok game you need to flow with the trends and act fast. Once a trend is on top, you need to create your own spin on the music, audio, dance, or something else and in a perfect marketing strategy – align it with your business values while still making it entertaining.
Fast-paced is not only the flow of content but also the content itself. When creating TikTok videos you want to immediately grab attention, use a quick change of shots, and keep the video short but full of emotions. Don’t be discouraged if you spend hours creating a 30-second or less video. It is the process of making short, extremely engaging Social Media content.
TikTok ban – do I need to worry?
Lately, the U.S. has shown some concerns about TikTok and its user data protection, but mostly it is related to the fact that TikTok is owned by a Chinese, not a U.S. company. The U.S. has banned TikTok on government devices as well as on some college grounds TikTok is not available via WiFi. TikTok is still available for general use on personal devices and without any hard evidence the government cannot forbid using specific apps to the general public.
TikTok is still used by a lot of respected American companies, including The Washington Post, Chipotle, Guess, Gymshark, and others, as well the overall TikTok user count in the U.S. is 150 million people.
That said, before you start working with TikTok, make sure you read their user agreement and privacy policy and agree to their terms.
Business Features
TikTok the same as other Social Media platforms, offers to create a personal or a business account. If you are planning on using TikTok for business purposes, definitely make sure you choose a business account. It will give you several extra features, including, an option to add an e-commerce link to your bio, detailed analytics, performance tracking, and advertising solutions.
How to boost sales using TikTok
Let’s talk about a few strategies that you can use to get sales for your company using TikTok.
Creating authentic content
As with any other social media platform and social media strategy, you need to approach TikTok with patience and conceal your sales goals. “Buy, buy, buy” posts are no longer appealing to the younger generations. You first need to create a connection with the audience and then gently nudge them in the direction you want them to go.
You want to think about creating content as if you were a content creator, not a business. Make it personal, make it relevant, and speak from the heart. Show your company’s values. Keep in mind your audience, and try to create content that is meaningful to them while still maintaining the core of your company. Definitely think about the niche and find something that is fitting to your company and your audience.
Social Media is all about helping each other out offering free advice, entertainment, and support. Building a community is an important step to getting closer to sales on TikTok. By doing that you will build a loyal audience, that will care for your products and in the long run will turn from followers to customers.
Creating fun content with your products
Something you can use once in a while is creating content around your products. Don’t go into marketing sales pitch mode. Rather show the product in real life and add relevant commentary. Create funny sketches or show amusing but positive comments people have about your product. Look for ways how you can add the product to your content, without feeling like selling it.
Shopify integration
If you use Shopify as a base for your e-commerce store, you can now link the products that are featured in your videos. It means that TikTok users will be able to shop your products directly from the video leading to a higher probability of making direct sales. It is a great option to use and another reason why choose Shopify. The integration offers other tools as well, for example, campaign performance data.
Partnering up with influencers
One of the best ways how to reach a TikTok audience is by partnering up with TikTok influencers. Gen-Z is more inclined to trust an opinion of an influencer than a traditional ad, so it is the perfect way how to reach this audience.
To partner up with a TikTok influencer, you don’t need to create a business profile. However, you will need to spend some time researching to find the best influencer for your brand. You can use hashtags to find relevant influencers. For example, if you own a beauty brand, you can check hashtags like #beauty #beautybloggers.
It is also wise to like and comment on the content of the influencer with whom you want to work with. Follow them for a while to feel their personality and start building a relationship. When reaching out remember to create a personal message directly made for the person.
You can suggest a type of content you would like the influencer to create with your product. For example, if they create OOTD (outfit of the day) posts, you can suggest that they could include your clothing item in the mix. However, it is also good to leave the creative process to the influencer. After all, they are experts in their field.
TikTok Ads
The same as other social media platforms, TikTok also offers paid advertisement options. There are several kinds of TikTok ads: in-feed videos, video ads, brand takeover, spark ads, image ads, and carousel ads. You can choose to use any of these ad types in your TikTok advertising.
The main thing you need to remember when creating TikTok ads is that you will be competing with highly engaging organic content. You need to make the ad as seamless as possible while conveying clearly your message.
To create TikTok ads you will need to make a TikTok ads manager account. From there you will need to add a payment method, and you can start creating your first ad! TikTok allows you to choose the placement for the ad as well as specify your target audience. You can choose gender, age, location, interests, language, and other positions for your target audience.
Getting organic traffic on TikTok
Hopping on trends is one way how to reach a wide audience fast and inexpensively.
You can also work on content that could end up as viral. To do that try to post videos that you haven’t seen on TikTok or elsewhere on social media. Make it unique but relatable, and definitely engaging. In the end, there is still no science on which content will go viral, but if you hit some of the points, you will be a step closer.
And even if your video doesn't go viral, you can still reach a lot of people with fun and surprising content. So, definitely keep working on videos, keep looking for different approaches, angles, and shots, and experiment with scenarios.
In conclusion
TikTok might sound intimidating at first, but once you learn the ropes and start creating content yourself, it can turn out to be quite fun and useful. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that TikTok will demand your full attention and quick reactions. “You snooze, you lose” is definitely a motto of TikTok, so to stay on top of your TikTok marketing game follow trends, create innovative content, and use marketing tools TikTok offers like Shopify integration and TikTok ads.
