How To Use TikTok For eCommerce Marketing
Digital marketing is a continuously evolving and growing phenomenon. Over the last decade, it has grown in leaps and bounds and is now a vital element of any business’s strategy and operations. Over the years, a variety of social platforms have popped up, some have become redundant and some have evolved to become the biggest lead generators for eCommerce stores.
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn have headlined digital marketing, but over the last few years, TikTok has also flexed its muscles and proven its value to brands. Unlike the other platforms, TikTok is focused on entertaining and informative videos, that have to be creatively designed by the brand.
It might sound like a lot of resource-consuming work, but the benefits of TikTok have been seen by the brands who have already taken advantage of the live views on TikTok. So, how can you wade into this social channel? We took a look at the steps that you can take to start using TikTok as an effective marketing platform for your brand.
Focus On Real Users
For years, social media metrics have focused on the number of likes, comments, followers, and fans. The problem with that started becoming more and more apparent as time went on. Thousands of followers are one thing, but if 80% of those followers are bots where’s the value? Bots are simply not going to buy from you. What you need to do is focus on the real users and gaining organic traffic.
The same can be said about TikTok followers. If you are not aiming at attracting real human followers and fans, you are simply wasting content and budget. If you are battling to do this yourself, there are some great partners out there that can help you build up your organic followers.
Know who your target customer is and what their interests and behaviors are. With this information, you are able to create targeted content that actually appeals to them and will convert them to loyal and engaged followers. It might take longer, but the ROI from this strategy is worth it.
Tie The Channel Into Your Customer Journey
The trick to digital marketing and running your eCommerce store is that the whole process needs to be seamless. You should be able to go from one social channel to another, from your site to your emails, all the while your brand remains recongnizable. Although the channels will differ with the types of content being sent out; TikTok being mostly video content, it should all be streamlined.
This is where your customer journey planning comes in. From the minute you design and optimize your site, you are considering the user experience. You should be looking at how your customer enters your store and what path they are taking to finally convert to paying customers.
The trick is to get all of your channels uniform and on-brand. Themes need to be carried out across the various channels, messaging needs to be uniform and your customer needs to recognize and resonate with your brand no matter which channel they are finding you on.
Plan Out Your Content
TikTok is going to need a different content strategy from the other social channels and will need additional content. The fact is that TikTok is used by a slightly younger age demographic, but it is easier to get good content shared and exposed on the platform. You simply need to know what the audience wants to see.
We highly recommend that you take some time to understand the trends and what is being put onto the platform currently. Videos that are currently successful are shorter, bite-sized, and highly visual and entertaining snippets, usually including popular music. Not only is the content informative but it is also entertaining.
So, say you are a clothing eCommerce store, for example. A great TikTok video could be a sweeping shot of your new garments, or a collection of your new items placed together with a catchy backtrack. Think popping colors, bright shots, and new and exciting camera angles.
Partner Up With Someone
Look for a partner to help you grow your audience. Micro-influencers have a large impact on TikTok, and if you find the right influencer, you will be targeting your direct target audience.
Let’s take the example of the fashion e-tailer. It will be worth your while to find a local fashion influencer who regularly posts content of their latest outfits and fashion guideline videos. Some will request a fee, while others can be sent free samples in exchange for a post.
The benefit of these influencers is that they already know how to create catchy content that aligns with your brand. They have dedicated followers who would genuinely be interested in your brand, heightening your conversion rates.
The Bottom Line
It is worth keeping in mind when you start on your TikTok journey, that this is a unique platform. Unlike the other social media networks out there, TikTok users are looking for organic and real content. So focusing more on raw, interesting videos will help you succeed on the platform.
