What Is Tiktok Shopping and How Can You Include It in Your Strategy?

What Is Tiktok Shopping and How Can You Include It in Your Strategy?

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Buying and selling on social networks is an everyday thing and there are many platforms that offer this option, such as TikTok Shopping.

TikTok Shop is an innovative new shopping feature that enables merchants, brands, and creators to showcase and sell products directly on TikTok through in-feed videos, LIVEs, and product showcase tab.

This is a great opportunity for brands to publicize and market their products and/or services through this medium.

In the last 3 years, the Chinese social network has had really significant growth. Thanks to the pandemic, many people decided to look for other forms of entertainment, and many chose this platform. His short and funny videos attracted users.

Seeing this impact on consumers, brands have not been left behind and have decided to join as well. This has brought about the creation of the TikTok Shopping functionality. This facilitates the work of the seller (business) and the acquisition process for the buyer.

Social Selling with TikTok Shopping

Social Selling with TikTok Shopping

If you have already heard about TikTok Shopping, you should know that it is an e-commerce solution so that users can buy and sell from the platform. With this function, the platform seeks to get even closer to electronic commerce, giving brands the opportunity to take advantage of the potential offered by the social network.

Additionally, advertisers can add a shopping tab to their TikTok profiles, thanks to the partnership it made in 2021 with Shopify. They will also have the possibility to synchronize their product catalogs with the application and create a direct link to their online store.

You can also directly link products in videos by tagging them. This allows TikTok users to buy directly from videos. The tab will pull the products from the website catalogs, so they can be viewed without leaving the app.

Notably, creators with TikTok storefronts will also be able to tag products in their organic content using Link Products. Without a doubt, this represents a new way of shopping, and a good strategy for the Chinese social network to attract new customers.

Who can use it?

Who can use it?

When they launch new features on social networks, it is usual to have the question of who can use them. In the case of TikTok Shopping, its use is reserved for US and UK Shopify merchants with a TikTok Business account.

And since September 2021, it has also been opened to a select group of businesses in Canada. Little by little, the opportunity to test this functionality is being offered to other countries.

It should be noted that it will become increasingly accessible to a greater number of brands and businesses. This is because TikTok is closing deals with new partners, like PrestaShop, OpenCart, Wix, Base, and Shopline. But not only that, but you also want to create a shopping API.

Learn how to set up TikTok Shopping

To get the most out of this feature, you need to set it up. Remember that it offers two ways for brands and advertisers who want to sell their products directly on their TikTok accounts. One is a direct integration, and another is partner integration.

If you are interested in working with the direct integration of TikTok Shopping, you should know that this tool offers a fully native shopping experience. This covers product discovery, item pages, management, shipping, billing, purchases, and returns. All of this is powered and carried out on TikTok.

With partner integration, on the other hand, checkout and post-payment occur outside of TikTok on the advertiser’s app or website. This occurs in the case of returns and/or refunds.

Tips for using this new TikTok feature

There is no doubt that this new functionality of the Chinese social network is an excellent option to sell. But as in any marketing strategy, it is essential that you know the best way to use it:

1.- Improve your product catalog for TikTok

Improve your product catalog for TikTok

It is best to start with the purchases tab in your account, as this will be your TikTok storefront. Therefore, you need to make sure that your catalog is optimized to attract customers. This is key for users to feel motivated and buy.

When adding images, it’s important to focus on quality and style. Keep in mind that your product photos should be easy to recognize and consistent with how you present your brand on this platform. Remember that the visual elements are the most attractive.

Another important aspect are product titles. These have to be adjusted to the character limit, which is 34 and include basic information about the article. The description can be longer as it needs to have more details. It should be noted that links in product descriptions on TikTok are not clickable.

2.- Announce to your audience that you are in TikTok Shopping

Do you already have access to the new functionality? If so, don’t let this go under the table. Don’t wait for your followers to find the purchase tab on their own. To do this, you can create a series of specific tiktoks in which you point your audience in the right direction.

3.- Promote your products

Just as you give visibility to the fact of integrating this function in your account, you should do the same with your products. It is not enough just to inform users/followers that they can find your catalog in the corresponding tab.

Therefore, you have to promote the products that are part of your list on your profile. This will encourage people to enter the catalog to acquire them. It is important that in your publications you always highlight how simple the purchase process is from TikTok Shopping.

4.- Work with tiktokers

work with tiktokers

This platform is no longer just a social network but has become a cultural phenomenon. Therefore, it is important that you know in detail their trends, subcultures, and internal challenges. But if you don’t have that much experience, you can seek internal support.

It is often very effective to work with tiktokers to promote your products or services and, of course, it is a great way to reach new audiences. What you have to do is make sure you find creators who can really represent your brand and share your values.

New tools for sellers

New tools for sellers

It is important to note that the Chinese social network also has other new TikTok Ads tools. These can help your products reach your target audience more easily:

A.- TikTok Collection Ads

TikTok Collection Ads gives you the ability to include product listings in your In-Feed ads. In this way, when a user selects an item on a card, they will see a gallery where they can explore and buy more products.

How can it help you? It will increase the visibility and engagement of your brand with your audience, which will increase conversions. Its uses are multiple, from attracting traffic to a website or presenting new offers, to promoting and announcing new products and adding limited offers.

B.- Products Links

Another of the new tools is Products Links, with which your brand can stand out through links to your articles in the organic videos you make. Thus, followers will be able to appreciate that product in action and, by clicking on the link, they will access a landing page to buy it.

Additionally, advertisers have the ability to display multiple product links in any video containing such articles. And at the same time, users can explore them without leaving the platform.

C.- Live Shopping

Live shopping has become popular on most digital platforms, which is why TikTok has also opted for Live Shopping. This offers merchants the opportunity to include the products in their live broadcasts.

This means that in live streaming, you will be able to connect with your followers and promote the sale of your items in real-time. The tool allows you to share the links with them, which makes the shopping experience easier.

D.- Dynamic Showcase Ads

Dynamic Showcase Ads

Dynamic Showcase Ads, allows companies to automatically promote thousands of products through personalized video ads. The best thing is that these ads reach specific audiences according to the interests and activities they show on the social network.

It should be noted that these dynamic ads are ideal for those brands that do not have experience in creating advertising on TikTok. It also helps build brand awareness, raise awareness of relevant products to potential customers, and encourage app downloads.

Without a doubt, TikTok has known how to position itself in the market, and in what way! For this reason, it is essential that you keep it in mind in your strategies, since it has become a powerful channel. In addition, the virality of the content on this platform is indisputable.

To further consolidate your marketing strategy and enhance it, at Coobis we offer you our Branded Content & Influencer Marketing Platform. With this tool, you will be able to obtain more visibility in your content, both in TikTok and in the different social networks in which you work.