Most people think that TikTok is just an app for Gen Zers to share videos with voiceovers.
This may have been true a few years ago, but now the platform has more than 1 billion active users, making it its own little world.
You can find everything on the app, from creators showing off their skills to celebrities promoting new trends.
With such a big audience, it’s clear that entrepreneurs can use the platform to start and grow their businesses.
So, if you want to take advantage of its growing popularity, keep reading and we’ll tell you everything you need to know to sell on TikTok.
Let’s begin!
Can You Sell Products on TikTok?
Yes, there are usually two ways to sell things on TikTok.
One way is through TikTok shopping, which is a new feature that was launched in August 2021 in partnership with Shopify.
The idea behind it is to make it easier to find products and make shopping in apps more efficient as a whole.
It lets merchants and brands sell directly on TikTok by adding a shopping tab to their accounts that pulls products from their Shopify store.
TikTok shopping makes it easier for potential customers to find products because they don’t have to leave the app.
Creators can also use TikTok product links to promote their products in a natural way. For now, only Shopify merchants with a TikTok business account can use this feature.
You can also sell on TikTok by putting a link to the product in the video’s caption.
Users who have a business account on TikTok can also put a bolded link to their store right in their profile.
Why Should You Sell Products on TikTok?
Why is TikTok a good place to sell things when there are so many other social media sites? Let’s find out.
Massive User Base
TikTok is no longer your average app for sharing videos. It has since become one of the most used social media sites.
With more than 1 billion active users, business owners have realized that it’s a goldmine waiting to be discovered.
It lets you reach a huge number of people and boost the amount of attention your business gets.
Most importantly, 80% of the platform’s users are between 16 and 34 years old, making it one of the best apps for reaching a younger audience.
Putting time and effort into the platform can be a great way to get more people to know about your brand as a whole.
Since the platform is focused on videos, all you need is a little creativity to get new customers’ attention.
Potential to Go Viral
Videos are now the most popular way to get information from the internet. By 2022, it is expected that the average person will spend up to 100 minutes a day watching videos online.
Video content is a big part of modern marketing campaigns because of this. This is also where TikTok comes in, since its whole point is to make short videos.
The most exciting thing about TikTok is that you never know what will become a hit. If you’re creative enough, your business videos could get a lot of likes and shares when you wake up.
Just make sure your TikTok videos aren’t too long and that the people you want to reach can understand them.
Cheaper Ad Campaigns
Every year, just running advertising campaigns costs business owners thousands of dollars. We know that not everyone has a lot of money to put into marketing.
So, another thing that makes TikTok stand out is that its ad campaigns are less expensive.
When compared to Facebook, the difference is so big that if 1,000 impressions on TikTok cost $5, they can cost up to 20 times more on Facebook, depending on the niche.
How to Find Winning Products on TikTok?
We’ve already talked in detail about how to find winning TikTok videos. But in general, it has to meet the following:
Target Impulse Factor: Look for a way that the product solves a problem.
Avoid Generic Products: Try to avoid markets that are too crowded and instead focus on products that are hard to find.
Prioritize niche products: If you want to build a brand, go after smaller groups of people.
Create a Want – Find products that make customers want them, like jewelry.
The Right Price Range: Look for products that have a good price range without being too high or too low.
How to Find Suppliers for TikTok?
Let’s say you’ve found a product to sell on TikTok that you think will do well. The next step is to find it, and here are some things you can do:
Contact Manufacturers
Even though most people would rather talk to the company directly, it has its pros and cons.
Starting with the pros, the fact that there are no middlemen means that prices are low.
Not only that, but communication would be better, and you would know right away if there were any delays in production.
The biggest problem, though, is that most manufacturers have a minimum order size.
So, if you’re just starting out and don’t have much money or you want to do TikTok dropshipping, you can’t work with the manufacturer.
Quality problems are another thing that could go wrong. Even if you work with the manufacturer, that doesn’t mean you’ll get a top-notch QA service.
And it may not be possible for you to check each item before sending it out.
Search on AliExpress
Most of the time, people just go to AliExpress and type the name of the product into the search bar to find suppliers.
Filters like “lowest price” and “highest rating” can be used. Then, look through the list of suppliers and choose the one with the best reputation, the best price, and fast shipping.
How to Set Up a Sales-Driven Account on TikTok?
If you want to sell things on TikTok, you should set up a business account. So, here’s how to do it:
Download and Signup on the App
If you haven’t signed up for TikTok yet, download the app from the iOS or Playstore and go to the bottom of the menu bar. From there, you can find the “Sign Up” form.
Switch Account Type to Business
Once you’ve signed up for the platform, go to your “Profile” page, tap “Manage Account,” and then hit “Switch to Business Account.”
Changing your account type to “business” will give you access to a wide range of features, such as the status of your videos’ engagement, the location of your audience, detailed information about your audience, and much more.
Set Up Shopify Access
If you own a Shopify store, you can turn on the shopping feature on TikTok, which lets users look at your Shopify products without leaving the app.
This is one of the reasons why most of the people on TikTok who run online stores use Shopify.
How to Promote Your Products on TikTok?
Once your TikTok account is up and running, it’s time to start advertising your products. Here are some suggestions:
Create Ad Campaigns
Creating ad campaigns is the best way to get people to buy your products on TikTok. We won’t go into detail because we’ve already done so in our TikTok Marketing guide, but here are the 5 most common types of ads you can run on TikTok:
Brand Takeover: These ads take over the whole screen for a few seconds as soon as you open the app. They are shown to a specific group of people.
In-Feed Ads: These ads also appear between TikTok videos and in full screen on the For You Page. The best way to get people to interact with your brand is through these ads.
TopView Ads are an updated version of the Brand Takeover ad. TopView ads have sound on for 60 seconds, but you have to pay extra for that.
Branded Hashtag Challenges: These are ads that look more natural because brands work with other TikTok users to make them. When a user clicks on a hashtag, they go to the brand’s landing page.
Ads with a Branded Effect – You can make branded stickers, lenses, and augmented reality (AR) filter effects that can be used for up to 10 days.
Partner with Influencers
Influencer marketing, also called sponsored marketing, is a popular way to promote your business on TikTok. Find an influencer with a decent following and pay them to review or promote your product.
But it’s clear that there are also ways to make an influencer marketing strategy work. First of all, it’s best to focus on working with people who have a lot of followers in your niche.
This would make it easier for you to reach the people you want to reach, and it would also make it more likely that people will buy from you. You also need to watch out for whether or not the influencer’s posts get enough interaction.
Influencer marketing needs to sound like it belongs. If it looks like a paid promotion that was forced, it could hurt your PR.
Create Your Own Content
Lastly, if you don’t have the money for the above strategies, you can just start making your own videos on TikTok.
Aim to get more followers naturally by posting interesting content.
As a TikTok content creator, the best way to do well is to make short clips that your audience can relate to. Try looking at the ads of other successful marketers in your niche to see how they are promoting their products.
How to Track and Analyze the Sales on TikTok?
If you want to look at your sales and see how well your marketing is working on TikTok, here are a few tips you can use:
Tracking TikTok Ad Performance
Adding TikTok Pixel to your site is one of the easiest ways to keep track of how well your ads do on TikTok. TikTok Pixel is a powerful tool for tracking sales and getting in touch with your target audience.
It’s a clever piece of code that’s easy to set up with one of TikTok’s official partners, like WooCommerce or Shopify. All you have to do is open the app store on any of these platforms, tap the tool, and it will be added to your website.
Some of the good things about TikTok Pixel are:
Optimization: With the help of TikTok Pixel, you can give data to the algorithm and teach it to recognize your target audience. This can increase traffic and possibly the rate of conversion.
Conversion Tracking: You can keep track of and analyze the sales that come from your TikTok ads. You can also improve your marketing by optimizing your funnel.
Customized Groups – Create custom data sets and look for funnel drop-offs so that you can target that audience again in the future with more targeted ads.
Tracking Influencer Campaigns on TikTok
On TikTok, there are two ways to keep track of sales that come from influencer campaigns. One way is to use discount codes, and another way is to use tracking links. Let’s talk about the pros and cons of each choice.
Using Promo Codes
One of the easiest ways to track sales from influencer campaigns is with promo codes.
They usually give buyers an incentive in the form of a special offer, which gets them to go ahead with the purchase.
Most of the time, the promotions are made in the name of the influencer, and you can use a lot of free software to track how well each influencer is doing.
Some business owners think that using promotions is bad because they would have to give customers a discount. But if you’re getting enough conversions in return, it’s worth it.
Tracking Links
Tracking links are just normal URLs that end with a unique referral tag. With these tags, it’s easier to figure out which influencer is driving traffic to your site.
The biggest problem with this tag is that there’s no incentive to click on it, so you might miss out on conversions.
If you want to use tracking links, you should make sure to use a link shortener with them.
You don’t want to ask your customers to click on strange links that might make them think they’re downloading malware.
FAQs about Selling on TikTok
Is TikTok Suitable for Small Businesses?
If a small business wants to reach younger people, one of the best places to market is on TikTok.
It’s even better than Facebook because ads are much cheaper and it’s easier to make content that goes viral on TikTok, as long as you’re consistent and can think of new ideas.
Are There Famous Brands Selling Products on TikTok?
Yes, many well-known brands do sell items on TikTok. Here are some examples:
Gucci
Gucci is an Italian high-end fashion house that sells shoes, designer clothes, fragrances, and makeup. Most of you probably already know this.
If you go to their TikTok page, you’ll see that they post videos every other day of famous people wearing their products.
Gymshark
Gymshark is one of the most well-known names in the fitness industry in Britain. They sell all kinds of workout clothes and gear.
Their TikTok page isn’t mostly about promoting their products. Instead, it’s mostly about making fitness memes and funny content in general, which is also why they’re doing so well.
Starbucks
If you’re still not convinced, we couldn’t think of a more common example. You’ve probably heard of Starbucks unless you’ve been living under a rock.
It is a well-known brand that is mostly known for its coffee mixes and frappes. It has stores all over the world.
Their TikTok page also has lots of famous people promoting their new products, interviews with them, and funny videos.
How Many TikToks Should I Post a Day?
Quality is always more important than quantity when it comes to marketing. So, if your videos are interesting, you can get a decent following even if you only post once a day.
TikTok also says that you should post new content between one and four times a day.
Is It Better to Have a Business Account on TikTok?
Yes, business accounts are better, especially if you want to make a name for yourself. They can not only help you reach more people with your marketing, but they can also give you access to things like video view counts, analytics, paid ads, and much more.
How Much Does It Cost to Run an Ad on TikTok?
TikTok ads cost an average of $10 per CPM (cost per 1000 views), and the minimum amount you have to spend on paid ads is $500. Even though this sounds like a lot, it’s still less expensive than running marketing campaigns on Facebook.
Final Thoughts
You can’t go wrong with TikTok if you want to sell products to Gen-Zers and Millennials.
It is one of the best social networks for reaching young people.
Your business will grow if you’re creative and can always come up with new ideas.
