Getting Started Selling on TikTok Shop: GS1 Webinar Follow-Up
Recently, Jonathan Livingstone, Head of Live + Social E-commerce at Highlands, participated in a webinar hosted by GS1 UK, discussing the best ways to start selling on TikTok. We sat down with Jon to learn what he found to be the most valuable insight from the event:
What were your main takeaways from the webinar?
- Don’t hold back! The sooner you dive into selling on TikTok, the better. Whether you create video content or go live, it’s important not to be afraid to jump in and make mistakes as you go.
- AB(m)C. Always Be Making Content; whether you’re a B2B brand or D2C, content is king and makes a big impact.
- Partner with an insider. You’ll want to work with someone with incredible skills when it comes to generating sales and building brand awareness. As a partner with TikTok, Highlands helps to ensure you’re gaining the most value and setting yourself up for success on both TikTok and other social media platforms.
What brands perform best on TikTok shops?
We’ve seen beauty and fashion perform incredibly well on the platform. That being said, anything can sell if it’s an innovative product with a price point that can pull customers into your ecosystem. The thing with TikTok is that it’s become a search engine for consumers, so anything that’s discoverable, from cleaning supplies to office products, has the opportunity to do well.
Does brand size matter on TikTok?
Not at all; any brand, whether big or small, can do it! Mindset is everything.
Where do you see the future of TikTok shops going?
TikTok has become a massive part of people’s everyday lives, and it’s not just TikTok Shop but live shopping in general. It bridges the gap between the physical and digital, driving more eyeballs to your brand and giving you opportunities that wouldn’t have existed just a few short years ago.
Watch the recording of the webinar here.
TikTok is the Go-to Search Engine for Gen Z:
Research has shown that TikTok has become the go-to social platform for Gen Z, but recent studies have found that more and more consumers rely on TikTok and Instagram to research the top-performing products in a variety of categories. The reason is likely due to Gen Z and other consumers appreciating authentic video and image reviews as opposed to traditional written content. In today’s world, it’s not enough to just read about something; people expect to see it. In fact, research shows that 40% of Gen Z consumers prefer TikTok to Google, and that number is expected to grow. Here are some tips to keep in mind as you build your brand on TikTok:
Stay Relevant
Social channels are a brand’s digital storefront, so keep content fresh and up-to-date and test out various methods in order to get the algorithms to work in your favor. From trending audio to using the right hashtags, there are various methods to drive more eyeballs to your page and build your audience.
Think As a Consumer, Not A Brand
TikTok was created with the consumer in mind, not as a way for brands to build their presence. As a result, consider the consumer with everything you post. Ask yourself, is this content relevant? Entertaining? Does it provide your target audience with a solution? Because it’s an ever-changing platform, be flexible with your content, adapt to fit new trends, respond to comments/feedback from customers, or address new pain points.
To learn more about how you can help your brand excel on TikTok, reach out to us.
Check Out Our Recent Webinar:
The End of 3rd-Party Cookies Video
You may have heard Google announced it will stop the use of third-party cookies in Chrome by the end of 2023. In this short video, Kristin Stevens, VP of E-commerce, discusses how the end of third-party cookies doesn’t mean the end of cookies in general. And cookies aren’t altogether bad; in fact, accepting cookies should give you the best user experience on whatever website you’re visiting.
