TikTok’s impact on the e-commerce market in 2023 has been significant, especially in the U.S. and Southeast Asia. The platform is expected to invest even more in the upcoming year. During this period, small businesses, including many dropshipping merchants, can still benefit from platform subsidies and traffic boosts.A lot of my partners are running their own TikTok stores. Here are some marketing tips for you.
1. Short Videos
One of TikTok's biggest draws is its short, snappy video content, and that's something merchants can use to drive traffic and boost sales. TikTok videos are typically very short—usually no longer than 3 minutes. This means you don’t have much time to give a full product rundown, you’ll need to make it quick, fun, and attention-grabbing—ideally, within the first few seconds.
There are lots of ways to make your videos stand out. You could show how your product solves a common problem or present it in a funny, creative way. Some ideas include exaggerated effects with plot twists, before-and-after humor, skits or role-playing, featuring animals or pets with your product, jokes, “virtual pranks” (TikTok has tons of filters for that!), reverse promotions, story-driven unboxing videos, memes, ASMR, and more. Also, branded hashtag challenges can generate huge traffic. You can even encourage customers to share videos using your product and tag your brand, creating user-generated content (UGC) that helps build trust with potential customers.
Make sure to pay attention to key video metrics like the type of video, length, visual design, completion rates, view-through-conversion ratios, and ad spend. The more you understand your audience’s habits and what content they enjoy, the better you can tweak your short video strategy to increase sales.
2. Influencer Collaborations
Influencer marketing on TikTok is incredibly effective. Influencers promote your dropshipping products by sharing their own experiences, unboxing videos, or product reviews. Charli D'Amelio, with over 100 million followers, posted a video showcasing EOS lip balms. She casually mentioned, “This lip balm is amazing, I use it every day,” and the video quickly went viral, resulting in a significant sales boost for EOS.
Influencer content tends to perform way better than brand-produced content, especially in categories like beauty, personal care, and fashion. This kind of content helps build trust with consumers. Influencers’ native content can even be repurposed for ads, driving conversions and boosting your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) by as much as 90%. Plus, once an influencer posts a video, it can continue to generate sales on its own.
While influencer marketing can be incredibly rewarding, you should keep a few things in mind when choosing influencers.
First, look for influencers whose sales trends are on the rise. This is a good indicator that their account is performing well, and they’re actively pushing products.
Second, influencers mainly use two types of content: live streaming and short videos. You’ll want to figure out which format your target audience prefers, so you can pick influencers who specialize in that method.
Also, make sure the influencer's previous content matches your brand’s vibe and product tone. If possible, go for influencers in your niche, as their followers will be a better fit for your products.
Some key demographics to consider include age, gender, and location. Ideally, at least 50% of their followers should be adults, 70% should match your target gender, and 20% should come from your target region.
3. Optimizing Product Selection
TikTok shops allow you to display products directly to potential buyers. You can add product links to your video descriptions or bio, so viewers can easily click through and buy your products.
From my experience, TikTok shops are all about the “hit product” economy. If you don’t have viral products, your Return on Investment (ROI ) is usually pretty low. You should think of your products as either regular or unique items.
3.1 Regular Products
Regular products can be broken down into three main categories: seasonal, holiday-themed, and practical items.
Each holiday tends to have its own trending products. For example, around Halloween, candy, themed decorations, cosmetics, and costumes sell like crazy. For Thanksgiving, kitchen gadgets, cooking supplies, and electronics (especially for Black Friday) often do really well. During Christmas, decorations and gift items are always popular.
Each season also brings its own set of product demands. If you’re a merchant, right now you should be looking into winter products like ski gear, heated clothing, and warm apparel. These products meet temporary customer needs, so make sure to update your inventory regularly to keep things fresh and show off the latest trending items.
The majority of TikTok users are young people and millennials, so even traditional practical products can sell well if marketed with interactive, creative, and entertaining content.
3.2 Unique Products
Unique products are rare, in-demand items that are harder to find locally. These items often have great profit margins but can be tricky to sell, because you have to convince customers to buy something they’ve never heard of before. I suggest you either focus on products that solve a pain point or products that provide emotional value to your customers. That is to say, if a product doesn’t meet a practical need or offer any emotional value, even with high margins, it’s probably not worth adding to your store.
4. Live Streaming
TikTok live streaming is a super powerful tool for interactive marketing. It lets you engage with potential customers in real-time while showcasing your products in action. Offering time-limited discounts, giveaways, or special offers during a live stream can also encourage viewers to buy on the spot.
Looking at how successful live streams run can give you a lot of valuable insights. Pay attention to things like when they go live, how long they stream, how they set up their product displays, how the hosts interact with viewers, and how their viewer and sales data fluctuate.
I recommend setting up real-life product use scenarios during your live streams. Demonstrating how your product works from the user’s perspective is way more engaging than just talking about it.
Also, offering exclusive products or deals during your live stream is a great way to increase viewer engagement and boost sales.
5. TikTok Ads
TikTok also offers different ad formats that let you showcase your products to your target audience. And ads are especially helpful when organic traffic is slowing down. They can give your videos and sales a big boost.
TikTok’s ad management tools allow you to pinpoint your target audience based on things like age, interests, and location, so your ads are reaching the right people.
Don’t forget to regularly analyze your TikTok marketing data. See which videos and ads are performing the best, then use that data to refine your marketing strategy. You can get this data on platforms like Kalodata.
6. Final Thoughts
TikTok packages products in a way that speaks to target market interests, using short videos, music, trends, challenges, live streams, and influencer collaborations to attract consumers. Compared to other e-commerce platforms, TikTok makes it easier for products to go viral with the right marketing. TikTok marketing requires constant learning, and I hope we can share new insights with each other down the road.