How To Drive Sales With Shoppable Content On TikTok

Social commerce is a rapidly growing industry with most consumers using apps like Instagram as their main tool for product discovery.

However, one app that has taken over the world during the past year, TikTok.

In January 2021 alone, TikTok had over 315 million downloads and overall, it has been downloaded over 2.6 billion times (reported by Sensor Tower in December 2020). As a result, brands have taken to the app to find ways of promoting and selling their products to the masses.

Introducing TikTok: THE platform for virality

TikTok is a video sharing social media platform that has proved itself a phenomenon with GenZ audiences.  It is highly likely that you will have seen dance routines or heard a song on the radio that initially went viral on the platform. On TikTok, content can go viral in seconds with the biggest influencers possessing nearly 32.7 million followers and receiving 46 million likes for a 60 second video.

So, how are brands and businesses using the app for streaming commerce? There's the obvious, link in bio to e-commerce sites, tagging product links in the comments etc. But the most effective technique?

Here's how brands are using shoppable video on TikTok to drive sales.

1. Connecting brand TikTok to a Shopify store

Shopify’s partnership with TikTok is likely the first of many integrations with ecommerce platforms. Merchants can connect their TikTok for Business account to Shopify to generate in-feed shoppable posts from videos. Once signed up with TikTok for business brands can create any of the following:

• In-feed ads. Native-looking videos that appear in the user’s feed.
• Pre-roll ads. Videos that start when a user opens the app.
• Promoted hashtag challenges. Videos encouraging users to submit clips using a custom hashtag. This is best for brand awareness.

Other ad formats include:

TopView

• Video first format that puts brand videos in unmissable view of audiences
• Using sight, sound and narrative to capture user attention
• 60 seconds of full-screen and long form video, with autoplay and sound
• Distraction-free viewing grabbing 100% user attention

Brand Takeover

• Full screen visual ad experience for viewers
• Multiple creative formats with static and dynamic display
• 3 second JPG and 3-5 second video supported

Branded Effects

• Tailor made shareable stickers, filters and special effects
• Users can create selfie videos with these effects, sharing and promoting brands interaction videos.

2. Using an interactive video platform to create shoppable content on TikTok

Smartzer offers an interactive video platform that gives brands a tool that turns content into shoppable video on TikTok.

Smartzer MINI Shop:

• Brands can connect their campaign call-to-action with the Smartzer MINI Shop links. This will connect your ad directly to your product feed. A viewer will click the ad and instantly see all the products in the shoppable video and a direct link to the e-commerce site.
• Lightweight, easy to use pages help inform users about products. This can lead to higher conversion rates and a stronger ROI.
• This could be through either makeup tutorial videos, fashion videos or recipe videos. Videos will have clickable components to clothing, makeup or ingredients.

Smartzer Interactive Experience

• Every interactive experience is optimised for mobile.
• It is easy to share the interaction video content across social media platforms.
• Users can engage with the interactive content by launching the call-to-action or the URL displayed in the video.
• This could be in TikTok work out videos (shoppable fitness gear), travel videos (interactive hotel tour), auto videos (interactive tour of car features).

Here are some great examples of shoppable video on TikTok:

SHEKOU Clothing: Shoppable Ads

New Zealand brand, Shekou, uses TikTok ads to their full extent. The brand takes advantage of viral styles and trends and inputs them into their branding to reach new and existing customers on the app. The clickable 'Shop now' call-to-action encourages viewers to click through to the e-commerce and make a purchase without leaving the app. When the 60 second video finishes, viewers can 'Shop now' or 'Replay' the ad. The 50% off sitewide banner advertises big discounts suited to GenZ audiences.

Pepsi: Branded Hashtag Challenge

Pepsi’s #ThatsWhatILike campaign encouraged consumers to do what they enjoy freely and unapologetically. This could be anything from wearing over-the-top clothing, dancing badly to enjoying an unconventional snack or simply enjoying a Pepsi. The campaign resulted in over 13 billion views and reflected the TikTok trends by encouraging silly, fun and viral videos that included Pepsi in some way. Through this format of streaming commerce, Pepsi achieved mass, free advertising and world wide brand conversation.

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