Harnessing the power of TikTok allows businesses to showcase their products, services, and brand personality in an engaging and creative way. From dance challenges to aspirational and educational content, the platform offers a wide range of possibilities for all types of brands.
Viral content can lead to increased brand awareness, exposure, and sales. However, it is important to understand that achieving virality requires consistency, creativity, and alignment with the latest trends.
1. Create Shareable Content
Aside from ensuring that the content you produce is relevant to your audience, you should also make sure it’s shareable. Listicles, for example, receive more average shares than almost any other type of content. They’re easily skimmable and offer valuable information in a compact format. You can use them to share resources, tips, or how-to’s.
Since TikTok is a visual platform, it’s important to create engaging visual content to capture users’ attention and boost your conversion rates. However, some product categories may not align with this content format, so it’s important to understand your audience’s inclinations when using the app.
You can also leverage TikTok’s targeting options to reach your target audience. You can specify demographics, interests, behaviors, and location to ensure that your ads are shown to the right people. This will improve the effectiveness of your campaigns and increase your sales on Shopify. This way, you can make the most out of your ad budget. Also, you can include a call to action in your content to drive engagement and increase the likelihood of sharing.
2. Create a Compelling Brand Story
In order to build brand awareness and trust, your business must develop a strong brand story. Your brand story should include the reasons why your products or services are unique, as well as the emotional impact that they have on customers.
To create a compelling brand story, consider the origins of your business. What inspired you to start your company? What challenges did you face along the way? This can help you identify the most relevant aspects of your business to share with your audience.
It is also important to understand how your target audience uses TikTok. This will help you determine if the platform is the right fit for your business. For example, a lot of users on the platform are content creators. In addition, many of these users are interested in creating viral trends.
TikTok’s advertising options allow you to showcase your products in a unique way. You can use in-feed ads, branded effects, and top-view ads to reach your target audience. In addition, you can use the app’s brand safety tools to ensure that your ads do not appear next to inappropriate content.
3. Leverage Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool for increasing sales on Shopify. It can help you to reach a wide audience, attract customers, and increase brand awareness. However, you must have a clear strategy to ensure that your social media efforts are not wasted.
Consider developing recurring content formats to make your business’s social media posts less time-consuming and challenging without sacrificing engagement. Letterfolk’s Instagram is a good example of this. They post relatable quotes with a consistent premise to grow their following and drive sales simultaneously.
TikTok is popular among younger audiences and can be used to build brand affinity with Gen Z and millennials. Its geo-targeting and the ability to include product links in bios allow it to serve as a sales driver, as evidenced by Gold’s Gym, which used TikTok to promote new promotions and free gym passes.
Authenticity is key to making your franchise’s videos stand out on TikTok. Be sure to use trending hashtags and music to maximize discoverability. Participating in challenges or incorporating popular topics can also boost your franchise’s visibility, but be sure to incorporate them in a way that aligns with your brand’s values and offerings.
5. Collaborate with Influencers
Influencers have a large following and can boost engagement. They can also add credibility to your brand. Look for influencers whose values align with your franchise and collaborate with them to create creative campaigns that resonate with their audience. For example, Gold’s Gym partnered with TikTok influencers to promote its new fitness equipment and offer free gym memberships.
Using the Shopify Collabs app, merchants can find influencers who match their brand and goals. They can also use the app to manage and pay for collaborations.
Shopify Collabs can help brands find influencers who fit their goals, budget, and audience. It also helps them manage payments and negotiate terms. This way, they can focus on creating content and growing their business.
6. Encourage User-Generated Content
Creating fresh content every day is a challenge even for the most creative of brands. Fortunately, there is an innovative new way to promote your brand that cuts down on the need for new content while still delivering the same results. That's user-generated content (UGC).
User-generated content is any type of content that a customer creates for your brand, whether it's a video review, social media post, comment, or blog. It is quickly becoming a popular marketing strategy because it encourages authenticity and builds trust, both of which are essential in the business-consumer relationship.
A UGC example is a video like this by Decathlon, which shows their products in action. This kind of video is more engaging than simply a product shot, and it also serves as social proof that the brand's products are worth buying. In fact, consumers find UGC 9.8x more impactful than influencer content when making a purchasing decision. The key to leveraging UGC is to create campaigns that will encourage your customers to create and share their content with you.
7. Run Referral Campaigns
When it comes to running referral campaigns, TikTok has some unique advantages. For example, it’s easy to repurpose content created by other creators using the ‘duet’ or ‘stitch’ features. This is a great way to get your business in front of new audiences at a low cost. For instance, Chipotle used this strategy to launch a campaign that gave one viewer free meals for a year.
Another advantage of TikTok is its ability to connect brands with influencers who have a local following. This makes it easier to target a specific audience and make them feel connected to the brand. For example, IL Makiage frequently shares product showcases and tutorials on their TikTok account. This helps them build trust with their customers while generating a ton of buzz around their products.
Lastly, TikTok also offers a range of marketing tools that help businesses reach their goals. For example, the Creator Marketplace is a platform that lets brands find influencers with the right engagement and demographics. It’s also possible to run ads that appear before the videos on TikTok, similar to YouTube pre-rolls.
8. Send Out SMS Marketing
If you are looking for a way to increase sales on Shopify, SMS marketing is an excellent option. This channel allows you to directly target your customers and send them targeted content, making it an extremely powerful tool for eCommerce companies. To make sure you don’t run afoul of TCPA regulations, it is best to only target those who have explicitly opted-in for your text messaging campaign. This can be accomplished by using a form in Shogun to capture their phone number or connecting with their Klaviyo account.
As the platform continues to grow, businesses are increasingly incorporating TikTok into their marketing strategies. It’s important to remember that this is a young platform, and users are still learning what it means to engage with brands on the platform. For this reason, it’s critical to be consistent and build a strong presence on the app.
If you aren’t already leveraging TikTok for your business, we recommend that you give it a try. Just be careful not to spam your audience and keep your messages relevant and engaging.
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