The Quick-Fire Guide to Marketing Your Shopify Store on TikTok
7 Min. Read
TikTok is massive right now, and as a business trying to make sales, there few places available that can get you the reach and return as TikTok does. Any piece of content has the potential to go viral to millions of people, the reach is insane, the engagement is like no other platform, and it’s all here waiting for you to use.
So, this begs the question, how do you market your website or store on TikTok. Specifically, how do you market your Shopify store? In today’s guide, I’m going to run you through a few core points you need to know.
It’s Made Easier Than Ever Before
Guess what, since October 2020, Shopify has actually been partnered with TikTok, making it easier than ever before to link your accounts and get access to a fantastic range of features. All you need to do is head over to the Shopify App Store and download the TikTok app to manage all your campaigns directly from your store.
Here, you can make a TikTok Business Account, you can automate product videos (you read that right, you don’t even need to make content, you can just upload videos and images of your products, and the app will make content on your behalf), and you have everything you need to target the audience you want to connect with.
What’s more, once you use this integration service for the first time, you’ll get $300 worth of credit to use when advertising. Basically, everything works fluidly between Shopify and TikTok, there’s no need for third-party apps or services, and there’s never been a better time to try it for yourself.
Setting the Foundations
To have the best marketing experience on TikTok, you’re going to need to know the basics. Otherwise, you might be making content you can’t actually use. For example, image types used on TikTok need to be a JPG or PNG format, and while there are no file size limits, it’s usually recommended to go under 500kb.
You need to be using aspect ratios of 9:16, 1:1, or 16:9, your brand name must be between two and 20 characters, whereas an app you make be advertising can be four to 40 characters, and your ad description must be under 100 characters, although 60 is recommended to suit all devices your users may be reading your content on.
Sure, all this information is provided in the app since you won’t be able to post if you meet them but write them down and make sure any content you’re creating is going to be suitable for posting.
Content Must Be Quality
Sure, there are a lot of videos out there that go viral that are blurry, sound awful, and have no production value, but these aren’t the types of video you want representing your business because you’ll be going viral for the wrong reason (unless you believe that any press is good press, in which case create whatever you want!)
You need to be thinking about image quality, sound quality, and orientation. You don’t want your video to pop only to make the watcher jump because your audio levels are so badly defined. Think quality with everything you do. What image of your business are you giving the people who come across your posts?
Content Must be Short but Sweet
If you’ve been on TikTok yourself, and if you haven’t and you’re planning to market on there, then you should probably at least have a look, then you’ll notice that most content is extremely short, which seems to be the trend with a lot of content these days.
When we say short, we mean around seven seconds or less, and perhaps sadly, this is still longer than the average human attention span of the modern age. This means you need to grab your audience’s attention quickly and then give them the critical information that’s going to make them want to click further, thus entering your sales funnel.
You could do this using a traditional ad format, or you can create genuine content that works well as standalone content. In other words, you’re creating genuinely entertaining TikTok videos first, and then using this content as an ad second.
“Having this kind of attitude can help you create really entertaining content that people want to connect with, thus bringing you more success than just trying to sell. Take a look at companies who are doing really well on TikTok, big companies like Chipotle and GymShark.”
The content these companies are posting is really great videos that if they were posted by anyone else who wasn’t trying to sell anything, they would still work. Because they work, the marketing aspect of the video naturally fits the video.
Keep Creating
TikTok has a very fast culture. Trends can pass incredibly quickly, and what was hot and popular three days ago may not be relevant anymore, which means you need to be proactive in keeping up.
Even TikTok themselves recommend to brands that you’re updating your advertising and marketing content at least once per week. Consider this in your own life with the ad content you see.
You see an ad for the first time, and you watch it because you’re interested in what it has to say, and the chances are you see it through to the end. However, when you see that same ad a third, fourth, seventh, and tenth time, you get bored so quickly and end up actually resenting the brand because it feels like they’re bombarding you and trying to force you to watch their content when you really don’t want to.
This can actually be counterproductive to your marketing efforts because people actively don’t want to interact with your brand, so don’t be that company. Aim to keep things as fresh and as exciting as possible.
Keep Creating (Part Two) Fun Content
There’s no doubt that the vast majority of TikTok’s main userbase is young, with official statistics clocking in that 32% of users are between the ages of 10 and 19, 29.5% are between 20 and 29.
This means the largest chunk of the userbase is young and looking for actively funny, entertaining, or engaging content, and guess what, if your content isn’t fun or engaging, then people aren’t going to be interacting with it.
In most cases, you’ll want to be making your audience laugh, embracing meme culture, highlighting and creating content that suits current trends, viral challenges (perhaps even creating your own viral challenges), and not being too serious.
There’s only really a small niche for serious content, and the chances are you don’t really want your business to be associated with it. You want people to actively seek your content because it’s what everyone is talking about, and it’s content that people will be happy to see, not content that holds them back from getting to the good stuff. Be the good stuff.
Don’t Forget, It Works Both Ways
While you’re going to be putting a lot of attention on creating content for TikTok that will lead people to your Shopify Store, don’t forget that you can embed your TikTok content on your store, thus leading people backward and forwards in a two-way exchange.
There are plenty of great apps and extensions, like the VOP app, that make embedding your TikTok content on your Shopify as easy as a few clicks, and you can take advantage of these features in several different ways.
For example, one downside of shopping online is that it can be hard to be sure whether you’re getting a product you actually like because you’re only seeing a few photos of it. Instead, you can create TikTok’s that show off your products in a fun little video that makes your products stand out.
You could even get your customers to create content of themselves using your products, which you can then link and feature on your product pages or on your TikTok profile itself, which can be a fantastic way of bringing your community together, and getting people engaging with your business.
A Shopify brand that has used TikTok so effectively is Princess Polly, who created a TikTok storm and frenzy around their products and have now become one of the internet’s biggest online retailers. If you’re looking for inspiration, there are few companies that have used TikTok as well as they have.
Work With Creators
You’ve obviously heard of influencer marketing, but perhaps thought it was always reserved for platforms like Instagram and YouTube, but this simply isn’t the case. Now that TikTok has established itself over the last few years, there is a steady stream of creators who would be happy to work with you.
Now, there’s a bit of an art when it comes to picking and choosing the right influencers and creators to work with, including the demographics of their audience, and what kind of company the creator wants to work with, and so on, but that’s a whole other ball game.
What you need to know right now is that there are opportunities out there, and you should be thinking about taking them. Remember the key points that sponsored content should always be authentic, genuine content that can stand by itself without being an ad, and contracts should be made clear, so both parties know what they’re getting into.
Don’t just try and go for the biggest creator in your niche because you’ll get the most reach because that might not be the best approach. Instead, you may want to work with small, niche creators that will have a much more engaging audience that will be interested in what you have to offer.
Always Include, and Never Forget, Your Call to Action (CTA)
Since we’re talking about marketing, this point should go without saying, but if you don’t include a CTA in your ad content, your users simply won’t be clicking through and making a purchase. What do you want your users to do? Are they buying a product? Are they checking out your store? Are you running a sale? Are they downloading an app?
If it isn’t clear what your customers have to do, then they’re not actually going to do anything. Be direct and concise with your CTAs, using power words like ‘Buy Now’ or ‘Learn More,’ words which clearly state your intent.
As with all the points we’ve discussed above, the easier and more attractive you make your ads, the better reception you’re going to have, and the more successful your campaign will be. Attract, educate, and direct. These are the considerations and actions you need to be focusing on.
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Lauren Groff
Lauren Groff is a social media expert and writer at OX Essays and PhD Writing Service. She loves helping businesses expand into new areas and take up new, modern opportunities. Lauren also writes for Paper Writing Service.
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