One of the social media platforms that has become more prevalent than ever is TikTok. Since it launched, it’s turned into a social media phenomenon and anyone who is anyone is on it, watching it, or becoming someone on it. Sales on TikTok are growing and the TikTok shop is to blame. TikTok Social commerce sales experienced a huge surge in 2023, and that means users aren’t just using TikTok for entertainment anymore.
If you have a small business and you’re on TikTok, you need to start looking at whether the shop is going to be a good place for you. From TikTok shop fulfillment to happy customers, understanding how to set up your TikTok shop is the first step. Once you get set up, you can push your focus onto sales, unlocking the potential of what you’re selling in the first place. So, let’s dive in and take a look at whether a TikTok shop is worth it, how to set it up and how to boost it so that your shop isn’t going to fall by the wayside.
How to set up TikTok Shop
- The first step to setting up your TikTok shop is to set up a business account. A personal TikTok account doesn’t allow you the privilege of setting up your own shop, so you need to look at having a TikTok business account so that you can get your shop started. It’s easy to do, you just have to open the app on your mobile device, tap the three lines in the top right and select Settings and Privacy. You then go to the account, switch to the Business Account and then follow the on screen instructions to transition to a TikTok business account. Once you’ve done that, you’ll have the privilege of being able to use TikTok Shop.
- Next, you need to create a seller account. To register the account you need to go to seller-us.tiktok.com and click on ‘start selling now.’ Once you’ve signed up, your account gets verified in your specific country so that your shop is located where your local customers can find it. You can fill in all of your required business information that TikTok Shop demands and then click Submit. The audit results should be delivered within a few days.You have to wait for approval before you can start selling.
- Work on uploading your products. Once you’ve transitioned your account to a business account and you’ve created a seller account, you can then start uploading your products to the TikTok shop. It’s really easy and the instructions make the logistics of it very smooth. You can even set your return address to be the same as a pick up address or you can fill in a different one. The shop warehouse pick up address and phone number needs to be.There so that people know where they’re getting their merchandise from.
Tips to boost your TikTok Shop
Once you start getting some traction with your shop and you start getting some sales going, you need to be able to boost it so that you can start exploring effective strategies to make that really strong entrance into the marketplace. TikTok, as you well know, is already over saturated with influences and influencer fans. You don’t necessarily want to become an influencer yourself, but if you own your own business, you do need to get noticed. Boosting your shop is going to help you to do that and here are some tips to help:
- Engage with the audience, but make sure it’s the right audience. You do not want to start selling everything to every single person on TikTok because there are going to be a lot of customers out there who are not relevant to you. Targeting your ideal audience is critical if you want your shop to be a success. This will allow you to foster those genuine connections and get that engagement that is meaningful from start to finish. You have to make sure that your audience is your actual target audience and that they follow you for the right reasons. It helps to start by defining your unique value proposition and reflecting on the core values of your business in your TikTok bio. This will give you authentic follower connections.
- Start working on relevant content. Just because you have a TikTok shop doesn’t mean your content is relevant to the people who go there. You need to make sure that your content is thriving in your selected audience, and you have to make sure that your content is aligning with your brand theme. Resonating with your audience is a must, so if you want to leverage successful strategies from similar categories, you can fit them into your brand. This allows you to address your pain points and showcase any product solutions for a more engaging experience for your customers. The more you gain traction, the more you can seize the opportunity to engage with the community and respond to comments and participate in discussions. From here, you’ll gain a proactive approach that fosters a sense of connection while strengthening your presence on TikTok.
- Put together a content calendar. If you find it difficult to stay on top of your content or keep it regular, then put together a content calendar and film things in advance. You can then have videos posted automatically on your behalf. A content calendar allows you strategic planning and ensures that you show up for social shopping moments, especially as we move into the festive season. You need to strike that correct balance between quantity and quality by posting 1-4 times a day and aim for at least 14 shoppable videos per week. Leveraging batch production for efficiency can help and simplifying your workflow will work in your favor, too. Where possible, save things as draft so that you can stagger your posting through the week.
- Go Seasonal. By aligning your content strategy with seasonal opportunities, you’ll be able to maximize the latest sounds, hashtags, and trends that drive better engagement and enhance your content. This will help with guidance from fellow TikTok shop accounts. Getting started here with your content is the first step, but that’s not the last step. Establishing a schedule that suits you and capitalizing on trending topics will help.
- Partner with creators. Influencer marketing is popular for a reason, and if you partner with the right creators who are shopping and talking about the things that you’re doing, you’ll be able to align yourself with a very powerful strategy. Did you know that almost 80% of TikTok users have purchased products after watching their favorite creators use content on it? It offers the authentic touch and social voice that your brand is going to need to seamlessly integrate into the market. It’s a collaboration that you really can’t say no to if you want to be relevant on TikTok and stay relevant with your shop.
- Try to diversify your content where you can. There are three different types of short videos that boost sales on TikTok, and they are audience growth videos, live stream teaser videos, and unboxing videos. The goal for these is to increase engagement and followers without direct product links and you can do this through entertaining and inspirational content. Shoppable videos drive conversions with the right product links and help you to showcase your products excellence. You’ll also find that live stream teaser videos can channel traffic towards your live stream events and get the buzz going. You can keep things compelling for your audience if you are diversifying your content. Incorporating those behind the scenes footage options and unboxing videos along with how to guide can demonstrate how great your products are so it will traffic people to your shop.
Your TikTok shop experience takes some time. You need to implement the right strategies to navigate the shop itself while captivating your audience and keeping your engagement prosperous. You need your content to be worthy. You need to be able to stay tuned and on the pulse of all trends, and you need to make sure that you are sticking on top of the hashtags.
Understanding how to gain support to enhance your TikTok shop is important too, so make sure that you are reaching out to other creators in your niche or speaking to companies that can help you to navigate this. A TikTok shop is absolutely worth it if you have products that are going to be going out there to your audience because you’ll be able to speak to your audience on a different level. The experience that you can offer can provide even more opportunities for success and you should ensure that you are leaning into additional support where you can get it.
Take your time with your shop and make it the best thing that you ever do and your brand will be memorable across the globe.
