TikTok Made Me Buy It: 3 tips to tap the shopping craze

TikTok Made Me Buy It: 3 tips to tap the shopping craze

March 1, 2021

TikTok For Business, Editorial Team

Small BusinessBest Practices

You've probably heard of the "TikTok made me buy it" trend. If you haven't, you could be missing a big opportunity for sales. TikTok is known for sparking trends and inspiring shoppers. Our users are enthusiastic about making purchases via mobile, and they’re even more excited to share videos about their latest buys - in fact, 49% more likely to post product or service reviews via mobile than the average internet user.¹

It’s a fun, persuasive atmosphere that prompts participation with hashtags like#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, in which users post videos about the cool products they learned about on TikTok. This hashtag has exploded across the platform with more than 1.b billion views, helpingpropelnumerous products and brands intoviral statusthrough organic posts and reviews. This has led to hugeboosts in salesand evenproducts selling out. And it's not just the big brands that are benefitting. The TikTok community has also helped shine a spotlight on high-quality yet affordable products, leading to spikes in sales.

But the question is, how should brands leverage the "TikTok made me buy it" craze? Where should they start? While there is no foolproof formula for going viral, there are a few things you can keep in mind to help your products get discovered.

You already know that TikTok users are enthusiastic about shopping and sharing their purchases. That same passion makes them highly discerning consumers, because they’re driven to find the very best products that fit their lifestyles and enhance their identities.

No matter what they are shopping for, TikTokers do their research before buying. You can count on them to check out your company’s official account and read online reviews of your products. So it’s important to make sure they’re getting a clear message from your brand and a positive feeling from your customers.

Your brand’s account: When it comes to your official messaging, consistency is crucial—from your bio and your videos to your tone, voice, emojis, and hashtags. It should all come together to tell your brand’s unique story, and it should be clear and easy for users to understand with a quick scroll. To add information about your business, including your official website and contact information, you can switch to a free Business Account. This also gives you access to real-time metrics and insights on your content performance and follower base.

Your online reviews: Positive online reviews are essential. Take charge of your reviews by proactively gathering positive comments from happy customers. Ask them specifically to post reviews and sweeten the deal with incentives like discount codes or free shipping on their next purchase.

Life hacks take many forms—and you can find them all on TikTok. Whatever your business makes or sells, it surely improves your customer’s life in some way.

And self-improvement sells, especially on TikTok. Many people are attracted to the platform to learn new things and to be inspired. They want to become a better version of themselves—and to help others to be their best selves, too. That’s why the TikTok community loves sharing life hacks, from makeup tutorials to job interview tips to building a DIY phone projector.

You can harness the power of this trend by emphasizing the life hack, self-improvement or self-care aspects of your products. Highlight the benefits that the user will experience instead of just focusing on its features. Make it all about them, not you.

Case Study: an ecommerce company used the self-improvement angle to maximize sales of their LED light strips. Their TikTok ads didn’t say anything about the length of the strips, the number of lights, or how bright they were. Instead, they focused on how each color of LEDs would improve the user’s life: Red promotes sleep. Green helps you focus. Blue energizes you. The result? A conversion rate of 2% and a 3X return on ad spend.

TikTok has always been a place where users feel free to unleash their creativity and express themselves in a no-judgement zone. It’s fun. It’s playful. It’s more casual and less filtered than other platforms because TikTok users are sharing with anyone around the world who shares their interests, not just people they know.

TikTok is all about being true to yourself, and that goes for brands too. The best way to tap into the TikTok community is to become part of it. Join the conversation. Have an active presence on the platform. Share what you’re all about. Show the world what really matters to your brand and you’ll connect with the people who believe that those things matter too.

TikTok users spend most of their time scrolling through their For You feeds, where each user sees a personalized stream of contentcurated to their interests. This is where your ads will appear, so it’s essential that your content evokes the truth of your brand. Authentic, engaging videos are the best way to capture users’ hearts and turn awareness into purchases.

Join the party and discover unique opportunities to connect with your target audience. Harness the  
"TikTok made me buy it" craze to make a new trend—and to make your brand more relevant than ever before. Stuck on how to get started? Visit ourSmall Business Resource Centerfor everything you need to grow your brand and better connect with your audience. Or check out our recent articles ondeveloping your strategyand getting creativeon TikTok.
 

1. Source: GWI, Q4 2020. Base: All internet users aged 16-64 (excl. China). Question: “In the past month, which of the following things have you done on the internet via any device?TikTok is known for sparking trends and inspiring shoppers.

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