TikTok is so much more than a platform for dance challenges
While many still think of TikTok as a Gen Z platform for dance challenges, the app has long had a powerful effect on users’ shopping habits. Remember the TikTok Feta Effect? But until recently, that influence was indirect: users would learn about products through the app, but then head elsewhere to make their purchase.
In August 2021, that all changed when TikTok and Shopify announced a new integration that would allow for in-app shopping. Now users can click from within the app to buy the latest products. And boy, are people ever embracing it. The app surpassed $840 million in consumer spend worldwide in Q1 of 2022 alone, a 40% jump from Q4 of 2021.
TikTok is transforming shopping with the infinite loop
TikTok has proven that the eCommerce journey doesn’t end with a purchase – it loops back on itself, with users creating videos about their purchase, offering feedback, and spreading the word to their own family and friends. After a purchase, 1 in 4 users has made a post about their new product, and 1 in 5 has made a tutorial video.
TikTok’s influence is undeniable:
1. 67% of users say TikTok compelled them to shop – even if they weren’t planning to
2. 37% of users discover a product on the app and want to buy it immediately
3. 29% have tried to buy something on the app, only to discover that it’s already sold out
No wonder the hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt has received over 12.4 billion views (to April 2022).
But if TikTok videos are so influential, why aren’t more eCommerce brands using these videos in their buying journeys too? In this post, we explore why influencer and user-generated TikTok videos are so powerful for eCommerce brands. We also cover 3 reasons why eCommerce brands struggle to take advantage of TikTok and 3 tips for leveraging TikTok videos across eCommerce buying journeys.
The power of influencer and user-generated TikTok videos
Part of the appeal with TikTok videos is their immediacy. Viewers aren’t watching paid ads or product demonstrations, but real people sharing unfiltered opinions. This digital version of word-of-mouth advertising creates a sense of authenticity and trustworthiness: no one is being paid to say they love a product, so they must really, truly love it. The trick for brands is not to limit these videos to TikTok, but to bring them into the buying journey where they can speak to customers who are already on the product page – but this is sometimes easier said than done.
3 reasons why brands struggle to take advantage of TikTok
If TikTok can be such a windfall for brands, how come they aren’t tapping into its full power?
1. Brands struggle to scale TikTok videos across eCommerce journeys because the effort involved to do this manually is costly. time-consuming, and resource intensive.
2. It can be difficult to know just how much content is out there related to your brand. If you don’t have a clear understanding of what content is available from your customers, you’re going to miss the opportunity to leverage these videos beyond TikTok.
3. Brands often don’t dedicate the time or resource to surfacing the most relevant videos for each shopper. If they do embed these videos in their site, they will likely be static (the same video for every single visitor), rather than personalized on an individual basis.
Tips for using TikTok videos in eCommerce buying journeys
Harnessing the power of TikTok will make your products instantly shoppable, driving engagement, generating conversion, and boosting sales. Here’s how:
1. Add videos to your site: Integrate TikTok videos into high-traffic landing pages such as your homepage, category pages, and product description pages to offer the highly valued opinions shoppers trust during the buying journey.
2. Personalize videos: Make your videos hyper relevant to each shopper, matching the right video to the
3. Go beyond your site: Don’t stop with shopping pages. Leverage TikTok videos across all your other owned channels, including email newsletters, paid landing pages and your mobile app, so consumers get a reminder of what trusted customers and influencers think of a product.
How Lenovo uses TikTok videos as an eCommerce sales tool
Leading consumer electronics brand Lenovo uses Knexus to scale TikTok videos across their Student Store to provide inspiration, inspire confidence and foster product discovery. Personalized & shoppable TikTok videos have generated +152% add to cart rate and +191% check out rate for Lenovo across their Student Store.
Take the first step to maximizing eCommerce performance with integrated TikTok videos
If you’re looking to take advantage of the success of TikTok, you need to be proactive. It’s exciting when TikTok users and influencers start featuring your brand in their videos, but it’s only the first step. You also have to surface relevant videos, connect them to the buying journey, and personalize them for each unique site visitor. That way, the videos won’t just be an added bonus in your marketing plan; they’ll be crucial tools in helping your customers feel validated and in control of their buying decisions, in turn improving eCommerce conversions.
Ready to harness the power of TikTok videos? Learn more about Knexus today.
