Most people know to make sure they have a robust social media strategy for your brand new …or existing dropshipping, eCommerce, or Shopify store, but what about the newest kid on the block, TikTok?
TikTok has had much hype recently, with nurses dancing during the pandemic going viral across the globe, but is it the right place to make sure your newly engaged customers will discover your winning products?
In this article, we will find out the real answers to help you plan your social media strategy and make sure you’re the go-to store!
First, let’s do the brief takeaway so you can find out straight away whether dropshippers can do dropshipping on TikTok.
Can dropshippers use TikTok for marketing? Using TikTok, dropshippers can utilize influencers to spread the word of their brand to a target audience, create a channel to showcase their business by uploading relevant videos, and also the ‘pay to advertise’ option. Dropshippers can add a storefront, with filters and videos to promote products.
So now we’ve got the brief takeaway covered with the short answer, so we can better understand if we can do dropshipping on TikTok and if so, how. Let’s dig in.
What is TikTok?
According to an article in The New York Times,
“TikTok is rewriting the world”
So what exactly is it, and why is it becoming so popular?
TikTok is a video-sharing social media app owned by tech company ByteDance.
Their platform is essentially an outlet for mobile content. It allows users to create, edit, and share short-form video clips, where users can add filters to a soundtrack of the latest music trends.
According to its own advertising, they describe themselves as the ‘leading destination for short-form mobile video. Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy.’
TikTok now is over 500 million users strong …so that might be one good reason to add it into your marketing plan along with the added joy and creativity!
Just as Snapchat took the world by storm and now has more users than Twitter and changed the course of its industry, TikTok is not far behind.
So how can you harness the power of TikTok for your dropshipping business and is it any good for marketing your business? Let’s find out.
‘leading destination for short-form mobile video.
Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy.’
Is TikTok good for marketing my business?
Knowing that TikTok users downloaded the app more than 660 million times in 2018 alone, with a further 188 million downloads during the first half of 2019 according to Statista.com, eCommerce and Shopify store owners would do well to take notice!
Using TikTok for dropshipping business is actually much simpler than you might think.
There are currently three main ways that brands can use TikTok to promote their products to potential customers:
- Encourage influencers to send out your content to your target audience
- Create a profile for your brand and upload videos that showcase your business
- Pay to advertise with TikTok’s new campaign options
Compared to oversaturated platforms like Facebook and Instagram, although the audience is currently the younger Gen Z’s and Alphas, it’s worth remembering that Facebook initially started as a platform for students!
“Create a channel for your brand and upload
videos that showcase your business”
What kind of dropshippers is TikTok marketing suitable for?
If you are simply hoping to ‘set and forget’ your store then maybe TokTok isn’t for you, as it does require time, effort, and a specific plan, along with of course good quality video footage.
So to maximize your return on TikTok, it is really important you put aside the time to create first-rate visuals, so make sure you think about the time required before you add this platform to your marketing bag of tricks.
Posting the best high-resolution and thoughtfully planned scripted videos possible increases the chance of your videos being seen.
That being said, it is suitable for both advanced dropshippers and beginners.
“Dropshippers who are really able to deliver
quality content will benefit the most.”
How can I use TikTok for dropshipping marketing?
Now we understand a little better what TikTok is and whether it would be a great addition to your social media marketing strategy, whether you’re a complete novice or even more experienced. We’ll now look into exactly how to use it, to get the most out of it.
Paid ads
The TikTok paid ads are a fairly new advancement in their offerings. There’s much speculation that currently, their advertising system isn’t quite yet mature enough to support dropshippers’ needs at the moment, but as with other platforms such as Facebook, we predict it won’t be long until that’s resolved.
According to TikTok’s website, users can benefit from:
- 5-60 second, full-screen vertical video with sound-on
- Optimize for traffic and conversion objectives; app installs and in-app events
- Precise targeting options including interest, event-based behaviors, custom, and lookalike audiences
- Range of billing options, CPM, CPC, CPV, and CPC
Organic traffic and livestreams
Dropshippers can put a storefront link in their profile and market themselves along with adding Livestreams to encourage more meaningful relationships with their fans.
This extra time is really helpful to connect more deeply with your target audience. Because usually, the regular video content is only between 15 and 60 seconds.
Influencer marketing
As with any other form of marketing media such as Instagram influencers, influencers can help you to reach more followers and convert those engaged viewers into sales.
Ok so now we’ve got some ideas in place, you might be wondering next how you get your new TikTok profile up and running ready to capture the imagination and get the crowds flocking to your dropshipping store!
Let’s find out.
How to build a TikTok profile for your dropshipping store
TikTok offers both a Pro account and a personal account.
A TikTok Pro account enables you to see statistics on your posts and overall account performance.
The account is primarily designed for businesses who want to improve the performances of posts or get to know more about their followers on TikTok, but it can be also used by anyone who is just curious.
When registering a business account, users can choose a creator account (Which actively pays video makers for their work) or a business account.
Carry on reading below to find out how you can get all the information you need to choose the best TikTok account for dropshippers and anyone with an ECommerce or Shopify store.
And finally…
We hope this article has answered all of your questions as to how to get TikTok working to engage customers and encourage them to visit your dropshipping store!
We know if you are just starting out on your dropshipping journey or even if you are a seasoned drop shipper making a good income, there’s always so much to do!
We’ve done all the leg work for you and put together a helpful free guide on how to get the best out of TikTok. Click the link above to get started today!