Tagged: Influencer Marketing
4 Things You Need To Know About TikTok Shop
- by Luke Thiessen
Social media giant TikTok has innovated and changed a lot about how we use the internet, and increasingly, that includes shopping.
Given its simple, streamlined structure of feeding videos to users, TikTok may not seem like the most likely app to become a one-stop shop for everything on the internet, but – mostly thanks to a huge Gen Z userbase – that’s exactly where it is heading. Research shows that younger people are increasingly using social media (especially TikTok) in place of search engines, and now, in place of “traditional” online stores and e-commerce.
The app was already carving out a niche as a place for influencers to recommend products, with popular trends and hashtags like #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt driving sales even before businesses could sell anything directly on the app. Then in September of 2023, TikTok announced the worldwide rollout of TikTok Shop, its in-app shopping platform powered by Shopify.
Whether you’re a business looking for another sales avenue, or a TikTok user and customer curious about the platform, here are four things you need to know about TikTok Shop.
1. It’s more popular than you might think
TikTok itself has been one of the fastest-growing social media platforms since its launch, but its sales platform has proven even more immediately popular. Less than two years in, one U.S. survey shows 37% of Americans under 60 have purchased something on TikTok Shop.
Other data suggests that only between a quarter and a third of marketers are using TikTok at all, with many of those not using TikTok Shop, so it seems businesses are lagging behind consumers in meeting them where they want to engage and shop. And while TikTok users aren’t quite as likely to follow as many businesses and brands on the platform, a survey from Sprout Social showed that more than half of users interact with brands daily, and product discovery was the thing users wanted most from brands on TikTok.
2. Most products sold on TikTok are health and beauty
Since its launch, TikTok Shop has been dominated by a few specific product categories, especially things like cosmetics, wellness products and fast fashion. However, as more businesses join the platform, the market is diversifying, if slowly.
In its early days, nearly all products sold on TikTok were health and beauty, and while other product categories have started making their way onto the platform, health and beauty still makes up around 79% of sales.
So, if you are a cosmetic, hair or skincare brand, you will be in good company on TikTok Shop, but also face a lot of competition.
3. It really is the wild west out there
While younger, female users are the most likely to make a purchase on TikTok Shop, that may be more to do with a lack of products on offer for other audiences – meaning a lot of opportunity for new brands and product categories to get into the market.
More than half of active TikTok users are male, and older users (relatively speaking) are increasingly getting onto the platform – there just isn’t much to interest them shopping-wise. There is a large untapped market here. But it is also a relatively unregulated and sometimes unreliable market.
Complaints about TikTok Shop abound. Reviews on TrustPilot average 1.4 stars (out of 5), and while those reviews largely reflect bad experiences with specific stores on the platform – rather than issues with the platform itself – TikTok does not seem overly interested in intervening or regulating the stores that operate there.
It could be that fear and risk of scams is keeping some users from buying on TikTok Shop, but there is also data showing that those who do make a purchase on the platform often return and become regular buyers. A large portion (more than 80%) of all TikTok Shop sales are made by existing customers.
4. It goes really well with influencer marketing
Influencer marketing long predates TikTok, and is still going strong on other social media platforms – but TikTok is where it really shines. And with TikTok Shop, it is now even easier to guide potential customers from an influencer video directly to making a purchase.
When an influencer posts a paid review or other video about your brand on TikTok, a new customer can be purchasing that product from your TikTok Shop within a couple of taps, and without leaving the app. It’s a pretty ideal way to gain conversions online, and very easy to track ROI too.
A Sprout Social report shows that the average TikTok influencer charges about $10 (USD) per 1,000 followers for a post, which is on par with Instagram and Snapchat, and about half the cost of Facebook and YouTube. Combined with the ease of making a purchase on TikTok Shop, this makes for a fairly cost-effective bit of advertising.
Let us help!
If you're looking to create a social media or digital marketing strategy that includes TikTok Shop, or just need some good advice, drop us a line! Social media is our specialty, and we love working with companies to find their audiences and drive business online. Contact us today for a quote or to set up a meeting!
What to Look for in an Influencer
- by Alicia Kurz
By: Alicia Kurz, Account Manager
As important as it is to have consistent, quality content on your business' social media profiles, working with an influencer can be a great way to expand your reach and give people more information about your brand.
After all:
familiarity = trust = conversions (aka, sales!)
The more familiar a consumer is with a specific brand, the more likely they are to choose that brand's products or services, and influencers are a great way to "familiarize" your brand with a wider audience.
Why? Because 49% of consumers say that they depend on influencer recommendations to inform their purchasing decisions.
As a result, brands are leaning heavily into influencer marketing as a way to get their products seen through the eyes of a trusted source. But how do you choose the right one?
Before simply scrolling through likes and comments and making a snap decision, take a look at how we choose the right influencers for our clients:
The influencer marketing metrics we care about most
Reach
We’re not just talking about vanity metrics.
Simple metrics like follower count are much less important than you may think — just because someone has a huge following doesn't necessarily mean every single follower is seeing their content (hint: most aren't) which is why we don't rely on this metric too much when choosing an influencer to work with.
To determine influencer value, we look in an influencer's media kit for specific stats like average accounts reached per post, and average impressions per post. All of this information should be easily available through their business or creator account.
Engagement
When we're looking for influencers, we want to see an engaged audience who cares about and interacts with their content.
When vetting influencers, we like to keep an eye on stats like engagement rate, average likes, comments, shares, story views, saves, and even website clicks per post. This is all key information in planning an influencer campaign.
We also look for telltale signs of engagement things like:
- Do the influencers reply to comments?
- Are they starting conversations with their audience?
- Do they "set and forget" their posts?
- Do they update their Stories regularly?
- Do they use Stickers and other interactive elements?
All of these factors come into play when assessing an influencer's engagement with their audience.
Content
One of the most important things we look for is consistency. This is the number one indicator to tell if the influencer is reliable, professional, and someone we want to work with.
After all: having an unorganized posting schedule means the influencer's audience doesn’t know when to look for their content.
Another element we care about is the quality of their photos. High-quality photos means that the influencer cares about the content going on their page — which means they will care about your products and services reflect their page.
Here are a few other factors we check out before we choose an influencer:
- Video and photo quality. Like we said: photos and videos look cohesive, the content looks professional and it’s clear the influencer knows what they’re doing, they get a gold star from us!
- Audio quality. We want to make sure we can clearly hear each video. Using captions in the videos and reels is another huge factor we look out for, since captions make videos more accessible to people and increases comprehension with the influencer's audience.
- Tone. We have to make sure the tone echos our clients’ brand voice. We browse to see the type of content they put out, how they use language around other sponsored posts, and how people respond to that content.
- Posting frequency. Another factor we browse for are large gaps in posting. We want to see that they typically post the same number of times per week — we know that pesky algorithm changes when posting frequency changes.
Audience
Great influencers are in touch with their followers and know exactly the content that will resonate with their audience. When looking for influencers to partner with, we want to know that they have a clearly defined target audience that matches our clients’ ideal customers.
Our team can get a pretty good idea about who an influencer’s target audience is from a profile, but we prefer seeing analytics on a per-platform basis so we can see who their content is reaching.
Budget
Once we know that an influencer's content and audience align with a brand's goals and customers, it's time to talk about pricing.
Pricing determines which influencers a business can work with, and rates vary greatly across the board depending on their experience, audience, reach, and who they've partnered with in the past. With this in mind, it's also important to be specific with our requests so there's no confusion about the cost and what we expect them to deliver.
Things we want to know include:
- Will they add in a mention on their newsletter or blog?
- How many Stories will they post?
- Will the content be posted on the feed?
- Will they post photo or video reviews?
Protip: when planning running an influencer campaign, collect the media kits from all of the influencers you want to work with and budget accordingly for the ones you really want to work with.
Media Kits
This is a portfolio of an influencer’s work and demonstrates their social stats at a glance. Things we look for in a media kit include:
- Audience demographics
- Website or social platform stats
- Testimonials
- Sponsored post examples
A comprehensive media kit should also include a bio section which offers more background information about the influencer, and gives us a chance to see if their values and interests align with the brand that wants to work with them.
At the end of the media kit should include contact information, collaboration descriptions and pricing details.
Collaboration details should include different options for marketers to choose from like giveaways, product reviews, brand mentions in social posts, blog posts, or newsletter mentions.
Depending on the influencer, some will work for product trades, but many are leaning away from that option. It’s a lot of work to photograph, review, post and engage on any platform, and they’ve done the work to get your audience in one spot!
Prices can range from $50 to hundreds or even thousands of dollars per post, depending who you are working with. If the influencer’s pricing is close to your budget but slightly over, just be upfront about it. If they like your brand they may be able to find an option that works for both of you.
Find the perfect influencer for your business
Finding the perfect influencers to promote your products and services can feel overwhelming — but it doesn't have to! By using the tips above as your guide, you can connect with influencers who resonate with your audience and help even more people learn about your business and what you offer.
For more hot tips for your digital marketing strategy, be sure to give us a follow on Twitter, Insta and LinkedIn, and subscribe to our newsletter for weekly insights into the latest digital marketing strategies.
Influencers: are looking to promote quality content on your page? Our clients might be the perfect fit for you. Send your media kit to influencers@starling.social and we'll be in touch!
