How Brands Are Leveraging TikTok

TikTok has fast become one of the most used platforms in the world, boasting over one billion users and cementing itself as part of internet culture.

Now, TikTok is taking over the e-commerce space and offering brands a place to play and engage with its audience.

TikTok has turned shopping into a bonafide trend, e-commerce has been effortlessly integrated into the platform.

The best example is the hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt has been seen over five billion times worldwide and involves consumers sharing what they bought from the funny to the fabulous to the practical.

@yourmommadontdance

50 and I fit in my breadbox … so? #stuck #tiktokmademedoit #comingoutday #box

♬ The Way I Live – Baby Boy da Prince

TikTok has also recently honed in on its e-commerce space, creating innovative ways to ensure it’s helping brands achieve their goals on the platform.

The first is collection ads, is an immersive ad format that allows brands to display multiple products on an instant gallery page. Advertisers can customise collection ads to showcase a curation of their best-selling products.

Another innovation is TikTok Shopping, a suite of solutions, features, and advertising tools that allow businesses to harness the full power of TikTok’s influence on purchase decisions.

That’s the most powerful thing about TikTok: it really does have something for everyone. TikTok offers an incredibly inclusive space, there isn’t just one particular ‘type’ of creator that thrives in the space. TikTok allows for creators of different ages, ethnicities and genders to shine, from AJ Clementine to Michelle Chubb.

This is reflected in its e-commerce, enabling brands to connect with unique audiences, show off creativity and, let’s face it, have fun.

Head of partnerships at TikTok, ANZ, Hollie Lowe’s role is to connect brands into the trendsetting community. She works with businesses like Optus and Woolworths and basically helps them leverage the platform.

Lowe said: “My biggest passion is delivering results for our clients and proving this by bringing together data, product innovation and measurement. That’s always been my core focus and it still is today.”

“While brands differ in the sizes, revenues and the products they offer Australians, what makes them successful on TikTok is their ability to have a genuine value exchange and conversation with their customers.”

“Another secret of the brands who are finding success on TikTok, is that they stay true to their own personality and tone of voice, while not being afraid to speak the language of their customers.”

TikTok is attracting retailers because it allows brands to play, show off their identity and connect with a really engaged audience. Two in three people on TikTok believe the platform helps them get ideas about brands or products they’d never thought of before.

A recent survey found that seven out of ten TikTok ads are considered enjoyable. Basically, if brands embrace the humour and style of the platform aka have fun – they tend to get positive feedback. For instance, Telstra recently handed over its “Coverage Matters” tagline to a number of creators.

Each of these creators brought the platform to life in unique ways that aligned with their personal brands. With the creators spanning diverse TikTok communities including comedy, food and parenting, the videos connected with multiple audiences and celebrated the broad appeal of Telstra’s 5G network.

The creators included @cookingwithakoori, @benblue01 and @samanthaandrew1, each put their own unique spin on the tagline and developed a bank of content for Telstra. Allowing Telstra to connect authentically with several communities across the platform.

@kookingwithakoori

Kooking with a koori🖤💛❤️Tomato sauce cravings, @telstra #coveragematters #ad #madfeedz #devon #ketchup #foodtiktok #fyp #australia #foodie

♬ original sound – Kooking with a koori

Similarly, The Athlete’s Foot reimagined TikTok’s For You Page as a virtual race track and asked Australians to ‘Katch the Kayanos’, the ASICS Gel-Kayano 28 shoes, by scrolling through their feed and finding creator @sarahmagusara wearing them – for a chance to win the new shoes.

@user037048

Win a pair of ASICS Gel-Kayano 28. Scroll to catch @sarahmagusara

♬ original sound – theathletesfootaunz

As people scrolled through their feeds the advertising placements acted as signposts with different In-Feed ads encouraging the community to continue to scroll to race to the finish line.

As a result, The Athlete’s Foot saw total sales of the sneaker increase by 9.9 per cent compared to the same time last year.

This is happening across multiple industries with everything from Maybelline mascara being sold out, to a global shortage of feta pasta, or even a rapid increase in the sale of skateboards, all due to TikTok.

One example that blew up this year was when Hannah Schlenker wore the American Eagle sub-brand Aerie’s leggings in TikTok video.

This led to a groundswell of interest, with the community asking about the product. While the brand didn’t ask her to create the content, it reaped the benefits as the product quickly sold out and continues to be one of the most talked-about products in 2021.

Brands big and small are now jumping at the chance to work with TikTok creators, because they generate buzz and create tangible results.