How to Sell on TikTok

Social media platform TikTok’s not just all catchy dance trends and people dramatically setting food on fire in their trendy kitchens. It’s also - perhaps surprisingly - a place to sell products, both physical and digital, via TikTok Shop, which is changing the selling game for businesses and content creators.

What’s TikTok Shop?

TikTok Shop is a shopping feature that you can use directly on the TikTok app, as an effective blend of UGC (user generated content), influencer marketing, and eCommerce. 

Creators, brands, and businesses can display their products right on TikTok’s video feed and their own TikTok Shop page. TikTok users, on their side of things, can then use these shopping features to browse and buy products without even leaving the app.

TikTok Shop also lets you sell products via your TikTok Lives; shopping events held on Lives resemble a more current, faster version of QVC or HSN shopping, skewed to a younger demographic.

Aaaaand Why Should I Care?

Do you like money? Do you want to make more of it on social media? Then you should care! TikTok has a huge reach around the globe, with over 30 million videos posted to the platform by creators, businesses, and TikTok influencers every single day. 

TikTok’s own stats show that 70% of TikTok users discover new products while browsing TikTok; and that 3 out of 4 TikTok users are likely to buy something while doing that browsing. 

Those are very high margins, with plenty of opportunity for your products to be the ones they’re buying! And with TikTok Shop Live, you can even engage with TikTok users - your potential customers - in real time.

The Shop is also set up in such a way that it makes it very easy for people to purchase right away if they see something they like. There’s a secure checkout, solid order management, and reliable customer support, making TikTok’s version of social commerce simple to use and hugely successful.

Okay! How Do I Sell on TikTok Shop? 

So now you’re probably wondering how to sell on TikTok shop. How do you even access TikTok Shop? Well, there are a few hoops to jump through for your TikTok Shop sign up, but overall it’s a fairly straightforward process.

First, make sure that you qualify. TikTok Shop is currently available for sellers in the U.S., the U.K., Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. 

You’ll apply through the TikTok Seller Center, where you must be able to verify your identity with info like your phone number, email, tax ID number, and driver’s license or passport; business accounts will also need documents of business verification. 

To be a TikTok Shop seller, your account must be in good standing, and currently following TikTok’s Community Guidelines. And if you’re applying for TikTok Shop as a creator (not an established business), you must be at least 18 years of age.

I’ve Qualified! …So What Now?

Congrats! Once you’re approved, it’s time to start getting your TikTok Shop set up to sell, sell, sell! The starting point is your products. You can use TikTok Shop’s own tools, including the Product Builder (a template for listing individual products); Bulk Uploader (requires an Excel template); Product Migrator, so you can bring in your entire product catalog from other ecommerce sites; and Integrations, which work to sync your products from other marketplaces like Shopify or BigCommerce.

Once you have your products listed - this includes both physical products and TikTok Shop digital products - you can start making content to promote those products on TikTok, from individual TikTok videos to TikTok Lives (live streamed, real time shopping experiences.) 

You can do “show off” videos of the products, unboxings, tutorials, display the products being used in GRWM (Get Ready With Me) videos, travel excursions or other real-life situations - whatever you think will be most effective to sell your wares! 

Make sure you’re also using hashtags and, where applicable, tapping in to current TikTok trends to help amplify your reach. Shoppable videos should be next on your to-do list. These are TikTok videos that are extra - they include product links and are immediately “shoppable” by your viewers.

How to Make Shoppable Videos in 5 Steps

Shoppable videos are one of the foundations of TikTok Shop. These are videos that are created in the same format as any typical TikTok video; but shoppable TikTok videos contain links to the products that your video is featuring, so your user base can shop them right from the app. 

Shoppable videos can be up to 10 minutes long, so be sure to plan each video ahead, to showcase each product the way that you want. Aim at your target audience, and create your shoppable videos with them in mind. Here’s how you make a shoppable video:

1. Open the TikTok app and tap the plus sign. Now you’re in the pre-shooting screen, where you can experiment with TikTok camera effects to decide what you want to use.

2. Start recording your shoppable video per your plans, and tap the check mark when you’re done recording.

3. From here, you can edit, adding music, text, filters, and overlays. This is also where you can include stickers, coupons, and other elements that are relevant to your shoppable video.

4. Hit the “Next” button to add product links, connecting your product to your video and making your video shoppable, so users can click the link and make their purchase without even leaving TikTok.

5. Choose a preview thumbnail to appear on the front of your video, and post! Once your video is reviewed (which generally only takes a few minutes), it’ll be immediately posted, and viewers can start shopping from it.

Set Yourself Up for TikTok Selling Success!

Now that you’ve got the hang of how to get started, here are some pro tips to get you set up for success selling on TikTok!

• Use Trending Audio - using popular audio tracks to accompany your TikTok product videos can draw in extra users who may just be looking for that tune. Having trending audio on your shopping videos also helps them come across as fresh and current.

Sites like TokChart can help you pinpoint which trending songs and audio tracks might be most  effective on your TikTok shopping videos.

• Showcase Products Authentically - avoid a salesman-type or hard sell approach in your shoppable videos and Lives; instead, just share the product’s features as if you were enthusiastically showing them off to a friend, and fit in the relevant information about the product in a more casual way. It’s good to be personable, but try to stay on topic, to help keep your viewers’ shopping experience focused on the product.
  

• Know What You’re Doing - As part of your prep for shooting your video or Live, make sure you know the facts about your product: the product description, features and benefits, selling points, price, how its used (if applicable), and what makes it a worthy purchase. Use high quality video and a range of camera angles, so your viewers can see the product images clearly. 

Sellers like Lonkoommy bring a wealth of info to their TikTok Live shopping events, like her fragrance event, in which she’s sharing details about each fragrance’s scent ingredients, prices, and everything else her potential customers might want to know.

• Engage with TikTok Users - be sure to respond to comments and questions about the products in your TikTok videos! Sometimes simply answering a question or sharing your enthusiasm about the product can be the difference that makes the sale.
  

• Keep Your Branding Consistent - Part of keeping your TikTok account authentic is also keeping at least some type of cohesive niche for the products you’re selling. Think about it from the user’s perspective; does it make sense if you’re selling trendy clothing one minute, and heavy-duty truck tires the next? Probably not - and it might even look pretty sketchy, like you’re nothing more than a clearinghouse for random products. So try to create a theme and vibe for your TikTok Shop, and stick to it when creating your content.
  

• That Said, Don’t Limit Yourself - Can you sell digital products on TikTok Shop? What about eBooks? Regular books? Home goods? Electronics? Trendy fashion and beauty items? Yes! TikTok Shop lets you sell all of the above. Once you’ve established your theme/niche, some smart planning and marketing will enable you to effectively sell a wide variety of goods within your niche, as long as they make sense to yourself, your brand, and to your potential TikTok customers.

You Can Do It!

Ready to start selling? Sign up for TikTok Shop today, and start growing your eCommerce business! 

And while you’re at it, learn how to earn more from your content by subscribing to the Creator Logic newsletter - you can find freedom as a content creator no matter what your TikTok follower count. Join 37,000 other creators getting business insights, tactics, case studies, and encouragemint… uh, encouragement…  in under 7 minutes a week. You deserve it!