What are the best practices for using TikTok to promote your e-commerce brand?

Yes, knowing your niche is great but not all e-commerce businesses need a niche. The most important part of succeeding as a business in general, is to know who their audience is. If businesses know who their products and services can help, the better they will be at these things: 1. Crafting the right message that speaks to their target audience. 2. Research the right terminology, tone, behaviors, and even colors. 3. Know what their pain points are. 4. Create relatable content. 5. Run more targeted ads and promotions. 6. Build a great social media strategy. 7. Have a better content strategy. 8. Important data to focus on. And the list goes on and on. As a strategist, figuring out my clients’ audience makes my job a little easier.

Another thing that is important for TikTok and any other platform is to be on top of the trends, and use creativity to our favor. One of the reasons why TikTok became so popular was not to sell, but to entertain. Therefore, give people something they want to see, and want to buy afterwards. For instance, the latest is "deinfluencers," that are disrupting e-Commerce, which has become popular due to the economy, and the thought of less is better than buying stuff. https://www.nationalworld.com/lifestyle/deinfluencer-tiktok-trend-explained-consumer-culture-4037185

Always start by understanding your audience. What types of content do they enjoy? Who do they trust? How can you provide value to them? From there, you can design your content strategy with the audience in mind.

Make TikToks, not ads. Scroll through the platform for a few minutes, and you'll soon notice that the content on TikTok is different than anything else on social media. TikToks feature people in a unique way - lean in to creators who understand the content. They usually talk to the camera, provide entertainment/education, and give "snack size" content (short drops of info that can be easily understood in less than 30s).

Identifying Your Niche What are you passionate about? What do you want to be known for? By answering these questions, you can identify a specific area of interest that you can use as the foundation for your content. This will help you stay motivated and engaged in your creation process. It will also help you build a following of people who are eager to see what you create next. Staying Up to Date The second key strategy for creating original content on TikTok is to stay up to date with the latest trends and challenges on the platform that may go viral. By staying up to date, you can create content that is relevant and engaging for your audience. Following other creators who are in your niche can help you stay informed.

Using humor and creativity can help make your content stand out and keep viewers engaged. Don't be afraid to experiment with different formats and styles to see what works best for you and your audience. Just make sure to always be true to your creative voice and values in order to preserve trust and loyalty with your followers.

Don't underestimate the power of user-generated content. Every brand has their loyal followers - let them be your brand advocates and speak your praises v/s you doing it. Their reviews and opinions come across more authentic and give your brand credibility.

Influencer collaborations are among the most successful marketing campaigns because they allow brands to tap into an influencer's engaged audience. Influencer marketing can help brands reach new audiences, boost brand awareness, and drive sales, especially when the influencer aligns well with the brand's values and target customer.

I don’t see TikTok as a social media platform anymore, but a search engine and the earlier business owners start treating it as such, the sooner they will grow their brand awareness and trusted clients/customers. Here are a few things business owners can do to optimize their TikTok profile: 1. Use keywords in their username. 2. Setup their bios correctly with keywords. 3. Have at least 3 pillar content that is related to what their business is about. 4. Use the same keywords in what they say on a video content, or what is written on the screen in their captions and hashtags. 5. Do keyword research on TikTok to find similar accounts and see what their competitors are doing right, then recreate them. 6. Focus on SEO, not likes and followers.

TikTok is the new search engine for Gen Z. Brands need to effectively optimize their content with keywords and hashtags in order to boost discovery.

Consistency is key. Social algorithms reward frequent uploads and ongoing community engagement, so make sure that TikTok is an always-on part of your marketing strategy.