What’s (Actually) Selling Successfully on TikTok?
And who is buying what? 🤔
#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt isn’t just a trending hashtag boasting over 6.9M posts all over your For You Page — it captures the legit profitable side of the creative platform. Regardless of your price points or target audience, these impressive TikTok stats will make you want to jump into action and rethink your current TikTok strategy ASAP.
Standing Out & Selling Big
How does TikTok convert potential customers into brand loyalists? According to MuteSix’s TikTok specialists, different factors amplify TikTok’s profitability.
TikTok users are…
- More likely to be repeat customers. They’re known to have more loyalty to brands they love.
- More likely to discover and embrace new brands. Brands have open lines of communication with their customers, allowing them to build trust with them like never before.
- Using the platform as a search engine. More and more users are using the app to find and discover products they’re already interested in. Brands that capitalize on this early on win.
- Seeing real people wear or use products. They can see first-hand how the product they’re thinking about buying is used. And besides the content creator’s review, viewers can read a range of opinions in the comments section.
TikTok brand content converts because…
- TikTok Shop allows brand discovery and conversions to happen in a single transaction. Users never have to leave the app to complete an action, preventing add-to-carts from dropping off.
- Brands can answer consumer questions in real time. Customer service can resolve issues faster.
- Influencer marketing is huge. Ads made with creators on TikTok drove a 26% increase in brand favorability among social and video platform users. People are still swayed by their favorite influencers and trust their recommendations.
The Power Is (Literally) in Users’ Hands
Before exploring TikTok users’ specific buyer behaviors, let’s define a few key terms:
Buying power: How the consumer decides to spend the cash available to them. (Ex: Millennial parents may exercise their buying power on kids’ clothes.)
Purchasing power: What a consumer can buy with a specific amount of money. (Ex: The purchasing power of $20 was more substantial twenty years ago since you can’t buy as much with $20 today.)
TikTok Shopping Habits By Generation
All of the above affect how different generations shop on TikTok. Here’s a breakdown of current TikTok users:
Gen Z (Ages 12–27)
At MuteSix, we’re seeing Gen Z’s disposable income grow. They’re flexing their buying power despite some businesses often limiting their target demographics to 25+ years old, eliminating a core audience with spare cash to spend.
It’s time to stop thinking, “What 19-year-old is buying a $150 shirt?!” Because if their favorite influencer on TikTok is wearing it, they’re buying it. (And we’ve seen an active subset that likely owns at least ten of them!)
Millennials (Ages 28–43)
Millennials are a significant part of the TikTok Community. This generation has grown up with technology, making them savvy and active on the platform. Five in 10 Millennials on TikTok are parents, and many are now the main shoppers in their household. Brands can win over Millennial users by creating content that entertains and educates.
Another distinctive aspect of Millennials on TikTok is their eagerness to join communities. In fact, 19% of Millennial TikTok users buy products to access the communities built around them.
Gen X (Ages 44–59)
Though the dollar’s purchasing power has decreased, 35% of Gen X’ers have bought a product because they saw it on TikTok in the past year. Also, 2 in 3 Gen X TikTok users will likely buy something while using TikTok.
Brick-and-mortar stores also benefit from TikTok’s influence. Gen X and older TikTok users are 1.4x more likely to visit an in-person retailer or brand store than other platform users.
Baby Boomers (Ages 60–78)
Even Baby Boomers love the app with over 1 in 4 expressing a fondness for TikTok’s narrative-driven, short-form videos. Baby Boomers have high purchasing power, and with the correct strategies and creative, you can easily appeal to this demographic.
For example, one way you can resonate with the Boomer audience is to feature Boomers in content. Seeing people like themselves reflected in a brand’s creative makes users more likely to remember and support the brand.
What Are TikTok Users Buying?
Both beauty and apparel call for striking visuals that translate seamlessly to a variety of videos. One of those video types, GRWM (“Get Ready With Me”), accounts for 10.9M posts on TikTok alone!
Within the beauty landscape, we drove results for the clinically effective skincare brand Naturium on the platform, resulting in a 976% increase in TikTok purchases.
But we’ve seen potential buying power extend outside those top categories. Other verticals that MuteSix has (surprisingly) scaled on TikTok:
- Mattresses (yup, “grown-up purchases” are also made on TikTok)
- Mobile banking apps (Dave)
- Shapewear (Pinsy)
- Jewelry (Little Words Project)
- Car air filters
- Supplements
- Shampoo
- We could go on…
How to Win on TikTok
Before you start trying easy ways to go viral on TikTok, consider incorporating these features into your strategy:
1. Grow your organic profile follower and video count with the Community Interaction objective. If you’re starting from square one, you can legally pay to buy followers on TikTok with this feature. We’ve seen accounts grow from 500 followers to 10,000 followers in a mere few weeks with a very low daily investment using this tactic.
2. Utilize TikTok Spark ads. Spark ads have different benefits.
- Organic: Boosting a video from your brand’s TikTok profile helps increase the view count of organic videos as well as their social proof.
- Paid: Boosting organic posts from creators helps enhance the authenticity of the ad. The ad is served from the creator’s handle, giving it a native feeling that users are more likely to engage with and watch.
3. Sell on TikTok Shop. TikTok Shop lets users easily and instantly shop for products without leaving the app. It also offers special discounts and incentives that can help drive conversions.
4. Try TikTok Product Shopping Ads. Find new customers who are searching for exactly what your business provides! This feature uses a product-centric ad format powered by a merchant TikTok Shop catalog placed across TikTok’s ShopTab.
Don’t Just Exist on TikTok, Thrive: Let MuteSix Be Your Guide
We get that investing in a new platform involves risk. However, a few of the perks of working with us — one of the first agencies to partner with TikTok (it’s true) — include that your brand receives dedicated rep support, ad credits, and best-in-class media buying and creative strategies that drive success. As thought leaders at the forefront of the industry, we’re also proud of the TikTok creative we make in-house.
We use best practices and hot tips from day one. Check out our webinar where we spill our TikTok secret sauce.
But really, the proof is in our TikTok Case Studies. We’ve helped many clients across a wide range of verticals reach success and grow their businesses through TikTok. We’re also early adopters of new products, understand the value of TikTok Shops, and are here to help accelerate your brand’s growth!
Interested in collaborating? Let’s talk.