Unlock Your Creative Potential: TikTok Ideas for Retail, CPG, and Professional Services

It’s no secret that TikTok is a powerhouse for marketers, just take a look at the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt hashtag. It can incubate trends, people and products from nascency to household name status and audiences are increasingly using it as a pre-shopping research tool. The research shows that 67% of users say TikTok inspires them to shop even when they’re not planning to. Though the joy of TikTok is the breadth of niche content on the platform, it’s equally influential for traditional verticals like retail, consumer packaged goods (CPG) and professional services.

For professional services, companies can connect more colloquially to prospective clients on TikTok. 56% of users feel closer to brands they see on TikTok, particularly when they publish human, unpolished content – making it a great way to showcase the faces behind your service.

The retail sector, encompassing fashion, electronics, and more, has found a goldmine in TikTok. Whether it’s via jumping on trends, popular music, slick editing or working with TikTok creators, there is endless opportunity for retail brands to showcase their products in creative, engaging ways.

The ideal creative content mix for a retail brand will vary. For example, some fashion brands might focus more on appealing, product-led videos, while others might lean into sales and discount content. We’d always suggest taking an experimental approach, testing and learning will help brands find the right creative formula and winning TikTok ideas. A good starting point would be to aim to engage, entertain and provide utility throughout your content.

Local success story

Fashion and other types of retail brands can take an always-on approach to TikTok advertising and better customer acquisition by maximising the mileage of their organic content. Australian jewellery brand Zafino found that by launching a Spark Ads campaign using their existing organic videos, they were able to appear more native in users’ feeds – leading to a more seamless advertising experience. These ads drove more than 3.7x return on ad spend and over 140 ‘Complete Payment’ events recorded on their website.

Beauty and personal care brands within the CPG vertical have had remarkable success on TikTok. 77% of users leverage the platform as part of their CPG shopping journey (vs. 51% for other platforms)⁴ and one in 10 users were influenced by video content to make a CPG purchase in the past 3 months.⁵ Beauty, homecare and food and beverage brands that have nailed their creative strategy and TikTok ideas can turn their products into cult-status items.

Local success story

Taking advantage of the thriving beauty community on TikTok, Australia’s leading online beauty retailer Adore Beauty maintains a strong organic presence on TikTok. To support peak sale periods, the e-retailer took a mid-lower funnelled approach to drive conversions. Adore Beauty ran an in-feed Video Shopping Ad with product cards that spotlighted their top sale items. They ensured these items would be top of mind by featuring them in the ad creatives and adjusted where users would land based on how strong their intent to purchase was. They hugely outperformed their initial ROAS goal, exceeding their target by 4.43x.

While perhaps less intuitive, professional services related to education, finance and law are making significant strides on TikTok. One of the unique benefits professional services businesses enjoy is that viewers are more willing to listen to long form videos that offer insight into more complex topics. TikTok users are 1.8x more inclined than non-users to seek financial advice or professional help to mitigate the impact on their finances.⁶

Local success story

World Business Forum (WOBI) is an annual two-day event focusing on issues most relevant to today’s businesses. Their primary goal with their TikTok advertising was to raise event awareness and generate registration interests amongst c-level executives. For their lead generation campaign, WOBI used was a Rich Content Form that allowed engaged viewers to learn more about the World Business Forum’s event through structured content blocks. Their campaign saw 51K impressions and recorded a Conversion Rate (CVR) of over 11.9%, well above average.

Ready to harness the power of TikTok for your business?

Find ideas and ad inspiration with the tools on the TikTok Creative Center. Explore Top ads, Top keywords and try our cutting-edge generative AI TikTok Symphony Assistant.

Whether you're in retail, CPG, or professional services, TikTok's diverse ad formats and targeting capabilities can help you reach your marketing goals. Get started today on TikTok Ads Manager to start testing your creatives.

Related articles

• From cart to heart: How TikTok can help your small/medium CPG brand to make a lasting impact on consumers

• The E-Commerce Starter Guide for Small-Medium Business

• How to generate leads for your small business on TikTok

Sources:

1. TikTok commissioned study on n=4320 TikTok users and non-users on their Fashion consumption and behaviours in SEA, conducted by Toluna, Feb 2022

2. TikTok Marketing Science Global Retail Path to Purchase conducted by Material August 2021 (N=13,206)

3. TikTok commissioned survey with Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) decision makers in APAC (N=6,573), conducted by Kantar Profiles in 2023. CPG = Makeup, Skincare, Haircare, Homecare, Grooming, F&B

4. TikTok commissioned survey with Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) decision makers in APAC (N=6,573), conducted by Kantar Profiles in 2023. CPG = Makeup, Skincare, Haircare, Homecare, Grooming, F&B

5. TikTok commissioned survey with Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) decision makers in APAC (N=6,573), conducted by Kantar Profiles in 2023.

6. TikTok commissioned study on consumer's behaviour on FinServ conducted by Toluna among n=3000 TikTok users and non-users in SEA, 2023