The New Eye Level: Discover what 'Buy Level’ means for CPG brands on TikTok

Ever wondered why some products fly off the shelves while others collect dust? For years, businesses have lived by the principle: Eye level is buy level. But the way we shop has changed, and CPG brands need a new way to capture shoppers' attention.

Today, brands are facing increasing fragmentation of shopping channels and journeys, fierce competition and customers who are more savvy than ever before. Fortunately, there’s a new eye level in town – the TikTok FYP. From shopping to cooking and beauty to cleaning, TikTok has shaped consumer behaviour across all CPG categories, profoundly impacting product discovery and purchase. We have one word, well hashtag, for you: #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt.

In fact,

• 7 in 10 social and video platform users have bought a product or a brand they had never purchased before after seeing content on TikTok [1]

• 30% of TikTok users who discovered a new CPG product made a purchase immediately after [2]

From driving discovery and business growth to providing frictionless shopping experiences and converting one-time customers into long-term fans, CPG brands that leverage TikTok can attract – and retain – both new-to-category and new-to-brand consumers. Read on to discover how the consumers of today use TikTok, and what that means for your brand.

1. Driving discovery and business growth

TikTok's video-first, sound-on platform is immersive by nature, and the tailored recommendation system means audiences trust the platform to deliver content that interests them, and so they're in active discovery mode all the time – and that includes new brands and products. Discovery now comes in the form of tutorials, hacks, reviews, entertainment and much more, speeding up the journey from discovery to purchase.

With 2 in 5 CPG users saying TikTok introduced them to "new topics I didn’t know I liked", [3] TikTok also excels at attracting new-to-category and new-to-brand shoppers. It’s designed to expose users to a diverse range of content, helping brands reach people they wouldn’t with other marketing channels.

This is a real opportunity for brands – you might have been considered peripheral to the entertainment before, but now you can be a part of it, seamlessly. This means you can truly integrate into consumers' communities, powering meaningful connections and driving resonance as well as reach.

2. Providing frictionless shopping experiences

On TikTok, not only are users more likely to search for brand or retail accounts, ROAS is 3.5x more efficient compared to other online video channels [4]. And, 7 out of 10 users have bought a product or brand they had never purchased before after seeing content on TikTok [5]. It's a CPG powerhouse. The platform's frictionless shopping experiences are built for our new era of commerce, where consumers want to discover, consider and buy, all in the same app – just take a look at TikTok Shop and Catalog Ads.

With the collapse of the traditional marketing funnel, it's important for brands to consider holistic campaign strategies that traverse brand-building and sales-driving objectives simultaneously. Research has shown that short-form video is the ticket to supercharging brands' media mix and driving full-funnel impact. That's why crafting full-funnel strategies with TikTok can enable your brand to unlock its full potential by improving marketing efficiency, agility and driving brand salience. LOOKFANTASTIC used this approach to cut through during Black Friday and drove a massive 218% increase in purchases.

Our solutions enable brands to combine creative entertainment and commerce across the entire marketing funnel, powering a seamless customer journey from discovery to purchase and beyond. Find the solutions that work for your campaign in our guide to crafting impactful full-funnel strategies.

3. Creating cultural clout and consumer resonance

Girl Dinner. Cucumber Salad. Soap Nails. Pickle Juice. BRAT girl make-up. These words mean anything to you? For millions of people across the globe, these words form part of a bigger movement: culture, and it all starts on TikTok. TikTok is where communities forge the pulse of modern culture, and for brands, the platform offers a golden ticket to relevance – an opportunity to not only ride the wave of trends but to shape culture more generally, and to tap into the cultural capital that drives clout and brand fame.

TikTok significantly impacts consumer purchasing decisions, reflecting shifts in trends and preferences. In fact, TikTok users are 4.4x more likely to try a completely new product due to the product being viral or trending [6]. That's why content on TikTok is so impactful; the platform fosters community engagement, word-of-mouth buzz and trust, further enhancing the impact of buying behaviours.

TikTok is where community storytelling shapes the everyday – from shopping baskets to consumer habits – so leveraging TikTok’s cultural influence has the potential to transform your business, all the way from marketing moments to product innovation. Read this article from Business Insider to learn how to use TikTok to drive cultural relevance, and thus build and grow your brand. Don’t just keep up, stay ahead.

The new eye level in action

That's not all, folks... Over the next month, we'll be doing a deep dive into the CPG opportunity on TikTok. If you work in the CPG space, stay tuned for our dedicated guides that teach food & beverage and beauty brands how to build successful campaigns on TikTok. We'll be outlining the solutions and campaign strategies we recommend to generate buzz and excitement, grow market share, drive brand equity, and much more. Sign up for our dedicated CPG newsletter to be the first to know when they drop.

And for even more insight into the CPG vertical on TikTok, sign up for our tailored food & beverage and beauty webinars.