The TikTok Trends Digest: How Fei Er Cottage used trends to triple revenue

Tired of Cottage Core? Want to show butter boards the door? Well, the new kid on the block is "dumpling lore". Powered by the amazing TikTok-first storytelling of restaurant brand Fei Er Cottage, the TikTok community has become riveted by the story of one man and his quest for the "best dumplings in London".

A few weeks ago, this unassuming eatery switched up its TikTok strategy and began posting a series of unexpected, humorous, trend-led videos that have resonated with the TikTok community so well that the restaurant has now become a go-to destination for people from all over the world.

As Fei Er Cottage has shown, brands can lead the way with creative editing and achieve real-world effects. In this edition of the TikTok Trends Digest, we sat down to talk to the star of Fei Er Cottage's viral videos, owner Paul Qiu, about how the brand was able to tap into TikTok trends to supercharge its business.

How trend-led editing can resonate with an audience of millions

Wanting to grow the restaurant's reach and boost visits, Paul tells us that he chose to begin posting on TikTok due to its "immense influence both domestically and abroad". Initially, the brand worked with a photographer to capture images and videos of the restaurant's dishes to post, but this approach didn't achieve the cut through that it had hoped.

To create content that differed from the food-focused videos typical for restaurants, the brand decided to highlight the unique features of the restaurant's dishes with humour and unexpected edits. "Our content strategy involves merging two completely different concepts, creating a striking contrast that brings a great element of surprise and humour. We looked for successful cases and popular trending videos on TikTok and other platforms, imitated and adapted them, and added some of our own elements," says Paul.

The videos took the TikTok community – and the world – by storm, launching Fei Er into the public consciousness and boosting restaurant visits and revenue. "It was an unexpected joy to realise the immense influence of TikTok, which significantly boosted our restaurant's popularity in a short span of time," Paul says. "We've had numerous tourists from surrounding countries specifically visiting our restaurant to try our dumplings, and many others who came to take photos with me without any prior acquaintance. It was my first experience of the immeasurable power of media promotion."

He adds that the restaurant's TikTok success has put it on the map: "Our restaurant's footfall is soaring every day, with revenue tripling directly. We are so busy that we've run out of dishes and bowls. During peak dining hours, customers are lining up outside. Many international tourists have come to patronise our restaurant after watching our content on TikTok."

What does this mean for your brand?

Trends are the lifeblood of the platform and tapping into them is a surefire way of relating to audiences and driving brand love and salience. Entertaining ads on TikTok help to guide users down the funnel: high entertainment ads are rated 25% higher for brand love, 15% higher for purchase intent and 17% higher for likelihood to recommend [1].

To learn how to create entertaining on-trend content, check out our first TikTok Trends Digest blog post, which sets out the foundations for producing thumb-stopping videos.

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