What's Next: The unstoppable power of #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt
What's new—and what's coming—in the world of #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt
ICYMI: Community Commerce is TikTok's entertaining, creator-driven word-of-mouth marketing, and it blew up in 2021. People love it because it produces genuine product reviews—and honesty is a big differentiator for us; the majority of users say they trust others to be their real selves on TikTok.¹ Product videos tend to be entertaining, too, which is a huge draw, given that entertainment is the number-one thing that users seek out when they come to the platform.² And thanks to our recommendation system, users may enjoy a unique, personalized For You feed and discover products that is likely to be of their interest. The phenomenon has driven major success for brands. Items of all kinds have sold out—from milk frothers to feta cheese, leggings, cleaning products, mascara, and everything in between. And that's only the beginning.
#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt³
The Anatomy of a Community Commerce Moment
To understand how trends can drive success, we broke down the buzz behind a product that sold out big time this year thanks to TikTok—and how each stage in its life cycle is an example of the four phases of Community Commerce.
01 User Trinidad Sandoval posted a simple, honest, direct-to-camera review of the Peter Thomas Roth Instant FIRMx Eye Temporary Eye Tightener.
Spark phase: Creator or brand posts an enter- taining video featuring a product.
02 Users loved the video. In one week, it got 23 million likes, thousands of comments, and a swirl of reactions and buzz.
Share phase: Communities contribute to a product conversation and help it pick up steam.
03 The item sold out repeatedly on the brand's site as well as third-party sites for weeks. The brand’s founder and CEO said they sold about six months' worth of product in six weeks because of TikTok.
Spike phase: Brands start to notice an impact on sales
04 The brand rolled out a jumbo size of the product and is planning to boost Trinidad's video once organic traffic wanes.
Sustain phase: Brands take action both on- and off-platform to keep consumers interested
Audience insights for 2022
We're learning more about what users want from brands on TikTok, how community plays a huge role in how they behave, and how willing they are to buy from TikTok—and brands can use these insights to speak to users in the way they want to be spoken to in 2022. Here are some key findings from our research that can guide the way you shape your Community Commerce strategy:
73%
feel a deeper connection to brands they interact with on TikTok, compared to other platforms.⁴
78%
agree that the best brands on TikTok are ones that share their ideas and work together with users.⁴
70%
say they feel like they're a part of community on TikTok.⁴
67%
say TikTok inspired them to shop even when they weren't looking to do so.⁵
Ramping the "commerce" in Community Commerce
2022 will be the first full year for TikTok Commerce, our suite of e-commerce tools that turn videos and LIVEs into shoppable entertainment. These solutions will make it easier than ever to harness the power of commerce, because it'll enable users to purchase the products they discover on their For You Pages.
Video Shopping Ads are shoppable videos that fit seamlessly into the For You page. This solution is designed to maximize performance, combining the best features of our existing products like Collection Ads and Dynamic Showcase Ads with fully automated, smart functionalities for creative automation and dynamic product landing pages.
This is just the beginning. As long as you bring joyful entertainment to the table, we'll continue providing the bottom-funnel solutions that help you turn interest into real-life conversions.
NOTE: For detailed information about TikTok's branded content toggle and our policies regarding what can be posted as branded content on TikTok, please refer to our Branded Content Policy here.
Sources
Nielsen Custom Authenticity Study commissioned by TikTok, 2021
TikTok Marketing Science Global Time Well Spent research March 2021, conducted by Kantar
TikTok Internal Data, Global, January 1, 2021 - November 8, 2021
TikTok Marketing Science Global Community and Self-Expression Study 2021, conducted by Flamingo.
Marketing Science US Holiday Shopping Research, conducted by Walnut Unlimited, Feb 2021
“If you have someone who’s doing something on their own, being who they are, and genuinely showing the way it is, the breakout successes can be huge."