The stratospheric growth in TikTok’s user base has arguably been the biggest cultural shift in media consumption for the last decade. It’s no surprise then that brands have jumped at the advertising opportunity to drive traffic and sales. TikTok search ads, now in beta, represent a significant opportunity but require some strategic thinking.
TikTok, the hugely popular short-form video site owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, had quite a year in 2022, surpassing 1 billion users globally and making itself a force to be reckoned with in advertising, ecommerce and fulfillment, becoming the latest competitor to Amazon’s dominance. But government bans are applying heat.
Amazon is launching a TikTok-like feature called Inspire that lets users scroll through short-form videos and hopefully buy stuff from brands, but industry observers don’t seem too inspired by the company’s latest venture into social commerce, an area that hasn’t really exploded. It’s the latest in a decade of social commerce experiments.
As Amazon stumbles, planning to lay off ten thousand workers, drastically scaling back its facilities plans and missing earnings forecasts, ascending rival TikTok is becoming more of a globally dominant behemoth, day by day. The latter reportedly began testing an in-app shopping feature with select U.S. retailers last week.
Livestream commerce became more popular during the pandemic lockdowns, and there are new reasons why it’s seeing some pickup. Some high-profile shakiness in the U.S. (see Facebook, TikTok) means brands need to understand what their audiences want and need, instead of trying to apply here what worked in other markets.
Retailers should consider the impact their social strategy elements have on customer trust. This includes your choice of social platforms, the payment methods you accept, how you screen orders for fraud and how you safeguard your brand presence on social media. Identify the platforms your customers trust the most.
Facebook is shutting down its livestream shopping venture two years in, putting its efforts behind the popular Reels short-form video platform as livestream shopping has yet to catch on here in a big way as in China, and retailers, brands and platforms need to rethink their approach. Experts weigh in on what they need to do.
It can seem overwhelming when you think about the ever-evolving world of digital marketing. Where do you start? What are the first steps you should take when getting your feet wet? Here is what you need to know to be successful in digital marketing.
Shopify is pursuing a new avenue of attack against Amazon, launching 100 new/updated apps including tools for merchants to drive B2B sales while also turning on social commerce via Twitter, in an effort to boost slowing DTC ecommerce revenue growth. The company said Shopify Editions represents a “connect-to-consumer” focus.
Brands have always sought to align themselves with media and messaging most likely to prove influential among core audiences. But today, even the way in which consumers are influenced—and to what extent—is proving to be a defining trait of certain groups. Learn how influenced consumers are a group worth paying attention to.