TikTok Marketing For Dropshipping: How To Sell With TikTok

If you’re having doubts about whether you should invest your money in TikTok marketing for dropshipping, you should hear the following.

Just as 2024 began, TikTok had over 1.5 billion, active users. By the way, that’s still growing to this day.

Here’s how many people that is in perspective – 1.000.000.000  This many people are using TikTok and can be potential buyers for your product.

Given that you’ve learned how to find winning dropshipping products and you follow the advice I’m about to share, your chances of success with TikTok will significantly increase.

Let’s have a look at how you can make the most out of TikTok to grow your dropshipping business.

Is TikTok Good for Dropshipping?

TikTok is great for dropshipping, and here are several reasons why you can win with TikTok marketing for dropshipping stores:

✅TikTok can potentially show ads to 1.218 billion users who are 18 years old and above in 2024.

✅In 2024, among the 5.3 billion people using the internet worldwide, 23% are TikTok users.

✅It’s a place where you can unleash your creativity for your ads.

✅Users spend a lot of time on TikTok daily (52 mins per day on average).

✅Almost half of all users buy from TikTok ads.

👉 Learn How To Sell On TikTok Shop As an Ecom Beginner In 2024.

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Can You Promote Products on TikTok?

You can easily promote your products, and even services, on TikTok. In fact, it’s one of the best platforms for creating product ads that are natural and don’t really look like ads. 

That’s why conversion rates on TikTok are often remarkably high. Thus, having said that you can definitely take advantage of TikTok marketing for dropshipping So, all you need is a little creativity.

Also, read more about Instagram Marketing for Dropshipping.

TikTok allows you to feature videos from 15 to 60 seconds long. It has better organic growth than most social media platforms.

Also, the video limit makes promoting products even more interesting because of the short attention span needed from viewers. 

👉 Check out the 10 Best TikTok Ad Spy Tools [Honest 2023 Review].

👉 Learn How To Make Dropshipping Ads To 10x Your Sales.

Types of TikTok Ads

So, here are the types of ads you can set up with the TikTok ad account manager if you want to sell on TikTok:

Hashtag Challenges

Branded hashtag challenges are a form of ad exclusive to TikTok. Thus, these ads allow easy collaboration between creators and offer amazing opportunities for reaching more people.

👉 Check out my Ultimate Guide For How To Find Trending Sounds On TikTok.

Brand Takeover

Appears when you open TikTok and lasts for a few seconds before the ad changes into an in-feed ad. These ads are limited by TikTok to prevent the platform from getting too repetitive.

In-Feed Ads

When it comes to TikTok Shop dropshipping and small or middle-sized businesses, this is the best option. Thus, they’re cheaper than other types of ads and appear on the “for you” page.

Branded AR Content

Appear like lenses, stickers, etc. Used by brands for TikTok filmmakers most of the time.

How Do I Promote My Dropshipping Store on TikTok?

Without a doubt, TikTok marketing for dropshipping is a wonderful idea. Thus, you can consider it as an additional tactic to your social media marketing strategy.

💡 Tip: Read about What Is A Digital Creator vs Influencer + How To Boost Your Brand?

Here are a few ways you can use TikTok to your advantage and promote your dropshipping store:

Influencer Marketing 

Influencer marketing is a popular type of marketing on TikTok. Anybody can become an influencer on TikTok.

Hence, influencers can help you increase your product exposure and reach a lot of followers across the platform.

You may be asking how. 

It is because the platform has outstanding TikTok organic dropshipping reach, so this means influencers are the ones who take advantage of this the most.

Organic Traffic

The main reason organic traffic is so good on TikTok is because of the video duration limit. This is, without a doubt, among the best reasons why you should try TikTok marketing for dropshipping stores.

Because videos are only 15 to 60 seconds long,  they don’t require too much of your attention. It also gives you the illusion that you won’t waste too much time watching a couple more.

This makes users want to watch more videos. So, they do!

According to research done by the green buzzy agency, shorter videos were ideal for active users on social media compared to longer ones. 

Paid Advertisement

Thanks to TikTok’s unique platform design, it’s hard to tell apart the normal videos from in-feed ads. As a result, you can create natural videos that entice people to buy something that users are showcasing.

TikTok is all built on organic traffic, but paid ads can be useful when you are trying to build brand awareness at the beginning or even when working with influencers.

Compared to Facebook ads for dropshipping, TikTok paid ads are also more expensive at the start. You would need a minimum dropshipping budget of $500 just to start an ad campaign on TikTok.

👉 Check out my PiPiADS Review 2024: Is This The No. 1 TikTok Ad Spy Tool?

How to Build a TikTok Profile?

Setting up your TikTok account is easy. First, you have to go through these steps:

• Open up the TikTok app on your phone
• Sign up using your phone or email
• Enter your birthday (select a year that tells TikTok you’re over 18)
• Create your password
• Pick your business username for your TikTok profile
• Click on Sign Up

Then, you can choose to switch to a TikTok Pro Account. Here’s how:

• Log in to your TikTok profile
• Go to Settings (the three dots in the upper-right corner)
• Tap on Manage Account
• Select Switch to Pro Account
• Choose Business
• Select your business category
• Click on Done and you’re good to go

TikTok for dropshipping is free to use but also has a pro account you can purchase. The pro account allows you to view the analytics of your posts.

It is mainly designed for business and is there to help you see if you are improving on a monthly basis or not.

Just like Instagram, when you choose a business account on TikTok, you can also include a creator account. When you have a creator account and have enough engaged followers on your profile, TikTok will then start paying you for your content!

TikTok Organic Dropshipping: How To Start & Grown Tiktok Organic Videos

While there’s no one-size-fits-all formula to achieving growth on TikTok organic dropshipping, there are tips and tricks to point you in the right direction.

Start with the following.

1. Identify Your Target Audience

Before jumping into video production, figure out who your audience is. TikTok appeals broadly, from teenagers to Gen Z, but it also captures a diverse demographic range.

Consider where your target audience overlaps with TikTok’s user base, or if there’s an untapped group you could reach. Understanding your audience is crucial for planning your content effectively.

For instance, @fashionnova targets young adults interested in trendy, affordable fashion, demonstrating the power of aligning content with audience preferences.

Hence, I personally use competitor spy tools like Minea where you can actually analyze the customer behavior of your competitors and gather information about their customer segments.

Also, you can target your audience using strategies.

For example, when I divide my target audience, I create different profiles for the ideal buyer.

You can easily use templates from Canva, and fill in their personal details, jobs, hobbies, reasons they might buy your products, and more. I also note down their income or spending ability.

By making several customer profiles, I break down my market into segments.

2. Observe Your Competitors

If your competitors are on TikTok organic dropshipping, watch their videos to understand what appeals to your shared audience.

You might also find competition among TikTok influencers and creators, so use them as a source of ideas and information.

Thus, you can use tools like AdSpy. This tool focuses on analyzing competitor ads, giving you details about their ad campaigns, and helping you develop successful advertising strategies.

For example, @charlidamelio, known for her dance videos, often collaborates with brands, showing effective ways to engage similar audiences.

So, she analyzes such content to understand what appeals to shared viewers and how you can differentiate your approach.

3. Learn about the TikTok algorithm

TikTok’s algorithm picks videos for each user’s For You Page (FYP) by looking at what they like and interacts with. Basically, it tries to show videos that it thinks the user will enjoy.

To have a chance at going viral, you need to understand how this algorithm picks videos so you can make content that might land at the top of people’s FYP.

This will help get your clients’ videos seen more on TikTok for dropshipping, which can lead to more views, likes, comments, and shares. So, what makes the TikTok algorithm choose certain videos for the FYP? It uses three main things:

• User engagement: The algorithm checks how many people liked, commented on, and shared your client’s video, or followed them.
• User interest: It looks at how long people watch your client’s videos, including whether they watch till the end or stop halfway.
• Creativity: TikTok likes creative videos that use popular hashtags, trending sounds, and interesting captions.

Furthermore, if viewers watch your client’s videos to the end, they’re more likely to interact.

Therefore, I suggest you catch their attention in the first three seconds of the video. Thus, you can:

• Start with something catchy or intriguing.
• Address a problem early on. Make those first few seconds impactful by promising a solution or value.
• Show a quick preview or some before and after clips to build excitement for the rest of the video.

Successful profiles like @tiktoktips often share how they use trending sounds, relevant hashtags, and engaging captions to stay favored by the algorithm.

This insight is invaluable for creating content that remains visible on users’ For You Pages (FYP).

4. Make the Right Content

What you post on TikTok should match your goals and campaigns. Therefore, here are some types of content you should consider to grow naturally on TikTok:

Original content

This is very important for TikTok’s success. It’s all about showing what’s special about your client’s brand through unique and creative videos.

These can be about their story, products, services, events, or promotions. Original content helps them stand out and attract loyal followers.

For example, I love how @redbull differentiates itself by posting high-energy, adventurous content that aligns with its brand identity, encouraging a distinct and loyal following. Apply this strategy by focusing on unique aspects of your products or brand story.

Trends content

Posting videos that tap into the latest TikTok trends can expose your client’s content to more people. This might include popular songs, dance moves, or funny challenges.

Trendy content can go viral quickly, potentially getting millions of views.

Also, @chipotle excels in this area by engaging with popular trends that resonate with their audience, often leading to viral success and increased brand visibility.

Community engagement content

This kind of post is key for connecting with the audience. It includes things like answering comments or featuring followers in videos.

It not only boosts the impact of the content but also helps build relationships with followers and potential customers for your TikTok for dropshipping.

Plus, @nike does this effectively by featuring user-generated content and engaging directly with comments, which personalizes the experience for viewers and encourages further interaction.

Also, remember that even though TikTok now allows videos up to 10 minutes, the sweet spot for video length is still 21-34 seconds.

It’s crucial to grab attention in the first 6-10 seconds. But, every TikTok video doesn’t have to be the same. Test different content to see what works best for your client. And importantly, make sure to follow TikTok’s rules to avoid your client’s account getting suspended or banned.

Hence, you can use a similar approach to draw viewers in quickly.

6. Use Popular Sounds

88% of TikTok users think that sound is very important to their experience on the app. Using popular music and sounds can help your clients’ videos become more popular. Just like hashtags, trending sounds make videos easier to find and see.

You can look up trending sounds using TikTok’s search feature. Moreover, you can also use tools like vidIQ Viral, which offers a collection of popular and updated sounds.

With it, you can create posts for your clients, add trending sounds or your own audio, and set them to publish automatically.

Another way to find popular sounds is by checking out the Sounds section in TikTok’s video editor, where you can find trending music listed under “Discover, or “Explore”

7.  Use Hashtags

Hashtags are very important for being seen on TikTok, which is key for natural growth. Using the right hashtags can make your clients’ videos easier to find and bring in new viewers.

Here’s how to build a strong hashtag strategy:

• Look for trending hashtags that fit your client’s areas of interest and add them to their posts. Choose hashtags that are related to what they are posting about and have a good number of followers.
• Mix different types of hashtags—like popular ones, ones specific to your client’s brand, and general ones that are still relevant. This helps reach a wider audience.
• Pick descriptive hashtags that clearly say what the video is about. This draws in people who are interested in that topic and more likely to watch and interact with the video.

@lushcosmetics utilizes hashtags like #LushLife or #lushcosmetics to tap into and engage a community that cares about ethical beauty products, drawing in viewers who are likely to convert into customers.

8. Post Content Regularly

Posting great content often helps keep your clients visible to their target audience and increases their chances to interact with followers.

 Regular posts also signal to TikTok’s algorithm that your clients are active, which could lead to their videos being shown on more For You Pages (FYPs).

This helps them find new customers and grow naturally on TikTok.

Thus, here’s what you can do to maintain a regular posting schedule:

• Plan your clients’ content and how often to post. Think about different types of content like challenges, topics, trends, and campaign goals.
• Use a content calendar. This helps you organize and prepare your posts. With a calendar, you can plan out what to post daily or monthly, ensuring your clients always have something new for their audience.
• Vary the types of content. Include a mix of things like quotes, funny skits, and behind-the-scenes clips to keep the content interesting and engaging.

@gymshark maintains interest through regular posts that vary between motivational content, fitness tips, and community highlights, keeping content fresh and engaging.

How to Set Up a TikTok Ad Campaign

You can create TikTok ads either via the TikTok Ads Manager or straight through the TikTok Promote feature.

Here’s how to set up a full ad campaign using the TikTok Ads Manager:

Choose an Objective for Your TikTok Ad

To start your ad, you must first tell TikTok what you want to accomplish with it. 

You can choose from the following objectives:

• Reach – reach as many people as your budget can possibly handle
• Traffic – send users to your dropshipping store
• Video Views – optimize your ad budget to reach people who will watch your videos
• Lead Generation – collect leads from users who are interested in your content
• App Installs – ensure as many downloads for your app as you can
• Conversions – reach potential customers who are likely to buy

Select Placements

There are three major platform placements you can choose your TikTok ads to appear on. This includes TikTok placement, News Feed App placement, and Pangle placement.

• TikTok Placement – This is the For You Page on TikTok
• News Feed App Placement – This places your ads on TikTok’s other apps, such as BuzzVideo, NewsRepublic, Babe, and similar
• Pangle Placement – This is the TikTok audience network

You can also choose Automatic Placement. This basically lets TikTok’s algorithm decide where it’s best to place your ads.

Lastly, there is a Block List option, where you can select where you don’t want your TikTok ads to appear.

💡 Tip: Based on previous performance tests, you’re most likely to get the best ROI by selecting only the TikTok Placements and unchecking the rest.

Uncheck Automatic Creative Optimization

Even though TikTok recommends activating this feature, you’re much better off leaving it out. 

Activating this feature allows TikTok to make your ad creative for you, using images or videos you’ve selected. 

However, as we mentioned, you want to put in extra effort in creating high-quality, engaging, and natural content that is also unique. If you follow these guidelines, you will always do a better job at this than TikTok.

Choose Your Target Audience

Knowing how to target the best countries for dropshipping is a skill everyone should learn. 

Each individual case is different. It all comes down to researching where your potential buyers are located and how much it would cost to target that area.

So first, select your ideal location. You can select multiple countries if you wish. 

Then, choose which gender to target. Do your research here as well. If more women are interested in your product, target only women. And, vice versa.

Next, choose an age group. Try to find out which users are most likely to buy your product. Choose between older ones or younger ones. Or, maybe it’s for everyone, in which case you should select All.

Lastly, scroll down to Interests and Behaviors and choose the most relatable interests, or simply ignore this step. If you’re unsure which interest to choose, then skip it.

Set Your TikTok Ad Budget

This step is very simple. All you have to do is look at your budget, set the limit you’re willing to spend before you see a good ROI, and proceed to the next step.

You can choose to set a daily limit or a Lifetime Budget. A daily limit will spend only the allowed number per day. The minimum daily budget on TikTok is $20. Thus, for my campaign, I will set it at $50.

Choosing the Lifetime Budget option will let TikTok decide how and when to spend the money. However, it won’t exceed the limit you’ve set for the total duration of the campaign.

Upload Your TikTok Ad Creative

It’s finally time to upload your TikTok video ad, create a Call to Action, tidy everything up, and finally launch your campaign.

Here are a few tips on how to make your TikTok stand out:

• Avoid a lot of text or super long captions
• Use bright colors and really high-quality video
• Take advantage of the voice-over feature to explain something
• Really focus on catchy music and sounds for your video
• Try to make the first few seconds as exciting and engaging as possible
• Follow the trend (make similar content to current viral TikTok videos)

Finally, upload your video, write your offer in the description, link your store website, and launch the ad.

How to Scale TikTok Marketing for Dropshipping?

One of the most important steps to take you from making a few hundred dollars to thousands and above six figures with dropshipping is scaling. 

Scaling is when you increase your ad budget on the ad set that has the best conversions. In practice, you delete the ads that don’t have great results and start pouring more of your budget on the ad that has the best results.

This way, you don’t waste any more money on losing ads and you spend most of your money on the winning ads – the ads that bring in more money.

Of course, how much you make will depend on your dropshipping profit margins but if you scale correctly you will be far in the green.

How to Set Up Your TikTok Pixel for Dropshipping?

A TikTok pixel lets you track crucial data from your ads so that you can get better results on other ads you run in the future.

Trust me, you will thank me for installing this feature in the future. It’s one of the best tips I can give you in this TikTok marketing for dropshipping guide.

When you start creating your first ad campaign on TikTok, you will see a field where you can insert your TikTok pixel. 

Here’s how to create your own:

1. Click on the Create button

2. In the top-left corner of the new page, click on Set Up Web Events
3. Click on TikTok Pixel
4. Name your Pixel and select Automatically Set Up Web Events
5. Select your online store platform
6. Spam Next on the next few pop-ups
7. Copy your newly created Pixel to your online store 

Using TikTok Ad Spy Tools To Win The Market

Ad spy tools allow you to monitor and analyze the advertising strategies of your competitors on TikTok.

So, by understanding what kind of content they are promoting, the audience they are targeting, and the engagement they are receiving, you can gain valuable insights to improve your own campaigns.

For example, AutoDS TikTok Ads Spy is like your secret weapon for checking out all the latest TikTok ads and videos. Also, it’s always updating, so you get this awesome collection to peek at.

The primary objective of the TikTok Spy Tool is to aid you in generating ideas for products currently in the market, particularly those experiencing high engagement rates. By perusing a diverse range of videos and ads, you can glean insights into the effective marketing strategies employed by successful campaigns.

The TikTok Spy Tool offers various filters to refine your search:

• Likes: Filter ads based on the number of likes they have garnered.
• Impressions: Focus on ads with high impressions to identify highly active campaigns.
• Interaction Rate: Discover ads with a high engagement level by considering factors such as likes, comments, and shares relative to the number of impressions.
• CTA Button Text: Filter ads based on the presence or absence of a Call to Action (CTA) button and its associated text.
• Search by Keyword: Enter specific keywords to search for ads and videos related to particular products, topics, or trends.

And when you click on a TikTok ad, you’ll get all the deets like views, engagement rate, and when it was posted, and at the bottom, you’ll see what the ad is all about. This information provides a comprehensive understanding of the ad.

Furthermore, once you navigate to the product page, you can review product photos, and videos, and utilize the CTA “See Original Post” to land on the actual ad. This functionality allows for a seamless transition from exploring the ad to engaging with the product.

Let me explain this through an example.

So, now I will set my filters for likes over 50K, impressions over 50K, interaction rate over 2%, a CTA button to “Order Now”, and all sources. Plus, I will sort my results based on recently seen.

But, of course, if you have different goals, you can set different filters like less or more likes and impressions, less or more interaction rate, etc.

Also, you can choose another CTA, like “Shop Now”, or “Visit Store”, etc. Plus, you can use keywords to search for your specific niche.

Next, the results I got are totally accurate since AutoDS displayed ads with the exact insights I am looking for.

Best Practices on TikTok for Dropshipping

Knowing which types of TikTok marketing tactics exist and which types of ads you can create isn’t enough. You need to learn how to execute.

Here are three of the most effective ways to market your product on TikTok and how to execute each.

Set a Diverse Audience

TikTok has a fairly diverse audience in terms of age. According to recent TikTok statistics in 2024, women between the ages of 18 and 24 account for around 18.2% of TikTok’s worldwide users, and men in the same age group are close behind at about 18%. Additionally, the platform is quite popular among users aged 25-34, with 16.3% being female and 16.6% being male.

What this means is you have a lot of different age groups to work with. Make sure to research how old your target customer is and focus most of your marketing budget on that age group.

Use TikTok Ads

We mentioned above the type of ads you can use on TikTok. You wouldn’t be surprised that most ads you see on TikTok are actually dropshipping ads.

All of them include items that you can purchase from a dropshipping store. Most users will just end up shopping after they see a product that they like. 

Keep in mind, that you should create natural videos that seem like a regular TikTok on your For You Page. Don’t make the ads obvious and appear like you’re trying to convince people to buy.

Hire an Influencer

Always consider hiring micro-influencers when it comes to TikTok marketing for dropshipping stores. They have higher engagement rates than influencers with more followers. 

Micro-influencers will be able to expose your product much more than macro-influencers and get higher-quality traffic. 

Always try looking for influencers that are part of your niche. Influencers who are out of your niche may not agree to work with you most of the time.

Even if they do agree, they won’t know how to leverage your dropshipping business as well as an influencer who is in your niche. 

🖐 Tip: Go through our guide on how to leverage influencer marketing for dropshipping and avoid making any mistakes.

How to Find TikTok Influencers?

TikTok influencers are everywhere on the web. Even if you are watching videos on TikTok, the platform itself will start showing you videos of content that you are viewing the most.

While watching these videos, you might end up running into an influencer. You can contact them from TikTok and ask them about prices, their organic reach, and so on.

Keep in mind not to contact someone out of your niche.

TikTok influencers can be found on Google by using the right keywords. Try using keywords like “TikTok influencer”, “influencers on TikTok”, “TikTok creator”, and keywords that are related to your niche.

Other than Google & TikTok, you have platforms and agencies that work together with TikTok influencers. Some good platforms for finding TikTok influencers for dropshipping are:

• Upfluence
• Grin
• Fanbytes
• Izea
• CreatorIQ
• Influencer
• Neoreach

Agencies are really helpful in finding you an influencer if you just don’t have enough time to find one. Keep in mind though that fewer agencies are tied to TikTok than to other social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook.

You can try looking up the following agencies for finding influencers:

• NoGood
• The Influencer Marketing Factory
• Fanbytes
• Sugarfree
• WeQ
• Viral Nation

How to Earn on TikTok for Dropshipping In 2024

There are several ways you can earn on TikTok or use it to increase sales on your store:

✅ Product Ads

One of the most effective ways to earn on TikTok is through ads. You might be spending some money at the beginning for these ads but they will be able to generate you revenue right after.

✅ Influencer Marketing Campaigns

By hiring some influencer to do the TikTok dropshipping marketing for you, you can also get paid by TikTok itself. 

When you reach a certain number of followers, TikTok will start to pay you a decent amount of money that will cover expenses or even earn you revenue. The more popular you get, the more money you will earn. 

Keep in mind that TikTok pays more based on engagement rates.

✅ Selling Accounts

Many may not think this is possible in dropshipping but you’d be surprised. 

There are plenty of dropshipping stores that sell built-up TikTok accounts online to other dropshippers. The more followers and likes your TikTok account has, the higher you can sell it for. 

✅ Being a TikTok Influencer

Once you reach a certain number of followers and a certain amount of likes, TikTok may start contacting you to work together. 

You will start to get paid for what you do, and that’s the best part about it. There is no set limit but usually accounts with 10,000 followers and 50 to 100 thousand video views a month will get you started

Conclusion

There are endless opportunities when it comes to TikTok marketing for dropshipping. The best part about it is that you can get really creative and enjoy the marketing side of the dropshipping business model.

All that’s left to do now is to follow the steps I’ve shown you here, start marketing your products on TikTok, create as much content as you can, make it exciting, and enjoy the benefits.

If you still think that using TikTok marketing for dropshipping isn’t worthwhile, here is one impressive success story to hopefully change your mind.

If you are struggling with creating a content marketing strategy for your dropshipping store, find more content on our dropshipping blog.