The Only TikTok Shop Guide You Need

Hey 👋

Are you on it yet?

Over 1 billion active users, each with an average watch time of 52 minutes a day, we’re talking about THE giant in eCom — TikTok Shop.

For example, beauty brand Made by Mitchell sold over 83,000 products, gaining 102 million views and $2 million in turnover within a week, thanks to TikTok Shop. This feature boosts sales and visibility by integrating products directly into the app, enhancing product discovery & encouraging impulse buying.

In today’s post, we’ll be giving you the ONLY step-by-step tutorial you need for starting your TikTok Shop and a viral content template 👀

PLUS we’ve also got some super cool news for brands in Europe 🔥

1. Prepping Your TikTok Account For Sales 🤑

Requirements For Creating A TikTok Shop

Before you actually open up a TikTok shop, you need to know what type of seller you are.

There are two types of sellers: individual sellers and business sellers. Individual sellers are individuals offering goods for sale, while business sellers are legally authorized businesses registered in your country of residence (we'll be taking the U.S for simplicity)

Let’s cover the requirements for each type of seller:

Individual Seller Requirements

• Be a natural person holding a U.S. passport, driver's license, or proof of legal U.S. residency
• Be at least 18 years old
• Not be under investigation or subject to enforcement actions
• Provide personal information like legal name, date of birth, residential address, and a government-issued ID (U.S. passport or driver's license)

Business Seller Requirements

• Be a business registered in the United States
• Provide company registration information, business type, company name, and Employer Identification Number (EIN)
• Beneficial owners may need to provide their personal information

And here are some general requirements that can’t be skipped:

• Have at least 5000 Followers
• Provide accurate bank account information, including bank name and account number (business sellers should use a business bank account)
• Complete a W9 Form and provide the corresponding Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), which can be an EIN or SSN
• Gather necessary documents like business license/registration, tax ID/EIN, address confirmation, and contact information

Annoying paperwork aside, let’s get to the actual content strategy & profile prep before you start selling your products.

Content Strategy Before Sales

1️⃣ Your Own Content – create and upload at least 10-15 original videos, showcasing your brand’s unique voice and style.

2️⃣ Influencer Reposts – collabs with influencers can greatly amplify your reach, so repost content created by influencers who review & use your products. This also adds credibility to your brand. 

3️⃣ User-Generated Content (UGC) – encourage your customers to share their own experiences with your products and feature this content on your account.

UGC helps potential buyers see real-life applications of your products and creates a sense of community and trust around your brand.

4️⃣ Regular Posting – maintain momentum by posting 2-3 video posts per day to keep your audience engaged and updated.

Just for reference, here are the profiles of some of the most successful brands on TikTok you should emulate:

2. Managing Product Reviews + Purchase Fulfillment 🛒

Product Buyouts and Feedback Collection

Utilize tools like JoinBrands to handle influencer connections – this ensures influencers get your products promptly and create high-quality content with them.

Handling Reviews

Always respond to customer reviews to show you care and address concerns. Engaging with both positive and negative reviews builds trust and loyalty, turning feedback into opportunities for improvement and customer satisfaction – it’s worth mentioning that this is a great function to outsource.

3. Analytics & Content Prep For Going Viral 📈

Analytical Tools

Meet your new best friend: Kalodata. This tool provides deeper insights into your TikTok Shop performance, helping you track and analyze key metrics, and offering a clearer picture of what's working and what needs improvement.

Creating Viral Video Scripts

Want to craft scripts that have viral potential? Use tools like cofilm.ai that make this as easy as possible. Cofilm helps you create engaging, share-worthy content that can make your TikTok videos skyrocket in popularity.

4. Working With Influencers 🤳

Finding the right influencers to promote your products is crucial – here are some platforms  to help you out find & work with them:

• Affiliate Influencers: Connect with affiliate bloggers via TikTok’s US Affiliates.
• Paid Influencers: For professional collaborations, check out TikTok’s Creator Marketplace.
• Insense.pro: Another great platform for engaging with paid influencers, Insense.pro.

To attract high-quality influencers, start with a higher commission rate, around 30%. Aim for influencer videos to average 10-15k views for effective campaigns.

And here’s a great outreach script you can use:

Exclusive TikTok store partnership for the best creators!
Hi SHOP!

We're excited to announce that the board game brand famous
for generating $1 million in monthly sales on Amazon is
featured on the TikTok Shop. This is your invitation to join an exclusive circle of first time creators who will help promote the product and also receive a commission of as much as 40%.

In our TikTok Shop you will find the most popular games:
which are easy to sell through video, in our experience. We are ready to send some examples of videos you can record.
Also, individually for you we can come up with a creative
organic video.

Your reward: Get 40% commission on your video sales.
Let's build an effective partnership together! Below we attach products-games from which you can choose the one you like the most.        

You can even (and should) automate outreach, use TokInviter Bot to contact hundreds of influencers hands-free.

5. Ads for Popping Content + Operational Tips for Managing Your TikTok Shop 📌

Boosting Highly Performing Videos

When a video is already performing well, boost it with advertising to maximize your ROI and visibility. If it’s already resonating with your audience, a little push can turn it into a major success.

Order Capacity

Start strong by being prepared to handle up to 200 orders per day in the initial phase. Also, note the limits on product uploads: 100 products per day during testing, and up to 1,000 products once you're in full swing.

Exiting the Testing Period:

Ready to graduate from the testing phase? You enter the open phase:

• Automatically after 60 days of trading on the marketplace.
• Upon reaching 500 completed orders.
• Seller-caused cancellation rate <2.5%.
• Late shipping rate <4%.
• Seller-caused product return and refund rate <1%.

Consistent performance and reliability are key to moving into the open phase when your shop becomes fully operational with fewer restrictions and increased capabilities.

6. Compliance & Product Listing Guidelines 📋

Prohibited and Restricted Products

To keep your TikTok Shop in good standing, it's essential to adhere to compliance guidelines. Some items are fully prohibited, such as counterfeit/fake goods, targeted child advertising, and weapons. 

Additionally, certain categories require pre-approval before listing, including beauty products, electronics, and packaged foods.

You can find the official full list here — TikTok Shop Prohibited Products Guidelines

Product Listing Best Practices:

• Titles: Keep them precise, concise, and informative. 
• Descriptions: Main features, usage, dimensions, and care instructions. Aim for a minimum of 30 words to give potential buyers all the information they need.

Now let’s get into the policy violations, and how to appeal in case you did something spooky.

7. Navigating Policy Violations and Appeals ⚖️

Checking Shop Health

Use the Seller Center to monitor your shop’s health and identify any policy violations. Regular checks help you stay compliant and address issues promptly, here’s how you can check it:

The Appeal Process

If you face a violation, here’s how to appeal. First, hit the appeal button next to the violation and upload your proof. Once it’s all uploaded, TikTok will check your appeal.

🟥 Check the appeal status weekly. If the appeal has been seen, there may be a clickable link next to it called “Appeal Details”, you can find more information on your appeal there.

Timelines and limits for appeals are as follows – 30 days for submitting the first appeal and 15 days for the second.

8. Category & Brand Info 🛈

Selecting the Right Category and Brand

Choosing the appropriate category and brand for your products is crucial. You can use AI suggestions for guidance or manually select the best fit. 

You can also choose your brand, but this is only important if you have a registered brand already. If you don’t — pick “No Brand”.

Filling Product Attributes

Detail is key when completing product attributes. Providing thorough information helps minimize return rates and enhances customer satisfaction. Accurate and complete attributes let customers know exactly what they're getting, leading to fewer surprises and happier shoppers.

🟥 The more product attributes you fill out, the lower the % of returns!

8 Types of Shoppable Videos 🛍️

Shoppable videos usually fall under three categories. Let’s get into a tad more detail for each type of video:

1. Highlighting a Product

• Product Features: Create videos that detail the key features of your product. Highlight what sets it apart and why it’s valuable to your customers.
• Demonstration: Show your product in action. Demonstrations help viewers understand how to use your product and its benefits in real-life scenarios.
• Unboxing: Capture the excitement of opening a new product. Unboxing videos give potential customers a firsthand look at what they can expect when they purchase.
• Step-by-Step Guide: Provide a detailed tutorial on using your product. Step-by-step guides can simplify complex products and boost customer confidence in their purchase.

1. Relatable & Social Proof
2. Urgency

The Shoppable Content Template To Go Viral 💥

Now that you’ve filled it out, let’s get into the actual structure of a video:

1️⃣ The Beginning (0-3 seconds) —Grab your audience's attention & break their scrolling

• Have a hook: Ask a question to spark interest, could be controversial or pattern-breaking
• Closed Captioning: Eye-catching words for showing the topics
• Put Video Highlights at the Beginning: Have a memorable first impression of the selling point.

2️⃣ The Body (3-10 seconds) — Lead the audience to resonate with your story

• Document the Journey: Engage customers to watch all the steps through packaging, unboxing, product testing, results, and reactions
• Voiceover: Most shoppable videos have VO for an immersive tutorial experience
• Varied Scenes: Demonstrate multiple product usage in different scenes
• Real-life Sharing: "I am using it" - Create strong connection and resonance

3️⃣ The Ending (10-20 seconds) — The Call To Action

• Call to action: Document how to place an order E.g. Use the green screen feature to create a visual demonstration of how easy it is to click and purchase; or point toward the product link with verbal instructions and arrow signals
• Call out incentives: Highlight discounts to drive sales (whenever applicable)

🔥 Tips for Hooks

• The first 3-6 seconds of your video are crucial. Captivate potential shoppers with a powerful, attention-grabbing hook that draws them into the video and sets the overall tone. Make sure the hook is related to your message and the concept's key narrative.
• The role of Hook: Grab attention, stop their scrolling, target potential customers & speak to their demands, set the overall tone;

BIG NEWS FOR EUROPE — TikTok Shop is going live in continental Europe this summer, starting with beta tests in Germany, France, Italy & Spain🥳🎉

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