Each social media platforms has a generational target audience. As a platform primarily used by Gen Z customers, TikTok requires retailers to frame any products and content they post there at their younger customers, which means videos, music and trending products.
“TikTok is more of an entertainment platform, so you’ve got to make it engaging, or people will scroll on,” says Deepen Patel, from Meet & Deep News in Twickenham, west London.
“It’s often not about using TikTok to generate business – Facebook is the platform for that – but is instead about generating awareness.”
That being said, there are retailers making money either directly from TikTok for their posts or via TikTok Shop, where retailers can advertise and sell things online. On top of that, online awareness can generate greater support from suppliers keen to make use of that customer engagement.
What are the keys to a successful TikTok profile?
TikTok content thrives on regular, unique and interesting posts, which means it can require a significant amount of time and effort on retailers’ parts.
“If you want to do it, you’ve got to want to do it,” says Amit Patel, from Premier Sandiacre in Derbyshire. “If you go at it half-heartedly, you won’t get very far. It’s a lot of work. I post seven times a week on TikTok, but the rewards are high. I wouldn’t have half the opportunities I have now with suppliers without it.
“Now, I can go to them with confidence because my socials are bigger than theirs.”
Patel recommends getting multiple phones just for the sake of memory as he has filled up the content on his iPhone very quickly with these nine-second videos. He says: “My cloud storage was filling up, too, so I buy phones and fill them up with content.”
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Make your TikTok personal to your store, and to you
Having built up strong followings on Instagram and Facebook, Deepen Patel, from Meet & Deep News in Twickenham, west London, has started up two TikTok accounts. The first is called dancingshopkeepers and features his parents dancing as they do jobs around the shop.
“The other one is me, and it’s a comedy one for teenagers based on their slang. I made a funny character making little videos acting confused by the slang words and mispronouncing products like Doritos, Oreos and Prime. The Doritos one got 1.5 million views, and people loved it.”
Patel has 330,000 followers on his channel and has gone viral to the extent where people recognise him and Cadbury are working him with their Win Win campaign.
“You can become TikTok-famous,” he says. “I had a video about using live-capture mouse traps and it got 2.2 million views because the lady I was talking to said something funny.”
Find a USP to promote your store on TikTok
For Sheraz Awan, from Westerhope Convenience in Newcastle upon Tyne, the two pillars of a successful TikTok account are uniqueness and regularity.
“You have to keep the audience engaged,” he says. “That’s why I post nearly every day. You need to make sure you’re unique in what you’re doing. You’ve got to catch the eye of the public, whatever it is you’re doing.
“I’m the only shop in the UK that gives out more than 2,000 loaves of bread free every week – from a 550sq ft shop – which I’ve been doing since March 2020. I’m known for it; I’ve won awards for it and been on Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway about it. That gives me a unique selling point on TikTok.”
As a result, 90% of Awan’s posts on TikTok are about his bread giveaway. Because the giveaway already happens every day, the setup only takes up about 10 minutes extra on top.
Use engagement as a bargaining chip with suppliers
Amit Patel, from Premier Sandiacre in Nottinghamshire, keeps himself out of his videos and focuses on niche and trending products such as energy drinks.
“There was a link between energy drinks and emo music, so I kept playing on that and it grew quickly,” he says. “I try to push it in as many directions as possible.”
Patel averages 1.5 million views per week on TikTok and gets paid by the app for posting every day and having more than 10,000 followers. That engagement also works as a bargaining chip when talking with suppliers.
“You get better deals with products, especially new ones,” he says. “If they give it to us, they know we can do some magic with it. Au Vodka, Lucozade and Hell Energy have always supported us, and when Hooch found out we were making slushies with its drinks, it came and did an in-store promotion, which was brilliant.”
Find ways to get support
When Nishi Patel started getting into TikTok for his Londis Bexley Park in south-east London, with his brother-in-law Binny Amin, at Londis Eltham, his children showed him what to do.
“CapCut is a program that helps you template and edit your videos,” he says. “We use it on TikTok all the time.
“It’s hard to judge what will work. Something you think will work might only hit double figures. Then some kids doing wheelies outside the shop gets 50,000 views.
“Focus on silliness and trending products. Getting customers involved helps a lot. “Scheduling and the music can all factor into where you come in the algorithm. A trending hashtag will move your video up as well. I’ve not fully cracked the best time to schedule videos, but it’s when people will be looking at their phones – early-morning commutes, lunchtime or the commute home.”
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