How To Get Started With TikTok Dropshipping

Known for their seamless integration with e-commerce websites, the fastest growing social media platform is one of the best places to market your dropshipping business. What makes TikTok marketing so special is how effective both organic and paid advertising is on this platform. Unlike Facebook and Instagram, you can build brand awareness and generate revenues from impulse purchases with TikTok Dropshipping.

Dropshipping On TikTok

While dropshipping with TikTok is “user friendly” it certainly isn’t a free lunch. The greatest benefit of this business model is that a dropshipper can learn and integrate TikTok marketing strategies that business operators lack the time or energy for. Like affiliate marketing, in dropshipping, you dedicate most of your time to driving traffic to your products or website.

In any form of social media marketing, there will be a learning curve required. Success requires an upfront time and focus commitment, but once we lay the foundation, dropship marketing on TikTok becomes an automated process.

Creating Your TikTok Dropshipping Strategy

There are several considerations you need to walk through before you can find winning products to sell through TikTok.

TikTok User base

The most dominant age bracket for a TikTok user is between 20-29 years old. Understanding this statistic helps to determine which category of products to stay within.

Your Area of Expertise

While experienced marketers may sell any product they wish, newer marketers should focus on a product category that they understand. Finding your niche means looking for products that attract the TikTok user base but are distinct enough to stand out from the competition. Your expertise can help you accomplish both needs.

Finding Your Target Audience

While you may have expertise in a field, that doesn’t mean you exemplify the target audience. If you are a 40-year-old fitness influencer, your target audience might be 25-year-old females. Understanding your target audience will help you choose the right product (s) to promote.

Identifying Current Trends in Your Niche

Even if you are aiming for a pattern interrupt marketing approach that stimulates intrigue and interest, you still need to understand the trends in your niche. Returning to the fitness influencer example, they may notice how people are looking for weight loss tips where they can still consume alcohol. This type of information could lead to promoting a pre and post alcohol consumption supplement, mitigating the impact alcoholic calories have on the body.

You can use a tool such as Google trends to determine what is trending. Also, use your intuition by browsing through popular TikTok videos or search hashtags and find out what people are saying.

Where to Find A Winning Dropshipping Product

Dropified, of course! Our Shopify integration makes it easy to find the perfect product for your TIkTok dropshipping initiative. We give you access to platforms such as AliExpress, eBay, Etsy, and more! Finding the right product to promote with Dropified is as easy as click-connect.

Setting Up Your TikTok Dropshipping Store

For those not using TikTok, here’s how to get started with this social media platform.

1. Download the TikTok App on your phone.
2. Set up a TikTok Account with your email, password, and personal information.
3. Hit the edit profile button.
4. Walk through each step to fill out your company information.
5. Once finished, hit the three dots in the top right corner.
6. Then switch your personal account to a business account.
7. Choose your business category and hit save.

Once you have your account set up, it’s time to integrate your ecommerce platform. For this, you will need a Shopify store.

1. Sign up for a Shopify account.
2. Choose a name for your store.
3. Add your company information.
4. Choose a theme for your store.
5. Adjust the theme as needed.
6. Choose your official website URL.
7. Determine the payment methods you will accept.

Now you will need to add your first product to your Shopify online store. Here’s how to do that.

1. Click the add a product button.
2. Enter the complete product name.
3. Create a compelling product description.
4. Upload stock and custom images of the product name.
5. Set your price and, if applicable, a starting inventory.
6. Enter the weight of the product.
7. Add any variants, such as sizes and flavors.

That’s it! You’re now ready to receive customer orders on your website. But wait, there’s one more step. We need to connect your Shopify store to your TikTok account.

1. Type TikTok into the search bar in the Shopify App Store.
2. Install App.
3. Connect your TikTok for Business Account.
4. Connect your Ad Account.
5. Ensure Pixel is Active in TikTok Ads.

Organic Dropshipping On TikTok

Organic TikTok marketing isn’t just good for those starting with a limited marketing budget, every dropshipping business should use TikTok to communicate with users naturally. Social media gives brands the opportunity to create a more human relationship. This is especially true when talking about TikTok users.

Organic TikTok marketing gives you the ability to gain followers through video content. When your TikTok content is interesting, you can earn them as a follower. Then, over time, you can build a strategy to nurture the relationship to the point of earning their business.

Not all organic marketing is free. Once your brand is big enough, you can pay social media influencers to be in your TikTok videos and leverage their followers for a viral effect.

Running TikTok Ads For Dropshipping Products

Creating a TikTok ad isn’t just for established marketers with thousands of followers. The way they set TikTok up, new brands can use TikTok advertising to gain traction with their content.

You can manage ad campaigns within the TikTok ads manager. All you have to do is open the TikTok app on your phone and click the ads manager tab. From within the app, you can upload your content and segment your TikTok dropshipping ads to target an ideal group of TikTok users.

Here is a look at the options you have for TikTok advertising.

Brand Takeover Ads

They traditionally reserved brand Takeovers for brands with big budgets and lots of followers. While you may not be ready for this type of campaign, it is good to know about how they work.

Branded Hashtag Challenge

The Branded Hashtag Challenge is a feature built for TikTok that you can find on the discovery page. You can have both organic and sponsored Hashtag Challenges. These are great for getting a viral impact on your marketing efforts to fuel your TikTok dropshipping store.

In-Feed Ads

These in-feed ads resemble what you find on Instagram and Facebook stories. You can include a CTA making it perfect for promoting your dropshipping product. The videos are up to 15 seconds, which is just enough time to showcase your product.

Branded Effects

Marketing shouldn’t be boring and branded effects understand this truth. With TikTok branded effects, you can include stickers, filters, and effects on posts to promote a product or brand. This isn’t helpful for new companies, but once you get some traction, it can take your brand recognition further-faster.

TopView Ads

TopView ads are there to catch the attention of a TikTok user before they become distracted. The TopView ads display after 3-seconds from opening the app as an in-feed post. They display them at the top of the “for you to view” page.

While advertising on this platform is outperforming both Facebook and Instagram, not every ad will be a winner. Andrya Allen from The Nine, a TikTok ecommerce agency, has these tips for your dropshipping campaign.

1. Be a human with a face
2. Rely on captions
3. Reverse engineer trends
4. Show a slice of life
5. Use “user” generated content
6. Experiment with sounds
7. Surprise us

TikTok Dropshipping With Dropified

Ready to build your ecommerce dropshipping website? Dropified makes it easy for you to connect popular products with your Shopify website. Get started today with a free trial and see why thousands of customers depend on Dropified for their dropshipping business.