Everyone knows that promoting and selling your own merchandise can take a lot of hustle. Finding the right audience and platform can take a lot of research. You need to get to know your target demographic and figure out how to appeal to them. Once you know more about them, you will know where they are spending their time online which will help you narrow down which platform to use. Once you know what platform you need to use, you still need to research the best way to market your products and sell them. This article will help you figure out how to get started in this new industry and share some of the best tips for selling merch on Tik-Tok!
Selling Merch on Tik-Tok
You can sell merch on TikTok using Spreadshop to appeal to your target audience. Using visual platforms like YouTube and TikTok gives you several advantages. One of the biggest is that you can promote your own products, and your viewers will be able to see exactly what your merch will look like in person. The more a person feels like they know what to expect from a product, the more likely they will be to buy it.
One easy way to sell your merch on TikTok is to link your Spreadshop account to your profile. You can add that link to your profile and then mention where it is in your videos. This allows your followers to always know exactly where to go to find your products instead of having to find old videos.
Even if you don’t have a large audience, you can still start making money using TikTok. All you need is a profile, some dedicated and engaged followers, and follow the guidelines below. Once you have those things, you can add some products or merchandise and start making money.
Understanding TikTok
If you want to use TikTok to sell your merchandise, then you need to understand a little bit about it. TikTok is an app that is used for creating short videos that are shared with your followers. Once you share a video, they will see it in their feed or by going to your page and scrolling. Videos can be anything from recipes, to tutorials, or funny stories.
The videos can only be 60 seconds long (or less), but you do have the options to spruce them up using filters, music, and voice effects. You are able to edit your video right in the app, so it is quick and easy.
While it started off as an app for the younger generation, not it has now spread to involve all age brackets. It is also very user-friendly and it is not dominated by celebrities. Generally, the user base is regular people promoting each other so it makes it easier to get a larger following. It is also encouraged to engage with others by responding to their videos. You do this by duplicating their video and adding your own video beside it. This helps boost both channels.
Hashtags also play a role in using TikTok. Hashtags are used to organize videos and make them easier to find. You can categorize your video so people who are interested will be able to find it. It will also help the algorithm suggest your video to people who may be interested.
Low Overhead
TikTok is a great place to start promoting your merchandise because you will have no overhead costs to start a TikTok. There are no sign-up costs and videos are easy to create. It doesn’t cost anything to use the various sounds and excerpts in your own videos.
You can also boost your visibility without spending any money either. Joining a popular challenge will help increase visibility for your videos. If you choose a challenge that is appealing to your target audience, then your marketing will have a huge return on investment.
Understanding Brand Merch
It used to be that only famous people or companies had merchandise, but that is not the case anymore. Even if you have a small following, you can still sell merchandise. It can be anything from tote bags to clothing to frisbees. The key is to pick items that will appeal to your audience.
You can also create designs in anything you think they will like. Of course, you should think about using your brand logo on merchandise, but you don’t have to stop there. You can use pictures or sayings from your channel that resonate with your audience. Offering a variety of designs and products will actually help diversify your story and lead to more sales.
Benefits of Creating Brand Merch
One of the obvious benefits of selling merch on TikTok is the added revenue. Even if you have a small following, you can still make a little money with very little overhead with brand merch.
It can also be a great way to increase brand awareness. When your audience starts wearing your merchandise, other people will start recognizing your brand. This is free marketing for you. Customers who were recommended to your company through a friend are more likely to purchase because they trust the source of the recommendation.
Increasing Brand Infinity
Selling merch on Tik-Tok can also be a great way to increase brand affinity. If someone receives free merch, then they are more likely to become a loyal customer. You can offer free merch with a purchase or after completing some kind of promotional challenge. It helps customers feel like they matter to you and gives off a positive association with your company. Giving away daily use merch like pens, mugs, or notepads will also help keep your company at the forefront of people’s minds.
Doing these things helps you create a community around your company. The more connections you make within your audience, the stronger your community gets. This can happen when a follower sees another follower with the same branded merch. When they see someone else wearing your merchandise, it is a signal that you are a brand worth looking at and can lead to new followers.
All of these things work together to create your brand image. If you are creating your own merch, then you get to say what it looks like, what kind of products you sell, and the causes you want to be linked to your brand. Your merch will be viewed as a representation of your brand, so make sure that anything you promote helps to strengthen your brand image.
You will need to have a diversified marketing strategy in place to promote your business. Branded merch is a great option to add to your strategy to strengthen it. Merchandise is also very versatile. It can generate more engagement in contests and giveaways, attract new followers, and can strengthen other social campaigns.
Create Merchandise
Of course, there is no way to sell merchandise in your videos if it doesn’t exist. The first step is to make merchandise and then use it in your videos. If you have a logo, then you should put it on some merchandise and use it in your video either by wearing a shirt, t-shirt, or hat or by using a mug or hanging a poster behind you. You can do this with anything that might appeal to your audience, but the trick is to put it in your videos.
You can design these yourself or hire a professional to design a logo that will appeal to your audience. By showing them in your videos, you are constantly advertising and increasing desire in your audience with every video you make.
Pick a Platform
You will also need to decide how you are going to sell your merchandise. You cannot sell directly on TikTok, so you will need to find another place to set up an e-commerce store with your products. There are a lot of platforms you can use like Etsy or Shopify, but one that you should consider is Spreadshop.
Spreadshop makes selling your merch on Tik-Tok easier because we will handle all the aspects of your business so you can focus on connecting with your audience. We can help you design and create a wide range of merchandise options that will appeal to your audience. We will process payments, handle production, fulfillment, and shipping. All of these things are included for you at no extra cost.
We understand how important branding is for your company, so you are also able to customize your shop page in order to align it with your brand. We want your customers to automatically know that this page is associated with your company, so you can personalize it quickly and easily.
Once you create your Spreadshop page and create your designs, you can link that to your TikTok profile so your audience will know where to find it. You can also order your own merchandise right away to start advertising in your videos.
Partner with Other Companies
You don’t have to just sell your own merchandise on TikTok. You can also partner with other companies in order to sell their products as well. This can take some of the weight off your shoulder for managing a store and designing the products.
If this is an avenue you would like to pursue, then you will need to approach other companies to ask if they have partnership opportunities. You want to make sure you pick a company that aligns with your own brand and that will overlap with your target audience. Not choosing the right partnership will be frustrating for everyone involved.
Once you have a company in mind, you will need to see if they have any opportunities for you. Some companies will pay influencers to wear or promote their merchandise in their videos in order to drive sales. You may also ask if they have any affiliate programs where you will get paid a commission on any sales that you guide to their website.
If you sell your own merchandise on Tik-Tok and it starts to do well, you may also consider paying other people to promote it as well. You can approach other people on TikTok who have a large following and align with your brand and see if they would be interested in a partnership with you. You will not make as much profit on the sales because you will have to pay your affiliate partners, but it can also drive a lot of traffic to your site.
Getting Started
While it may seem overwhelming at first, starting to sell your merch on TikTok can be a huge benefit to your business. It really doesn’t take very long to get started, especially if you utilize easy platforms like Spreadshop to do all the hard work for you.
Merchandising is so versatile that anyone can incorporate it into their marketing strategy. Artists can sell prints of their work. Gamers can sell clothing with their logo printed on it. Beauty experts can sell merchandise related to their expertise. Whatever your niche, there is something that will appeal to and add value to your audience’s life.
It may be tempting to try to do everything. Casting a wide net may seem like a good idea, but it can actually have the opposite effect. You will have more success if you focus on your small niche instead of trying to make everyone happy. When you stick to your niche, you establish yourself as an expert in the field and that means people will trust you more. It will also give you more loyal followers because they will identify with your brand and will keep coming back. Don’t let your target audience get distracted or turned off because you are trying to cater to too many different kinds of people.
The most important thing is that you really think about your audience and cater to their lives. If an audience feels like you really understand them and you are offering content and merch that aligns with their values and needs, then you are going to be successful.
