Why #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt is so effective for brands

TikTok has successfully captured the attention of a generation, and few places within the channel have more eyeballs than #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt. The surging hashtag has over 60 billion views and a fleet of success stories in which brands ride a viral wave into social commerce conversions.

As one of the fastest-growing hashtags on the fastest-growing social media platform, it's time for brands to test the waters of what might be the future of social commerce. Let’s explore why #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt is so effective for brands, and how you can plot your own course into this growing community.

What is #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt?

One scroll through #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt will likely make anyone discover something they didn’t know they needed. The hashtag is flooded with reactions, recommendations, and reviews from real people about products they’ve purchased.

What kind of products? Imagine Amazon Prime Day consumed solely through the lens of product reactions, and you have a good start. These authentic reactions are the source of the hashtag’s power. 

Everyday people can rise to influencer status through one post, and brands directly benefit from each surge. TikTok user Lauren Wolfe posted a review of a pair of high waist leggings that yielded an entire movement – 272 million views of hashtag #TikTokLeggings, 175 million views of #AmazonLeggings, and a renaming of the product’s listing on Amazon.

Wolfe, consequently, now has her own Amazon Prime storefront and over a million followers on TikTok. But one of the unique aspects of #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt is that it doesn’t take a million followers to pop within the community. Brands and individuals alike can find success – or just increase attention – with the right content.

“TikTok’s content experience is curated to consumer interests and is designed for exploration, meaning anyone and any brand can be discovered, no matter how many followers they have,” TikTok senior director of eCommerce operations Patrick Nommensen said in a recent interview. “It’s completely in tune with the TikTok platform to allow people to not only discover great brands and products, but to easily buy them too.”

Success stories for brands on #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt

#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt blends paid influencers and organic users celebrating the joy of finding products that are cool, weird, or “that just slap.”  You’ll notice many lifestyle products filling the hashtag, as the overwhelmingly most common use of #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt is people showing off items that impact their daily lives.

That means anything from a cat scratcher to kitchen gadgets of seemingly every possible use. Let’s look at some brands that have successfully won the battle for #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt attention.

Dyson Airwrap

This hairstyling tool surged to the point that stock updates warrant entire articles in Cosmo. The product has crested 4.6 billion views and has waves of influencers and normal users raving about its quality. 

The lesson here is that the product demos extremely well within the medium. It’s easy for users to convey the power and result of the Airwrap through quick and engaging video content. The tool is so popular that even a storage device surged on the hashtag.

Crunchcup Portable Cereal Cup

Crunchcup utilized a blend of organic and sponsored content to flood #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, and today, the former Kickstarter product is now a darling of parents and Amazon Prime Day lists, including nearly 6,000 five-star reviews. One post reached 1.2 million views, and the product’s #crunchup hashtag emerged from #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt with over 30 million views on its own.

The product’s simple use and application to everyday life is a good lesson on the type of item that thrives on the hashtag. And success on TikTok can directly impact other brand channels – like your Amazon store – if your product generates enough enthusiasm. 

L’Oréal

The beauty brand utilized #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt to drive the highest-volume sell-out in the company’s history. L’Oréal created an exclusive box that was labeled with #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt and shipped to 200 associated creators. This chorus of voices led to 4.5 million clicks and 1.7 million engagements across the campaign.

Why is social commerce on TikTok so effective for brands?

It’s likely that #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt is only the edge of a coming eCommerce storm. The channel allows brands to sell through TikTok Shop and is testing a new feature called “Trendy Beat,” which is fueled from proven viral videos — like those that surge on #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt.

Meta owns the current social commerce conversation with an estimated 120.8 million social buyers, according to eMarketer, but TikTok — currently at 39.5 million buyers — is on pace to grow past Facebook by 2024. Both Facebook and Instagram are rethinking their approach to social commerce, and with TikTok’s surge in overall popularity and expanding shopping features, it’s pivotal for brands to evaluate and have a strategy in place to utilize the channel.

But there are several good reasons why social commerce works on TikTok, right now.

1. Gen Z likes it: According to a survey, Gen Z indicated it was most likely to spend money based on TikTok-influenced purchases over every other channel.

2. Gen Z trusts it: Authenticity is the name of the game for the modern consumer, and Gen Z is the most savvy of modern consumers. Nearly 40% indicated they trust TikTok’s influencers more than other channels.

3. It drives conversions: If the audience uses your social commerce platform and trusts it, conversations tend to follow, which is what Revlon discovered. The brand noted that beauty products that went viral on the platform saw 85% month-on-month growth on Amazon.

4. It influences the major eCommerce platforms: Look no further than Amazon to see the impact of #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt in action. The eCommerce giant created Amazon Finds to feature products that have gone TikTok viral. TikTok is driving a conversation that extends across the entire customer journey.

Source: TikTok for Business

TikTok has become the go-to place for creative expression, discovery, education (even homework), and inspiration for an entire generation. Social commerce success is only an extension of that activity, and one that brands must engage.

How to approach marketing your brand with TikTok trends

As examined earlier, L’Oréal’s blend of hashtag use and coordination across established campaigns and partners is what really drove the brand’s success. Which is why brands should consider similar internal coordination before diving into the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt community.

Here are steps to help your brand use the hashtag effectively:

Listen and learn through a social listening tool

Any conversation about #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt is really a discovery of what’s popular on the channel. It pays to learn about the success of #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, while also listening to conversations around specific topics, themes, or even your competitive set using a social listening solution.

Your brand requires a constant input of what your audience needs, wants, or aspires for to help meet them on their terms. Listening is a powerful way to understand their language and impact both your customer experience and brand strategy.

For specifically #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, it helps to watch, listen, and learn from the ebbs and flows of how people share and react and which products take off. Your brand voice won’t  necessarily translate immediately into TikTok. It requires work, understanding audience, tone, format, and nailing the right vibe. This is where listing helps. You want to avoid sounding like a commercial, so utilize social listening to ease into a community where authenticity is more important than how you tend to think your brand should engage its audiences. 

Focus on product demos

Learning what works or what becomes viral usually stems from watching a product in action. That means your brand should find a way to demo your product with the style, voice, length, and tone that works best on TikTok.

This means not all of your products will translate – meaning anything with an overly long and complicated demo might not capture the audience's attention. This is very much a “know it when you see it” approach, but your product demo needs to be highly visual, action-based, or allow for an impactful before-and-after shot.

Partner with influencers (or micro-influencers)

The fastest way into #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt is simply to partner with a guide. Or more importantly, someone who fits the current conversation. 

Influencers or user-generated content from micro-influencers is something your brand can utilize to cannonball into the hashtag, as both fit comfortably into what works on the channel. The choice of influencer versus micro-influencer depends on what you’re trying to accomplish, and for some brands, influencers are a necessity to reach the modern consumer and translate your brand message the right way. 

So, evaluate what audience you hope to reach and then how your product is best introduced. But don’t jump in without a partner or with an inauthentic voice. 

Prepare your community and care teams

Activation and engagement are only part of a successful strategy. Your brand must be prepared for the interest you receive. Customer care, in particular, paired with a live video, can carry the experience of #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt over to your eCommerce channels.

These customers are introduced to products through authentic and real-human reactions, so keeping personal contact along the buying journey can drive conversions and increase satisfaction with your products.

How to get started with marketing using TikTok trends

There’s more to this than just going viral. Developing a successful social commerce strategy requires planning across the entire customer journey. Observation of trends and social listening can be just as important to converting a customer as is where and how you engage with them. You must paint a full picture of your customer to understand if and when trends like #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt will work with your target audience.

Emplifi Social Marketing Cloud’s suite of products can help you stay ahead of key trends on TikTok, activate your campaign, and track performance to see what worked. We help you discover opportunities between impression, click, and conversion. If you’re interested, book a demo with one of our experts today.