TikTok may be seen as a passive entertainment platform where users come to be entertained and educated. But the platform is seeing a shift in how users engage, with many now willing to take action by searching and making purchases based on what they see.
“We are seeing 61% of the users that come to TikTok to actually buy something and being influenced by something that they have seen on TikTok,” said Adolfo Fernandez, Global Head of Performance Product Strategy & Operations at TikTok, in this video interview with Beet.TV.
That pattern is lighting up an opportunity for TikTok’s monetization strategy.
Developing Solutions To Capture Commerce Opportunities
TikTok launched TikTok Shop in the US last year and has seen significant traction. The company has been developing solutions to help advertisers and sellers capitalize on the “TikTok made me buy” trend.
“All the investments that we have been making are to help advertisers and to help sellers to capitalize on that trend that we are seeing on the platform,” Fernandez said.
TikTok recently announced Smart Plus, a solution that automates entire ad buying flows, and GMV Max, which optimizes different steps in the ad buying process.
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Leveraging AI to Address Advertiser Challenges
Advertisers often need guidance on the best solutions to achieve their business goals, the best settings and practices for their media strategy, and how to develop engaging creatives. TikTok has developed solutions that leverage its AI technology to address these challenges.
While TikTok is primarily an entertainment platform, it is also becoming a commerce platform and a place where users come to search. TikTok recently announced Search Chats campaigns after observing that 23% of users go to the search tab within the first 30 seconds of opening the app.
“Advertisers that are investing on our in feed content and combine that with search chats campaign, they are already seeing a 20% more conversion rates,” Fernandez said.
