Sled Your Holiday Sales: The TikTok for WooCommerce Guide

If you’ve been looking at TikTok as another channel to get your WooCommerce store in front of new customers, but feel a little lost on content and viral trends, here’s your first gift.

This guide aims to provide you with practical and useful information on how to use TikTok to boost the performance of your WooCommerce store during the critical Christmas shopping period.

TikTok is the perfect place for WooCommerce merchants to connect with eager gift givers and holiday lovers this holiday season. It’s a place where brands can ignite joy and increase sales as shoppers search for the perfect gifts and Christmas must-haves.

With content covering every stage (and sentiment) of the holiday season, TikTok creates opportunities for small businesses from the build-up to the big day.

Don’t need to hear anymore? Get started with the TikTok extension for WooCommerce – and if you’re new to TikTok advertising, you might qualify for $6,000 in ad credit (terms and conditions apply).

Let’s crack a nut.

With over a billion monthly active users, TikTok is the place to be. It is a powerful trading platform where your products can reach highly engaged buyers who are searching perfect a gift (or something for yourself). Here’s why TikTok should be at the top of your holiday marketing list:

• Massive Reach: You get access to a highly active user base, spending an average of 58 minutes a day in the app, which means more chances for your products to be discovered.
• A discovery that converts: TikTok shows the right content to the right audience, even if you don’t have a huge following. 64% of TikTok shoppers made a purchase after seeing an ad or shoppable content on the platform.*
• E-Commerce – First: From product labels to native shopping features, TikTok has made it easy for WooCommerce merchants to turn content into sales. Last year on Black Friday, TikTok Shop reached over $100 million in sales.

*Source: TikTok Marketing Science US, Commerce Landscape Study 2024, commissioned by TikTok in partnership with Ipsos

TikTok is all about fun, authentic and relatable content. So how can your WooCommerce store stand out in this ocean of content?

Brands like Dan O’s Seasoning have leaned into creating organic content and it’s paid off: they’re now approaching five million TikTok followers. They teamed up with a full team for content and daily posts. But it is possible to start from scratch. Here’s your plan:

1. Create a TikTok business account

Get started by downloading the TikTok app, setting up a business account, and optimizing your profile. Make sure your bio is crisp, your profile photo is your store logo, and there’s a clear link to your WooCommerce store.

2. Post content that clicks

• Be authentic and entertaining: Prioritize humor, storytelling, or behind-the-scenes content over direct sales. Think about how to show off your holiday packing process or how your products are made and showcase your brand personality.
• Take advantage of User Generated Content (UGC): Encourage your customers to create content with your products. Create a brand mission (which can help you deliver sourced content) or connect with micro-influencers through the TikTok One Creator Marketplace for organic, creative shoutouts.
• Keep posting: TikTok continues to thrive amount as well as quality. Posting regularly (even daily!) increases your chances of going viral. Your content doesn’t have to be perfect; it just needs to be consistent and engaging.

3. Create a brilliant advertising strategy

Creating the perfect mix of organic and paid content can be tricky, but it’s worth the effort. If you need some ideas to help jumpstart your advertising strategy, here are some tools and formats to consider:

• In-feed ads: Seamlessly integrate into users’ feeds – just like regular TikToks, but with a clear call to action.
• Spark Ads: Promote existing organic posts (yours or someone else’s) and take advantage of TikTok’s culture of engagement.
• Smart+ web campaigns: Leverage your WooCommerce product catalog with this AI solution to run Smart+ catalog ads and find customers most likely to convert.
• TikTok One: The Creative Hub: Find popular holiday content and top-performing videos for inspiration.

4. Allow customers to check-in on-site with TikTok Shop

TikTok Shop, currently available in select markets, allows users to discover products directly from videos and complete a purchase without leaving the app. If you haven’t set it up yet, now is the time. You can turn viral content into instant sales – perfect for capitalizing on the holiday rush.

A GMV Max campaign can be a great way to grow your TikTok business. It is an automated eCommerce solution that optimizes return on investment (ROI) and gross merchandise value (GMV) across all your ad placements. GMV Max campaigns can be set up on the Store Ads tab.

5. Partnership with creators

TikTok creators are your secret weapon to increase your holiday sales. These content creators have built credibility and trust with your target audience, making their product recommendations highly persuasive. Get started:

• Budgeting for influencer partnerships and look for creators who align with your brand’s voice and values.
• Searching for creators through discovery or the TikTok One Creator Marketplace, which connects you with influencers and shows their reach, views and demographics. You can register an account and then search for influencers and contact them directly.
• Keep it authentic. TikTok users love organic, natural product mentions. Subtle product placement in a cooking tutorial, for example, will often work better than a flashy sales pitch.

6. Use analytics to guide your strategy

Use TikTok analytics to monitor the performance of your content and ads. Look at engagement metrics like views, likes, comments, shares, and click-through rates to understand what works best. Refine your content strategy based on insights from your most successful posts and ads.

We’ve covered the basics, now let’s get down to maximizing your TikTok efforts in the busiest shopping season.

Here’s an interesting fact: Holiday shopping is starting on TikTok soon.

In 2023, there was a 190% increase in #holidayshopping videos from the week before Halloween to the week after (source: TikTok internal hashtag data, US, week 43 vs. week 45, 2023). This means there is a golden window to engage shoppers before the rush begins.

Take advantage of early gift searches with content that falls into one of two camps:

• Gifts for others: Showcase products that fit different budgets or create a series of gift guides for a niche audience.
• The whimsy of self-giving: WITH 87% of users shopping for themselves during holiday sales, tap into this trend with incentives or deals on must-have items (source: TikTok Marketing Science US Holiday Research 2022 by Material).

These holiday trends show that TikTok is the perfect place to capture early shoppers. From #BlackFriday to #Christmas and beyond, seasonal and holiday-specific hashtags drive tones of engagement:

#Thanksgiving 824,000 user videos posted 12.5% ​​engagement rate	#BlackFriday 193 thousand user videos posted 6.6% engagement rate.
#cybermonday 51 thousand user videos posted Engagement rate 4.8%.	#Christmas 2.9 million user videos published Engagement rate 11.8%.

TikTok weaves a diverse cultural tapestry that embraces and celebrates a number of traditions during the holiday season. In 2023, #Hanukkah had a 12.5% ​​engagement rate, #Kwanzaa had a 9.8% engagement rate, and #NocheBuena had an 8.4% engagement rate.

Source: TikTok hashtag internal data, 2023

These are the six most popular types of content that business owners post on TikTok during the holidays, and the percentage of holiday TikTok customers who engage with those types of content.

Content type	TikTok Christmas Customer Engagement*
Events and discounts	45%
Product review	44%
Tutorials	38%
Hacks	33%
Unboxings	28%
Close-up shots of the product	25%

*Source: TikTok Marketing Science US 2024 Holiday Survey via AYTM, June 2024. Base: TikTok Monthly Users 18+ celebrating Q4 holidays (n=1000)

Here are some festive content concepts you can use on your store account:

1. Festive presentation of products: Show off your products in short, fun videos – add holiday music and filters for extra pep!
2. Backstage: Take a look at how your team prepares for the holidays or focus on your limited edition holiday pack.
3. Gift Guides: Organize your products into categories — “Gifts Under $50” or “Stockers for Tech Lovers” — and share them as little TikTok videos.
4. User Created Campaigns: Encourage customers to post videos of your products around the holidays using a branded hashtag (such as #YourBrandHolidayJoy). Offer prizes for the best posts.
5. Holiday Tricks: Whether it’s decorating a space with home decor or cooking a holiday feast with cookware, share quick tips using your products.

If you’re new to TikTok, there are a few basics to master in order to unlock your full potential. See the TikTok for Woo setup guide for full details. It deals with how:

Connect TikTok for WooCommerce extension

Follow these step-by-step instructions to set up your Ad Manager and Pixel account and start creating ads.

Create your first ad

Creating for TikTok is different, not hard. Use our AI-powered creative assistant for personalized creative solutions and CapCut for Business ad creative templates for a professional-looking finish.

Run your first campaign

Use a website conversion goal, optimize for full payment (or desired result), start with the recommended ad group budget, and use broad or balanced targeting.

Educate and optimize

Include two or three (or more!) creatives and run campaigns for at least seven days before optimizing. If you have a TikTok business account, use Spark Ads and consider using Custom Audiences for website traffic after your first campaigns.

Connect your store catalog to TikTok via the TikTok for WooCommerce extension – and now is the time to take advantage of the $6,000 ad credit offer for your first campaign (terms and conditions apply).

And there you have it, folks! Now you’re armed with everything you need to turn TikTok into your personal holiday sales machine. Remember, the key to success on TikTok is to be authentic, creative, ride the waves of popular content, and hopefully have fun doing it.